Lake Minnetonka (Images of America)
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Known to native peoples for centuries as a sacred place and hunting ground, the ninth largest of Minnesotas 10,000 lakes remained unchanged until its shores were opened to settlement in 1851. The following year, New York promoter George Bertram wrote, For healthfulness of climate, fertility of soil, beauty of scenery and nearness to markets [it] cannot be surpassed by any other locality in the country, being within twelve or fifteen miles of two of the most important towns in the territory . . . navigable for steam and other boats over forty-one miles, its waters clear as crystal and abounding with fish. Settlers began to flock to Lake Minnetonkas 120 miles of shoreline, clearing the Big Woods and building new lives in the wilderness. Soon, the lake became a tourist destination; thousands traveled across the country to stay in its lavish hotels, ride in massive steamboats, and enjoy the lakes beauty.
east along Lake Street in the early 1930s were, from left to right, the C.J. Martinson clinic, Wayzata Pharmacy, Wayzata State Bank, Pettitt & Kysor Grocery, Rettinger Ford, and the village hall. All the buildings, except Rettinger Ford and the village hall, remain today. (WZHS.) 73 Mound, 1942. The town was bustling with its paved streets, automobile traffic, and sidewalks to encourage strolling and window shopping. Finley Motors, Mound’s first car dealership, is at right. At left are Yost
Maplewood Inn, Woodland. Built by Samuel Gale in 1868 on a hill south of Breezy Point, this was thought to be the first summer cottage on the lake. It became a boardinghouse and was enlarged to 20 guest rooms. Later a hotel with a lakeside pavilion, it burned in 1903, but the laundry shed survived and was used as a school in September and May for cottagers’ children. (ELMHS.) Minnetonka House, Wayzata. Built in 1870 by Henry Maurer and William Rockwell, this hotel along Lake Street overlooked
fishermen.” The hotel closed in 1919 and burned down in 1923. (WTHS.) Hotel Keewaydin, Deephaven. Built on the site of Hotel Cottagewood, which had burned in 1902, the Keewaydin opened in 1903, and within two years it had 75 rooms, a ballroom, restaurant, billiard room, and grounds for tennis and croquet. It was accessible by boat and train, with streetcar boats making scheduled stops at the dock. It burned in 1924. (ELMHS.) 92 The Excelsior, c. 1905. In 1901, Dr. George LaPaul built the
oversaw Little Orchard Farm, mothering her Jersey herd with attention to milk quality. Smithtown Bay’s Boulder Bridge Farm raised prize-winning Guernseys, as owner George Dayton insisted his cows be milked by hand to maintain human contact. After World War II, large-acreage farms declined. Original owners were aging, and inherited acreage proved too costly to maintain. Land became more valuable as residential subdivisions. 99 Minnetonka Mill, Minnetonka Mills, c. 1883. A sawmill was
Following crop losses after the 1857 grasshopper invasion, Keesling and his brother-in-law worked digging ginseng. Payment in gold for this wonder plant offered financial recovery. Benjamin managed the Dudley Hotel, owned by William and Anna Dudley, and served as a town board member, justice of the peace, and school board director. (WZHS.) 15 The Halsted Brothers. Capt. Frank Halsted (left) homesteaded in Minnetrista on Halsted Bay in 1855. After Civil War service, he built a cabin on the west