Welcome to our blog about Lake Minnetonka Lake Shore

Lake Minnetonka is a 14,000 acre lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Throughout its recorded history, the lake has been a resort destination. It is located west-southwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The lake's irregular shape with numerous bays means that it has over 200 miles (320 km) of coastline.

Early history

The first known people of European descent to visit the lake were two 14-year-old boys from Fort Snelling, Joe Brown and Will Snelling. They found the lake in 1822 by paddling up Minnehaha Creek, though few people visited the lake in the following 30 years.

In 1852, the lake was given its name by Minnesota's territorial governor Alexander Ramsey. He had been told that American Indians in the area used a phrase sounding like minn-ni-tanka, meaning “big water,” to refer to the lake. The same year, the first settlements were constructed around it, and in 1853, the first hotel was built.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha in 1855, which referred to Minnesota and landmarks of the area such as Minnehaha Falls. This gave the area national interest.

1861 saw the introduction of steamboats; the first one was the Governor Ramsey, named to honor the man who named the lake. Following the Civil War, a rail line operated by St. Paul & Pacific Co. connected to the area in 1867.

The first inland steamboat to have electric lights, the City of St. Louis, was built in Wayzata in 1881. The next year, the largest ship to ever sail the lake was launched; the Belle of Minnetonka was 300 feet long and could carry 2500 passengers. The 1880s marked the steamboats' heyday as tourist destinations. By 1892, the Belle stayed moored at her dock all summer long.