The land surrounding Brownie Lake was purchased by William McNair shortly after the land west of the Mississippi River was opened for white settlement in 1857.
McNair named the lake "Brownie", after a nickname of his daughter, Agnes McNair.
It was formerly called "Hillside Harbor".
Brownie Lake was then acquired by the expansion of the Glenwood Park, now Theodore Wirth Park, in 1907.

In 1867 the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company built a railroad track across the southern end of Brownie Lake.
In 1883 James J. Hill took over the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad and expanded the track into a double track mainline that connected the wheat fields west of the Mississippi to the flour mills of Minneapolis.
The expansion of the railroad embankment in 1883 filled in the southwestern arm of Brownie Lake, and reduced the surface area of Brownie Lake by 34%.

The lake's surface area was further decreased by 56% between 1913 and 1917 after channels were constructed to connect Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles (1913), and Cedar Lake and Brownie Lake (1916).
The hydraulic connections reduced the lake level of Brownie Lake by 2 to 3 meters, which drew Brownie Lake down into its steep-sided local catchment, significantly reducing its surface area, and increasing shelter from wind.
 
It is most likely that Brownie Lake became meromictic as a result of the significant decrease in the ability of wind to impart energy to the surface of the lake, both due to sheltering and reduced maximum fetch (the maximum distance the wind can travel across the water).
When the wind no longer mixed oxygenated surface water with the bottom waters of Brown Lake, sedimentary iron became soluble and was mobilized into the anoxic bottom water at a concentration several hundred times greater than the surface water, increasing the relative density of the bottom water and beginning a positive feedback system in which other ions such as sodium and chloride could also accumulate, further minimizing the probability that wind energy would be sufficient to mix surface water into the increasingly dense bottom water.
The onset of meromixis likely occurred by 1925.

The land west of Brownie Lake, which had been a part of Theodore Wirth Park, was sold in 1952 to the Prudential Insurance Company.
It was sold to Target Corporation in 1994.
Target Corporation relocated employees from this site in 2015, and put the property on the market.
The land surrounding Brownie Lake was purchased by William McNair shortly after the land west of the Mississippi River was opened for white settlement in 1857. McNair named the lake "Brownie", after a nickname of his daughter, Agnes McNair. It was formerly called "Hillside Harbor". Brownie Lake was then acquired by the expansion of the Glenwood Park, now Theodore Wirth Park, in 1907.
In 1867 the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company built a railroad track across the southern end of Brownie Lake. In 1883 James J. Hill took over the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad and expanded the track into a double track mainline that connected the wheat fields west of the Mississippi to the flour mills of Minneapolis. The expansion of the railroad embankment in 1883 filled in the southwestern arm of Brownie Lake, and reduced the surface area of Brownie Lake by 34%.
The lake's surface area was further decreased by 56% between 1913 and 1917 after channels were constructed to connect Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles (1913), and Cedar Lake and Brownie Lake (1916). The hydraulic connections reduced the lake level of Brownie Lake by 2 to 3 meters, which drew Brownie Lake down into its steep-sided local catchment, significantly reducing its surface area, and increasing shelter from wind. 
It is most likely that Brownie Lake became meromictic as a result of the significant decrease in the ability of wind to impart energy to the surface of the lake, both due to sheltering and reduced maximum fetch (the maximum distance the wind can travel across the water). When the wind no longer mixed oxygenated surface water with the bottom waters of Brown Lake, sedimentary iron became soluble and was mobilized into the anoxic bottom water at a concentration several hundred times greater than the surface water, increasing the relative density of the bottom water and beginning a positive feedback system in which other ions such as sodium and chloride could also accumulate, further minimizing the probability that wind energy would be sufficient to mix surface water into the increasingly dense bottom water. The onset of meromixis likely occurred by 1925.
The land west of Brownie Lake, which had been a part of Theodore Wirth Park, was sold in 1952 to the Prudential Insurance Company. It was sold to Target Corporation in 1994. Target Corporation relocated employees from this site in 2015, and put the property on the market.
Brownie Lake