Editing Minnetonka, Minnesota (section)

==History==
Since the mid-19th century, Minnetonka has evolved from heavily wooded wilderness through extensive farming and industrialization to its present primarily residential suburban character. The Minnetonka area was home to the [[Dakota people|Dakota]] and [[Ojibwe people|Ojibwe]] Native American tribes before Euro-Americans arrived in the 1800s.  They believed [[Lake Minnetonka]] (''mni'' meaning water, and ''tanka'' meaning big, anglicized to Minnetonka) and the land around it to be sacred.  The first recorded exploration of the area by [[Euro-Americans]] was in 1822, when a group from newly constructed [[Fort Snelling]] made its way up [[Minnehaha Creek]] (then known as Brown's Creek or Falls Creek) to the lake.  In 1851, the Dakota sold the area including Minnetonka to the United States with the [[Treaty of Traverse des Sioux]].  The first census, the Territorial Census of 1857, lists 41 households. Twenty-nine of the heads of households are listed as farmers. The occupations of the remaining twelve are associated with the operations of Minnetonka Mill and a nearby hotel.<ref>[http://www.minnetonka-history.org/history.html A Brief History of Minnetonka] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060604012128/http://www.minnetonka-history.org/history.html|date=June 4, 2006}}, Minnetonka Historical Society</ref>

In 1852, a claim was staked on Minnehaha Creek near McGinty Road.  The [[sawmill]] that was constructed in the thick woods of [[maple tree|maple]], [[oak]], [[elm tree|elm]], [[Juniperus virginiana|red cedar]] and [[basswood]] was the first privately operated mill in Minnesota west of the [[Mississippi River]].  Oak timbers from this mill were used to build the first suspension bridge across the Mississippi River at [[Saint Anthony Falls]] in 1853.  The settlement of Minnetonka Mills that grew up around the mill was the first permanent European–American settlement west of Minneapolis in Hennepin County.  In 1855, a two-story sawmill was constructed with a furniture factory on the second floor. A building for [[varnish]]ing furniture was built on the south side of the creek, at the present Bridge Street.  Production consisted mainly of chairs and [[bedstead]]s.

[[File:Charles H. Burwell House.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The [[Charles H. Burwell House]]]]
[[File:2009-0612-07-CargillLakeOffice.jpg|thumb|250px|The Cargill Lake Office, occupying a former mansion, formerly housed the company's top executives.]]

In 1860, after only 8 years of operation, the sawmill closed. In 1869, a [[flour mill|flour]] and [[grist mill]] were constructed and operated until the late 1880s.  In 1874, Charles H. Burwell came to manage the Minnetonka Mill Company, and he built a [[Victorian architecture|Victorian home]] on the north bank of Minnehaha Creek (Minnetonka Boulevard at McGinty Road East) for his family.  The [[Charles H. Burwell House]] is now on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and is owned by the city.  There were two other mills in Minnetonka: the St. Alban's Mill, which was less than {{convert|1|mi|km|0}} downstream from Minnetonka Mills on Minnehaha Creek, operated as a flour mill from 1874 to 1881. A grist mill built on Purgatory Creek was washed out in a flood shortly after construction.  Minnetonka Mills, with its post office and port for Lake Minnetonka, was the principal business and trading center for a large area until the 1870s.

Between 1883 and 1956, the area within the original {{convert|36|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} township grew smaller as [[Wayzata, Minnesota|Wayzata]], [[Hopkins, Minnesota|Hopkins]], [[Deephaven, Minnesota|Deephaven]], [[Woodland, Minnesota|Woodland]] and [[St. Louis Park, Minnesota|Saint Louis Park]] incorporated or annexed portions of then-Minnetonka Township.

Until as late as the 1960s, many portions of Minnetonka were still rural in character, with horse pasture and farms. Those final areas have since been developed with the city now a fully developed suburban community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} City of Minnetonka, MN |url=https://www.minnetonkamn.gov/our-city/about-minnetonka/history |access-date=October 7, 2022 |website=www.minnetonkamn.gov |language=en}}</ref>

The Minnetonka Town Hall, built in 1906, is on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tribune |first=Katy Read Star |title=Downtown Excelsior, the Steamboat Minnehaha named to the National Register of Historic Places |url=https://www.startribune.com/downtown-excelsior-the-steamboat-minnehaha-named-to-the-national-register-of-historic-places/600111572/ |access-date=November 8, 2021 |website=Star Tribune}}</ref>