Long before it was Charlie’s on Prior, there was a giant wooden water slide in Prior Lake near where the restaurant stands now. Photo: Kathy Dawson
In 1928, Tom Simpkins, the owner of Green Heights resort on Prior Lake, built a 35-foot by 116-foot wooden water slide. Small toboggans were used to slide down the ramp into the lake, and Bernice Lange was the first person to use it. However, the lake level began to drop soon after, falling 4 feet by 1930 and 6 feet by 1935, making it impossible to reach the water from the slide. As a result, the slide was torn down in 1931. Simpkins and his wife, “Big Helen,” operated Green Heights for 40 years until 1963, when it was sold to Ben and Marion Pahl. Over the years, the tavern and restaurant have changed hands and names, including Big Cully’s, Captain Jack’s, Freddie’s on the Lake and McWillie’s. It is now known as Charlie’s on Prior, the last remaining restaurant on Prior Lake.
Kathy Dawson is Prior Lake’s unofficial historian.
