Nestled alongside the lake, the Village of White Bear was created within the 36-square-mile section platted as White Bear Township. The village – incorporated on February 18, 1881, by special law – encompassed 2 ¾ square miles (including water) and had a population of 435. In 1884, the residents reincorporated by a vote in order to apply the general village laws of the state. As early as May 28, 1883, a committee was appointed "to act with town authorities and the different syndicates owning property around the lake to devise and execute measures for retaining and preserving the waters of White Bear Lake." In 1888, a lot at Clark Ave. and 2nd St. was purchased for a "credible and spacious" village hall.
The Lake Breeze, the local newspaper published by A.H.S. Perkins, put out its first issue May 7, 1887. Perkins regularly promoted the White Bear Lake area. A first-anniversary issue of 10,000 copies was printed in 1888, boasting of local building reaching $100,000, business reaching $400,000, and real estate reaching $140,000 – all of which would be doubled during the coming year. In 1889, Mrs. Daniel Getty appeared before the village council to request the organization of a public library and one was begun in a room in the Getty block. There were hourly trains for $.35. With a population growing beyond 1,350 people, Perkins editorialized in an August 1892 issue about "the necessity of making White Bear something more than just a summer resort."
Yet the village remained popular as a fashionable resort until the turn of the century when a gradual change took place in American vacation trends. Many of the famous hotels had caught fire and were not rebuilt, while some were converted to other uses or remained empty. Several hotel sites were divided into lots for lakeshore summer homes. Eventually, as cars and roads were improved, year-round homes replaced many of the summer cottages and the commuting trend began.
On October 11, 1921, the voters established a city under home rule charter. The City of White Bear Lake’s first election was a stormy one, as the mayoral candidates equally split the 696 votes cast. It took another election, intervention of the attorney general, interim appointments, and Supreme Court involvement before Earl F. Jackson was sworn in as Mayor. At the time, the City covered 2 ¼ square miles (including water) with a population of 2,022.
The late 1920s and early 1930s brought dubious distinction to the White Bear Lake area as a temporary hideout for gangland figures. Ma Barker, Pretty Boy Floyd and Al Capone are all said to have sought refuge here.
The 1950s post-war building boom led to a growing need for water and sewer facilities in adjacent township areas, resulting in annexations to the City. These additions expanded the City’s borders, to now cover seven square miles. The population also grew, from 3,646 in 1950 to 12,849 in 1960.
Because of the rapid growth, a special census was done in 1965 and it measured the City’s population at 19,042. This same year saw White Bear Lake receive the National Civic League’s “All-America City” Award and the Citizen Progress Award for its success in solving community issues and planning ahead for orderly growth. A complete city charter revision was approved by a council vote of 5 to 1 on March 11, 1969.
Following White Bear Lake, three incorporated villages – North Oaks (July 1956), Vadnais Heights (July 1957) and Gem Lake (March 1959) – were carved from the original township of White Bear. The town of White Bear, formed on the day Minnesota became a state in 1858, retains eleven square miles of the section.