The Maple Plain Civic and Commerce Association was organized in 1951. In 1968 the officers were: the Reverend Rudolph Palo, President; Edward Anderson, Vice-President; Roland Maski, Secretary; and Frank James, Treasurer.
On Lake Independence just east of the former Perkins
ville
and on property that was formerly the Maple Hill farm is Morris T. Baker park. The 210 acres were a gift in 1956 to Hennepin County by the Morris T. Baker Foundation. Considerable legal action was necessary to finalize the creation of a Hennepin County Park Commission. The park has been developed with facilities for overnight camping, swimming, boating, picnicking and day camps. The Commission has now acquired 1700 acres for future development.
In 1929 the Minneapolis YMCA purchased land on the northeast shore of Lake Independence from Annie Forbes and the next year Camp Ihduhapi was founded. The camp is spread out over a total of 152 acres, and also has a 20 acre island near the camp. This is a busy camp operating the year around. In the summer an average of 145 boys plus a staff of 40 use the camp each week. During the summer of 1968 a total of 955 boys attended camp. From September 1967 to June 1968 as many as 10,000 campers used the camp facilities. These people came from 147 groups mainly church, school, and Y-groups.