Lake Minnetonka

Big Island Park (commonly referred to as Big Island Amusement Park) was a popular tourist destination that existed near Minneapolis, Minnesota between 1906 and 1911 on Lake Minnetonka's Big Island. Today the property is a municipal nature park owned by the City of Orono, sometimes referred to as Big Island Nature Park to distinguish it from the former amusement park.

Minnetonka Beach is a community in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 539 at the 2010 census.

Crystal Bay is an unincorporated community in Orono, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is a farming community with many of these hobby farms having been owned by the wealthy of Minneapolis. Crystal Bay has its own post office with ZIP code 55323.

Greenwood is a community on Saint Albans Bay on Lake Minnetonka in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States just northeast of the community of Excelsior, Minnesota. The population was 688 at the 2010 census.

The Old Log Theatre is the oldest professional theater in the state of Minnesota. It is sometimes cited as the oldest continuously operating professional theater in the United States. It is located in Excelsior and is funded entirely by ticket sales and income from its restaurant.

Deephaven is a small city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The community is located on Lake Minnetonka. The community’s center is the historic Cottagewood General Store, which has been serving the Lake Minnetonka area since 1895. It is located 14 miles (23 km) west-southwest of downtown Minneapolis. The population was 3,642 as of the 2010 Census, down from 3,853 as of the 2000 census.

Excelsior ( ek-SEL-see-ər) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. Excelsior's historic commercial district along Water Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the town has many Victorian-era houses. On Lake Minnetonka's southern shore, the community serves as a local tourism destination for shoppers, boaters, and restaurant-goers. Considered a western suburb of the Twin Cities, Excelsior is about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of downtown Minneapolis. Its population was 2,414 as of the 2020 census. Excelsior's major roadway is Minnesota State Highway 7.

Excelsior Amusement Park was an amusement park on Lake Minnetonka in the town of Excelsior, Minnesota, United States. The park, which operated from 1925 to 1973, was a popular destination for company picnics and day trips from the Twin Cities.

Minnehaha is a steam-powered excursion vessel on Lake Minnetonka in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The vessel was originally in service between 1906 and 1926. After being scuttled in 1926, Minnehaha was raised from the bottom of Lake Minnetonka in 1980, restored, and returned to active service in 1996. The vessel operated uninterrupted on Lake Minnetonka until 2019. It is currently stored in a maintenance facility in the town of Excelsior.

The Allemarinda and James Wyer House is a Victorian cottage beside Lake Minnetonka in Excelsior, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1887 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Its nomination form called it the largest and best preserved of Excelsior's Eastlake style summer homes built around 1880. From 1925 through 1974, it served as the home for managers of the Excelsior Amusement Park.

Excelsior Public School is a former school building in Excelsior, Minnesota, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The school was built in the Georgian Revival style between 1899 and 1901 to serve Excelsior during a time of growth in the community. Before this building was built, two other school buildings were located on the site. The first was moved to 321-323 Third Street, and the second was destroyed by fire.The building originally housed grades 1 through 7 in four classrooms on the first floor, and eighth-grade and high school students were on the second floor. At the time of its construction, it was deemed the finest school in rural Hennepin County. By 1908, the school served 308 students, and by 1915 the high school students had moved to a new building on Oak Street.The school bell, mounted in a bell tower, had to be removed from the tower in 1962 because of a decaying structure. It was mounted on a granite pedestal next to the Excelsior Public Library in 1966. In 1964, the school was closed, and later became administrative offices for the Minnetonka School District. The building is currently used for office space.

The Thompson Summer House is a house in Minnetonka Beach, Minnesota, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located on Hennepin County Road 15, across from Lafayette Bay on Lake Minnetonka. The house was built in 1887 for Charles Telford Thompson, an attorney and civil leader, and his wife. It was listed on the National Register as a typical example of the types of Queen Anne summer homes that middle and upper-class Minneapolis residents owned on Lake Minnetonka during the end of the 19th century. An identical house owned by Samuel A. Harris, Charles Thompson's brother-in-law, once sat adjacent to the Thompson Summer House, but was demolished in 1968. In the 1990s, the house faced deterioration from erosion and rot. In an effort to stabilize the foundation and rebuild the wraparound porch while preserving the character of the house, the owners undertook a major restoration project. The project, conducted by Wes Foss, the husband of Thompson's great-great-granddaughter Debbie, was featured on a three-part episode of Hometime on PBS and won an award from the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota in 2005.The house is currently one of the oldest extant summer houses on Lake Minnetonka and is in excellent condition. It is still used strictly as a summer home (as it has always been) and frequently hosts family gatherings.