Editing Wayzata, Minnesota (section)

==History==
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2021}}

===Early history===
The name "Wayzata" comes from the [[Dakota people|Dakota]] word ''wazíyata'', meaning “north” or “north shore.” The [[Mdewakanton]], a subtribe of the Dakota nation, treasured Lake Minnetonka—the "Big Water"—as a place for [[hunting]], [[fishing]], and harvesting [[wild rice]] and [[maple sap]]. Spirit Knob, a peninsula in Wayzata Bay, was regarded as a particularly sacred place.<ref name=":1">[http://www.wayzatahistoricalsociety.org/AboutWayzata.htm Wayzata Historical Society], City History</ref> The Dakota resided in this area of Minnesota until 1851, when the [[Treaty of Mendota]] was signed and land west of the Mississippi was opened for [[Euro-American]] settlement. Most Dakota were exiled from Minnesota after 1862.

Oscar E. Garrison originally platted Wayzata in 1854. In 1855, it saw an influx of [[settlers]], who built a [[sawmill]], a [[hotel]], and a [[blacksmith shop]]. Most early settlers made their living by [[clear-cutting]] the land to grow [[corn]] and [[wheat]]. In 1857, this flourishing economy was nearly terminated by a [[grasshopper]] infestation, but the community rebounded when [[American ginseng|ginseng]] was discovered in the remaining [[hardwood forest]]. Ginseng root was in great demand as an [[aphrodisiac]] in [[China]]. During this boom, Wayzata became a collection center for ginseng roots discovered around Lake Minnetonka.

In 1867 the [[Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad]] extended its tracks to Wayzata, making it the area's transportation hub. The railroad was particularly important to local [[farmers]] because they now had easy access to markets in [[Minneapolis]], [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|Saint Paul]], and beyond. The railroad also made Wayzata the original "gateway" to Lake Minnetonka, which was billed as a place of commanding beauty and good health.

===Resort period===
[[File:SectionHouseWayzataMN.jpg|thumb|left|Wayzata section foreman's house, between Lake Minnetonka and the railroad tracks, an example of early construction in the city]]
In the 1860s and 1870s many small hotels and [[boarding houses]] were erected around Wayzata and Lake Minnetonka to accommodate tourists. One early example was the Maurer House-West Hotel, which was built near the corner of Lake Street and Broadway Avenue. Most local hotels and boarding houses were rather primitive until 1879, when the 150-room Hotel Saint Louis was built in [[Deephaven, Minnesota|Deephaven]].

Most Lake Minnetonka tourists in the late 1800s arrived in Wayzata by [[train]]. [[Steamboats]] waited for new arrivals near the foot of Broadway Avenue and took them to destinations across the lake. Some of these steamboats, such as the ''City of Saint Louis'' and ''Belle of Minnetonka'', were quite large. The ''Belle of Minnetonka'' was {{convert|300|ft|m|0}} long and could purportedly carry 2,500 passengers.

Wayzata was officially incorporated as a [[village (United States)|village]] in 1883. One of the village council's first orders of business was to reroute the railroad tracks north of town. [[James J. Hill]], who had become chairman of the newly formed [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Saint Paul, Minneapolis, & Manitoba Railway]] in 1879, initially ignored the council's order. When the council took the case to [[Minnesota Supreme Court|court]], Hill reacted by demolishing the [[train station]] at the foot of Broadway Avenue and building a new one east of town at a stop called "Holdridge." He declared that Wayzata residents could "walk a mile for the next twenty years" to catch the train. Hill moved the tracks as well, but rather than rerouting them north of town, he moved them closer to the lake.

Hill was also connected to Wayzata and Lake Minnetonka through the Arlington Hotel, Hotel Lafayette, and ''Belle of Minnetonka'', all owned by the Saint Paul, Minneapolis, & Manitoba Railway. He purchased Wayzata's Arlington Hotel in 1881 and never reopened it. By the 1890s, Lake Minnetonka had largely fallen out of favor as a vacation destination for wealthy tourists. A number of factors including new [[Interstate Commerce Act of 1887|railroad regulations]], new [[resort town|vacation spots]], and a national [[Panic of 1893|economic depression]] contributed to this decline.

===Cottage period===
As national tourism to Lake Minnetonka faded in the 1890s, a new era for Wayzata began. Many urban dwellers began to construct summer [[cottages]] along Lake Minnetonka's shores as the Twin Cities grew. While many of these new cottages were modest, some were monumental. Wayzata became home to a large collection of grand [[villa|country estates]] along the Ferndale Shore. Notable families who built country estates there include the Bells, Boveys, Crosbys, Peaveys, Pillsburys, and Washburns.

Despite the influx of new summer residences, Wayzata barely grew during this period. That changed in 1905, when the village council voted for a Reconciliation Ordinance to repair relations with Hill and his railway (now known as the “[[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern]]”). He responded by building a new train [[Wayzata station|depot]] near downtown Wayzata. At the depot's grand opening celebration in 1906, he declared it the “handsomest” on the entire Great Northern line.

[[File:City of Wayzata - Wayzata Depot.jpg|thumb|right|[[Wayzata station|Great Northern depot]], built 1906]]

Wayzata was also connected to a new form of water transportation in 1906. The [[Twin City Rapid Transit Company]] launched six new “Express Boats” on Lake Minnetonka that served as an extension of the Twin City [[streetcar]] system. The service was discontinued in 1926 after several years of declining ridership. Some of the Express Boats were [[scuttling|scuttled]] (purposely sunk) in the lake that year. One, the [[Museum of Lake Minnetonka|''Minnehaha'']], was raised from the depths in 1980, restored, and returned to passenger service in 1996.

As the cottage era continued, downtown Wayzata rebounded with residences and small commercial centers at each end of Lake Street. [[Motorboating]] was all the rage by 1920, and Wayzata was at the center of the trend with two nationally famous boat makers, Ramaley and Wise, based there. In 1929 the Ramaley Boat Company merged with Wise Boat Works and Walker Boat Works to form Minnetonka Boat Works. Minnetonka Boat Works eventually became well-known manufacturers and distributors of Tonka-Craft and [[Chris-Craft Boats|Chris-Craft]] power boats.

===20th century===
Wayzata's population nearly doubled in the decades leading up to [[World War II]]. Wayzatans were fortunate when one of their own, Mayor [[Rand Tower|Rufus Rand]], stepped forward to lead the town in meeting the challenges of modernizing its infrastructure. Under Rand, water and sewer service was provided to every building, streetlights were installed, roads were paved, and the public [[beach]] and park was opened.

After World War II, many local farms and summer cottages were converted for use as year-round, [[single-family homes]]. Many new homes and gas stations were also constructed during this time. [[U.S. Highway 12]], which was built in the 1920s, was widened to four lanes, and the population swelled. Downtown Wayzata residences were replaced by more stores serving not only Wayzatans, but also new families moving onto the former [[farmlands]] outside Wayzata. By the 1950s, the greater [[Minneapolis-Saint Paul]] metropolitan area had reached Wayzata.

[[File:Wayzata Community Church.jpg|thumb|right|Wayzata Community Church]]

After it became a [[charter city]], Wayzata began to annex land from [[Minnetonka, Minnesota|Minnetonka]], [[Plymouth, Minnesota|Plymouth]], and [[Orono, Minnesota|Orono]], and doubled in size.<ref name=":1" /> U.S. Highway 12 was widened again to become a freeway in the 1970s and a new shopping center opened {{convert|5|miles}} down the road. These physical and economic changes caused some of Wayzata's downtown shops to be replaced by condominiums and office buildings. Strip malls and fast food franchises came to a part of the town near the highway.[[File:Downtown Wayzata.jpg|thumb|right|Lake Street in downtown]]