Though sections of Buena Vista County were settled in the late 1850s, the county's principal city, Storm Lake, was not established until 1870. The grid of streets was laid out just north of the lake of the same name. A meandering curving road, Lake Shore Drive, follows along the perimeter of the lake. Two parks, Willow Park and Elm Park, intervene between Lake Shore Drive and the lake. On East Lake Shore Drive is the restored Dahl log cabin (1871). This cabin of squared logs was moved from a rural site near Rembrandt.