Wild rice grows naturally in the lake, hence its English name. Native Americans in the area harvested the rice as an important food source. The Treaty of Mendota in 1851 opened up southern Minnesota to European settlement. In 1854, the village of Rice Lake arose on the northeast shore of the lake, along an important stagecoach route. The village was expected to grow significantly for a rail line was planned to pass through, but the line was ultimately laid farther south and Rice Lake was soon abandoned. The one surviving structure from the village of Rice Lake is a Methodist church built in 1857, which still stands in the northeast corner of the state park.