Situated mostly on Sections 33 and 34 in Township 154, Range 64, Devils Lake was established by H. M. Creel in 1882. Originally known as Creelsburg, Devils Lake was incorporated in 1884 and secured a connection to James J. Hill's Great Northern Railroad line to Minneapolis. The area boomed as American, Canadian, and European immigrants poured in and established an economy based largely on agriculture, driven by free or inexpensive farmland, the development of new strains of spring wheat suited to the area's climate and to the demands of flour millers, and rail transportation to the Minneapolis flour mills. In 1883, the original plat and additions of the city covered 1,137 acres, compared to almost 4,500 acres in 2020. Throughout its history, the city was greatly influenced by the nearby lake of the same name. In its early days, the lake's elevation was high enough to support steamboat transportation, which helped facilitate the quick growth of the region. Owned and operated by Edward Heerman, the Minnie H transported freight and passengers from the train depot in Devils Lake to Minnewaukan and Fort Totten from 1883 until 1908, when declining lake levels made maritime transportation obsolete. For over a century, Devils Lake has been the economic, cultural, religious, medical, and educational center for the entire Lake Region.