Hey There

In 1879, Northwest Minnesota opened up for settlement. William and Sarah Bailey homesteaded a small farm nestled between Lake Sarah and Union Lake. They cleared oaks and maples away using axes and crosscut saws and when they could afford it a little dynamite for large tree stumps. Timber was floated North to the Erskine Railroad using Lake Sarah's natural outlet.

​

In 1921, the Grand Forks Rotary Club started Camp Rotary, a Boy Scout Camp on the Union Lake portion of the Bailey property and the east bay of the lake became known as Rotary Bay. Thousands of Boy Scouts visited the camp, until low lake levels of the Dust Bowl era resulted in Rotary Bay being cut off from the rest of the lake. The Bailey family bought back the Camp Rotary land in 1939.

​

As lake levels recovered, friends started asking Robert (Lan) Bailey about renting his personal fishing boat and a place to camp. In 1954, Lan and his wife Margaret opened a small resort named Linger Longer. From a small store in the heart of the old camp, they rented boats and sold bait and snacks. In 1958, their youngest son Jack took over and spent the next 56 years growing the business into a 130 site campground. Jack changed the name to Union Lake Sarah Campground in the 1970's to better reflect the unique location on two lakes. Today, the campground is owned by the four sons of Jack and Oralee Bailey.