Lake Alice has been a focal point for Fergus Falls residents since the town was first settled in the late 1860s. The Grove, a wooded area along the lake’s south end, attracted early home builders and picnickers, and although there is virtually no boating on the lake today, rowing was once a favorite summer evening pastime, with sailboats and launches giving rides to those without their own boats. Skating also long filled the lake on winter evenings, Sundays, and holidays. The lake was named in 1871 or 1872 for a prominent female pioneer, though it is uncertain whether it honored Alice Faber or Alice Page. A sailboat was first seen on the lake in 1873, a fountain sent water 40 feet high in 1874, a summer regatta was held that year, a floating bandstand for evening concerts was built in 1886, and a steamer launch began operating in 1895. In 1904, Jacob Hoffman made a balloon ascension and landed in Lake Alice, where he became entangled in weeds near Cascade Street and drowned despite being an expert swimmer. One lap around the lake measures 1.2 miles and remains popular with walkers, runners, and bicyclists. In 1963, the Department of Natural Resources and local sportsmen created a goose refuge centered on Fergus Falls as part of a 1,500-square mile project that began with six pairs of Canada geese and expanded through annual additions of yearlings until breeding pairs spread to nearly every slough in the area. Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center, formerly Fergus Falls State Hospital, grew out of overcrowding at Minnesota’s earlier mental hospitals in St. Peter and Rochester, leading the legislature in the 1870s to call for a third institution for western and northwestern Minnesota. Designed by Minneapolis architect Warren B. Dunnell, its main building began construction in 1888, with much of the structure built by O.R. Mather and John Lauritzen from stone and cream brick made in Pelican Rapids. The hospital operated a farm for nearly a century, and from 1891 to 1969 patients, employees, and townspeople produced food and other goods used there. In the late 90s, treatment for people with mental illness shifted to small group homes, advances in medicine made congregate living obsolete, and the State Hospital closed. The state sold the property to the City of Fergus Falls, and it remains on the hill awaiting reuse or preservation. As of 2020, Fergus Falls sites on the National Register of Historic Places included Barnard Mortuary, the Charles C. Clement House, Fergus Falls City Hall, the Fergus Falls State Hospital Complex, Hotel Kaddatz, the John W. Mason House, River Inn, the Otter Tail County Courthouse, Park Region Luther College, the Charles J. Wright House, and the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse.