The State of Minnesota, through the DNR Ecological and Water Resources Division, operates and maintains the Perkins Lake Dam and is therefore considered the owner according to MN Rule 6115.0320 Subp.10.
The dam is listed in the MN DNR Dam Index as having been built in 1938. Locally, it is sometimes referred to as “Pomme de Terre Lake” or “Middle Pomme de Terre Lake.” The name “Perkins” comes from the official lake name, “Perkins Lake,” as seen in the 1968 Minnesota Inventory of Lakes (p. 412) and the 1948 USGS Surface Water Supply report (p. 9).
Early documents, such as the above map of Swan Lake Township, list the lake as not having a designated name, but being part of the “Pomme de Terre Lakes.” The parcel next to the lake is listed as belonging to, “LD Perkins.“
The earliest online record of the name appears in an 1889 issue of the now-defunct Morris Tribune, which refers to the lake as “Perkins Lake.”