Including Submerged Boats and Other Artifacts
LMPA Board vice president Scot Lacek uncovered a Lake Minnewashta Sonar Survey Project Report published in 2021. We thought you might be interested if you haven’t seen it yet. It mentions some history of the lake, and the wrecks found in the sonar/underwater survey done on our lake. An extract of the report appears below but click the link to see the report in it’s entirety.
https://ia904502.us.archive.org/19/items/2021-lake-minnewashta-project-report/2021-LakeMinnewashta-ProjectReport.pdf
Archaeology and History
In archaeological terms, the area around Lake Minnewashta in Carver County west of Minneapolis was populated during the state’s prehistory. Numerous prehistoric sites – most of them consisting of burial mounds of the Woodland Period – have been recorded at nearby Lake Minnetonka and other, smaller bodies of water in southern Hennepin County. To the west of Lake Minnewashta, 1 burial mound (21-CR-6) was reported to the Office of the State Archaeologist in 1952, along with the information that sherds and worked stone had been discovered by land owners (Arzigian and Stevenson 2003, 354; OSA 1952).
Minnewashta/Minnewashta Park
A Post-Contact site on the north shore of the lake – the ‘Ghost Town’ site of Minnewashta
(21-CR-l) was “a village mainly of summer homes”. No physical remains of the town
have been located, but it is noted on at least 2 contemporary maps where it was called
‘Minnewashta Park’. Further, O.C. Meaker divided and platted his parcel on the north
side of the lake in 1884 and “Meaker’s Minnewashta Lake lots” were on the market
in 1889; part of this land may have been Minnewashta/Minnewashta Park. Minnewashta Park was also referred to as ‘the upper lake neighborhood of Minnewashta” since it was placed between both Lake Minnewashta and Lake Minnetonka – and “the ladies of the neighborhood of Minnewashta” were referred to as a group in social situations, and “the people of the Minnewashta neighborhood held a picnic”. As far back as 1870, Lake Minnewashta joined Lake Minnetonka, Christmas Lake, and Clearwater Lake (Lake Waconia) as a destination for a day trip out of the Twin Cities. In newspaper social columns, sometimes referred to as “Lakelets”, parties “of gentlemen from St. Louis went to
However, in February 1887, the Minnesota Senate passed a bill “to prohibit the catching of fish in Lake Minnewashta, Carver county”. Apparently the Senate bill did not pass the Minnesota House because efforts “to regulate the catching of fish in Lakes Virginia and Minnewashta” or “To protect and preserve the fish in Lakes Virginia and Minnewashta” were still being considered in 1889. Evidence of the existence of ‘Minnewashta Park’ is seen in registered land transactions; it seems the Lathams were liquidating their land holdings in 1887 and 1890, selling 9 lots for $7,930. Community activities were described in social columns. Particularly interesting was a baseball game hosted at Minnewashta, when the “Minnewashta club and a scrub nine from Excelsior crossed bats Sunday afternoon on the Minnewashta grounds in a five-inning game. the batteries were Mellie Harrison and Fred Shepherd for Excelsior and Leach and Merritt for Minnewashta. The Excelsior nine won by a score of 25 to 18”. Another game was briefly mentioned in 1894. A notable land owner on the lake, beginning in April 1902, was former Minnesota Governor John Lind; Lind purchased 160 acres of farm land with existing sugar plants and planned to construct a seasonal country home. Efforts to alleviate a low pike population in Lake Minnewashta was undertaken using eggs collected from Otter Tail Lake in May 1902 as part of the re-stocking of lakes in the southern 3/4 of the state. Farm land around Lake Minnewashta was found to be well- suited for fruit production as part of “Lake Minnetonka fruit country”, including raspberries, apples, cherries, plums, grapes, currants, blackberries, and strawberries. Additionally, in 1902, large tracts of farm fields, meadows, and timberland – often associated with the shoreline – were offered for sale around the lake. Many instances of people living on Lake Minnewashta being referred to as ‘from Minnewashta’ or ‘of Minnewashta’ can be fond in contemporary newspaper accounts, particularly in relation to sports and education – “of the Minnewashta school” and “young people from Minnewashta” (Little Falls Transcript 1889; Minneapolis Journal 1902a, 17 May; 1902b, 28 May; 1903, 26 June; Minneapolis Morning Tribune 1911; Minneapolis Tribune 1889b- c, 1894, 1903; Mower County Transcript 1902; New Ulm Review 1887, 1902; St. Paul Sunday Globe 1887, 1890a, 1890b; Willmar Tribune 1902).
Red Cedar Point
The neighborhood of Red Cedar Point was established on the west side of Lake Minnewashta on a prominent peninsula; its development began in 1913. The lake’s sandy shoreline led to higher land where residential lots were platted, and the area was filled with red cedar, oak, and linden trees. Lakeshore lots were selling for $400 – $700, while ‘interior’ lots cost between $100 and $230. Selling points for choosing a Red Cedar Point residential lot were the conveniences offered to buyers due to the proximity of Lake Minnewashta to the busy and ‘connected’ Lake Minnetonka.
Included in these amenities were the free delivery of ice, meat, groceries and supplies from Excelsior, nearby – cheap (18¢ one-way) rail service into the Twin Cities on the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway, ad the private bathing beach. An even bigger selling point for the development was its secluded area on the west side of Lake Minnewashta that is “not reached by the hordes of fisherman from the city” – yet still close enough to Minneapolis for a daily commute (Minneapolis Sunday Tribune 1913a-c; Minneapolis Morning Tribune 1914a-b).
Camp Fire Minnesota (Formerly known as Camp Tanadoona)
Camp Tanadoona on Lake Minnewashta, opened in 1924, was the summer lodge for
the local Camp Fire Girls troop. In the summer of 1926, the Rotary Club was
purchased boats and canoes for the Camp and the lodge was undergoing remodeling.
The camp served Minnesota girls from out-state towns such as Springfield and
Crookston, and in 1926, the Camp Minneapolis Council. Also during the
summer of 1926, the Camp Fire Girls held “a water carnival in which rowboats, canoes
and floats were decorated…by the campers from Springfield to Crookston, the old
Minneapolis campers and the counsellors”.
Later that summer, Tanadoona hosted the Okihi Camp Fire group during a weekend outing. The girls swam, studied nature, and went on a ‘treasure hunt’. Interestingly, during the summer of 1927, the Camp Fire Girls were trained in solar reflecting oven bread-baking, and it was noted that a lifesaving boat had been acquired for the camp, only to be used in cases of emergency. These early years of the development of Camp Tanadoona set up the foundation for decades of kid’s camps that still continue; Camp Fire Girls and Boys are still busy at Lake Minnewashta, 97 years after its founding (Minneapolis Daily Star 1926; Minneapolis Sunday Tribune 1926a-b, 1927).
