Lake Wissota was formed by the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Chippewa River in 1915. The area, flooded in 1917, was generally a little used forest and swamp wasteland. Some farms, however, were forced to move. Built by the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company, an engineer on the project named the lake by combining the beginning of “Wisconsin” and the ending of “Minnesota”. When completed in 1917 it was the worlds largest manmade lake.

About twenty years later, Harry and Blanche Lea (the current owner’s grandparents) purchased 4 1/2 acres on the south west corner of the lake and in 1953, with one cabin already moved to the property across the ice, three more cabins were built and the Hideaway Resort was established. In 1956, while building the main house, four small tourist cabins were moved to the resort from the South Side (Standard Oil) Station. They needed to be moved to make way for the overpass that was built over the old highway 29-53 interchange. The cabins were purchased from the Highway Department for a total of $1,375.

While many modern conveniences have been added, visitors to the Hideaway will find it much the same as it was in 1953. The mission of the current owners is to preserve the historic charm of this north woods Wisconsin resort experience. If you want to see your kids running, dripping wet and barefoot, from the swimming beach to the game room to play air hockey with their cousins, if you want to sit at the end of a dock and teach your grandchild how to fish bluegills, if you would like a romantic getaway or an opportunity to reconnect with old friends around a campfire, maybe even tie on some ice skates and venture out on a frozen lake, then the Hideaway Resort is the place for you.