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Lake Minnetonka

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263 Properties Found. Showing Page 1 of 30
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Commanding The Major Share Of The Lake's Most Prominent...

Photo of Listing #4095375
$24,000,000
Orono, MN
7 13 12 32,461 ft² Residential
Price:
$24,000,000
City:
Orono
Beds:
7
Baths:
13
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4095375
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

Commanding The Major Share Of The Lake's Most Prominent Point,...

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Exceptional Lake Minnetonka Opportunity With Reuter...

Photo of Listing #4358789
$8,950,000
Wayzata, MN
5 6 4 8,180 ft² Residential
Price:
$8,950,000
City:
Wayzata
Beds:
5
Baths:
6
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4358789
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

Exceptional Lake Minnetonka Opportunity With Reuter Walton Construction...

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One Of The Most Extraordinary Sites On Lake Minnetonka....

Photo of Listing #4181239
$5,900,000
Wayzata, MN
5 6 2 6,550 ft² Residential
Price:
$5,900,000
City:
Wayzata
Beds:
5
Baths:
6
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4181239
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

One Of The Most Extraordinary Sites On Lake Minnetonka. Does...

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Exquisite Property On Wayzata Bay, Nestled Privately...

Photo of Listing #4340266
$5,500,000
Wayzata, MN
6 9 6 10,779 ft² Residential
Price:
$5,500,000
City:
Wayzata
Beds:
6
Baths:
9
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4340266
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

Exquisite Property On Wayzata Bay, Nestled Privately Amongst...

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Rare, Prime Estate In Heart Of Main Lake. Nearly 4...

Photo of Listing #4368239
$5,395,000
Deephaven, MN
6 8 4 8,575 ft² Residential
Price:
$5,395,000
City:
Deephaven
Beds:
6
Baths:
8
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4368239
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

Rare, Prime Estate In Heart Of Main Lake. Nearly 4 Secluded Acres...

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Prime Woodland Setting Atop 1.7 Acre Estate Lot On...

Photo of Listing #4130200
$4,995,000
Woodland, MN
6 11 9 12,610 ft² Residential
Price:
$4,995,000
City:
Woodland
Beds:
6
Baths:
11
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4130200
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

Prime Woodland Setting Atop 1.7 Acre Estate Lot On Minnetonka's...

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Absolute Turnkey Perfection-almost New-built By Kyle...

Photo of Listing #4363452
$4,795,000
Deephaven, MN
5 6 3 6,594 ft² Residential
Price:
$4,795,000
City:
Deephaven
Beds:
5
Baths:
6
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4363452
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

Absolute Turnkey Perfection-almost New-built By Kyle Hunt. 135...

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Created By Harrison Fraker, Head Of Uofm Arch School....

Photo of Listing #4197975
$4,750,000
Wayzata, MN
4 7 4 5,652 ft² Residential
Price:
$4,750,000
City:
Wayzata
Beds:
4
Baths:
7
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4197975
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

Created By Harrison Fraker, Head Of Uofm Arch School. Kinetic...

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Incredible Sunset Vistas From This Cottagewood Landmark....

Photo of Listing #4342966
$4,495,000
Deephaven, MN
5 6 4 6,348 ft² Residential
Price:
$4,495,000
City:
Deephaven
Beds:
5
Baths:
6
Type:
Residential
MLS® #:
4342966
Provider:
Coldwell Banker Burnet

Incredible Sunset Vistas From This Cottagewood Landmark. Sophisticated...

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More About Lake Minnetonka

Lake Minnetonka is a 14,528-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 is an irregular shape with numerous bays and islands which make up about 125 miles of shoreline. The lake is located almost entirely within Hennepin County; however, its southernmost extension, at Smithtown Bay, reaches into the city of Victoria, in northeastern Carver County.

Early History

The first people of European descent known to have visited the lake were two teenaged boys from Fort St. Anthony (later to be renamed Fort Snelling), Joe Brown and Will Snelling. The two seventeen-year-olds 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.

20th Century

In 1905, Twin City Rapid Transit first connected streetcar lines to the lake. This marked a golden age for the lake, with more rapid growth as TCRT added more resorts to the area and launched their “streetcar boats.” Actually named Express Boats, they were steamboats that shared the appearance of streetcars. At first six, and then seven, such boats would take arriving streetcar passengers and steam them to over twenty different endpoints on the lake. For a time, one destination was the Big Island Amusement Park, about the same size as today's Valleyfair, but it only lasted about five years before it was shut down. Later, Excelsior Amusement Park had greater success, with seasonal operations running from 1925 through 1973.

Crane Island, on the western side of the lake, was organized as a summer cottage retreat in 1907. The Crane Island Association platted a number of lots on the shores of the island and dedicated a commons area in the center of the island. The island had originally been a heron rookery until a storm blew down most of the trees in the center of the island in 1906. The island is now a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

President William Howard Taft made Lake Minnetonka his summer home in 1911, but business in the area had started going down again by that time. In 1926, most of the Express Boats were scuttled in deep water near the lake's Big Island. On October 26 of the same year, architect Frank Lloyd Wright was arrested for violating the Mann Act while vacationing at a cottage near the lake with a woman who would later become his wife.

Recreation


Lake Minnetonka is a popular for fishing, lake cruises, and sailing.

The lake contains black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin, carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and yellow perch. Some fish consumption guideline restrictions have been placed on the lake's bluegill, carp, largemouth bass, northern pike, and walleye due to mercury contamination.

According to a popular legend, a sturgeon in excess of 10 feet in length has been sighted on more than one occasion in the lake. These sightings have persisted over the last 30 years. The sturgeon is often referred to as "Lou."

Geography


Gray's Bay Dam on the lake's east end helps to control the water level. This structure is also called the Headwaters Control Structure of Gray's Bay. The flow over the dam ranges from zero to 300 cu ft per second or a daily rate of up to 26 million gallons. Evaporation from Lake Minnetonka can be as high as 50 million US gallons a day. According the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, annual evaporation from the lake is about 30 inches of water, or 11.5 billion US gallons. This is countered by an average rate of 28 inches of rainfall, and 20 inches of run off water.

 

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