History

Lone Rock is famous for hosting a lone boulder on the prairie for which the town was named..."Lone Rock".  It was a landmark on the trail from Fort Dodge, through Algona to Armstrong, Estherville, and Spirit Lake.

In 1899 the Chicago and Northwestern Railway built a branch from Burt to Fox Lake.  In September 1988 the depot as moved to its present location where it serves as the "Lone Rock Museum"

In the early days, a large , lone boulder lay nestled in the prairie grass on a farmstead one and half miles north and one and a half miles east of the present town of Lone Rock.
Before roads were established, this boulder was used as a landmark from Fort Dodge through Armstrong and Estherville, to Spirit Lake.
A tiny settlement consisting of a store, creamery, post office, and a house sprang up near the rock.  Mrs. William Thompson, a farmwife nearby, name the settlement "Lone Rock".
In 1889, the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company built a branch line from Burt to Fox Lake, MN.  It seemed only reasonable for the small community to move to the railway.  The town so moved and kept its name.
In 1970, the town of Lone Rock formed a Development Corporation.  These people took on a 175-ton project of moving the "rock" to town.
There were several problems involved.  The rock was half buried, and no machinery was available to move the huge rock of 10' x 12' x 10' high.  It was necessary to blast the rock into four pieces.  Then came the procedure of moving it to the southwest corner of town and then putting it back together again, as close as possible to its original form. Mission accomplished!
The historical society has taken on the task of renovating the depot, that had been used by the Lone Rock Cooperative Elevator for sometime, since the railroad disbanded in 1974.  The depot was built sometime prior to 1900 and had been rebuilt in 1950.  We now have a Lone Rock Museum in this depot and many of the original artifacts of the area are on display.  One of these being a telegraph key.  Also a baggage cart and a hand cart from the era.
In July of 1999 Lone Rock Celebrated their 100th Birthday!