Our Mission

Established in 2009, we are a voluntary, non-regulatory organization. Our mission is to provide information and education on maintaining the quality of the Tabor Lake area and its wildlife; to promote environmental protection of the area; and to gather together as a community for social activities related to our common interests in the lake.

About Tabor Lake, Wisconsin

Tabor Lake is located in the Town of Swiss, Burnett County, Wisconsin.  The lake is approximately 170 acres in size, with a maximum depth of 31 feet, and is classified as a deep seepage lake, meaning that its water comes directly from rain, snowmelt, surface runoff, and underground groundwater rising from the bottom.  Panfish, Largemouth Bass and Northern Pike are present in the lake.  The lake has good water quality, having been monitored by volunteers since 1995.  The lake is at the head of a chain of nine lakes.

Tabor Lake, which was originally known as Loon Lake, is named in recognition of Irving Tabor, one of its first property owners   Tabor was born in Ithaca Wisconsin in 1870, raised primarily in Independence Iowa and died in Corpus Christi Texas in 1933, where he had been residing for much of his adult life.  He was described on his death certificate as a “retired capitalist,” but was primarily engaged in the lumber business.  Whether this business first led him to our area is unknown.

In 1913, after purchasing a sizable parcel on the north side of the lake in the area now serviced by Dunrovin Road, Tabor arranged for C. W. Robie, a local contractor, to construct a lodge measuring 82 x 26 feet, which Tabor named Long Horn Lodge.  The lodge was apparently the first home constructed on the lake.  A later newspaper article stated that “by local standards of that day, the building was quite pretentious and the view overlooking the lake was and still is enviable.”

Irving Tabor’s family, including his wife Margaret, son Steven and daughters Dorothy, Marjorie and Marybel, traveled each summer from their home in Corpus Christi to their property on the lake, where they typically resided from May through the hunting season.  The Tabor family’s tradition of making an annual excursion to the lake continued from 1913 until Irving Tabor’s death in 1933.

Following Tabor’s death, the Long Horn Lodge property was purchased by Burton Nelson, then president of Stout Institute.  Nelson was responsible for setting in motion a drive to change the name of the lake to Tabor Lake in order to distinguish the lake from the many “Loon” lakes which were then in existence.  The name change was accomplished with state and federal recognition in February 1936.

Thanks to a serendipitous connection with Steven Frank, Irving Tabor’s grandson, the Association recently obtained possession of many Tabor family photos and records concerning the family’s time on the lake. 

Know anything else about our lake's history? Send an email!