Lake Minnetonka / Books
Books About Lake Minnetonka
Explore the lake through its houses, boats, islands, communities and people. This collection brings together 51 books, guides and historical booklets, each with a brief introduction on its own page.
The authors, photographers and historical societies behind these works have preserved the stories and images of Lake Minnetonka. Their contributions are credited with each title.
- Homes and architecture
- The lake and its islands
- Photographs and postcards
- Boats and resort life
- Early reference works
- Communities and estates
- Schools, music and industry
- Historical Insights booklets
- Lake guides and recreation
Homes and architecture
Legendary Homes of Lake Minnetonka
Bette Jones Hammel; photography by Karen Melvin
An invitation inside the lake's houses, from summer cottages and cabins to substantial estates and modern architecture. Hammel follows the people and decisions behind the homes, while Melvin's photographs show their interiors and relationship to the water.
Boathouses of Lake Minnetonka
Karen Melvin and Melinda Nelson
A photographic look inside nearly three dozen Lake Minnetonka boathouses, with accounts of the families who built them and the owners who care for them. Contemporary interiors and older photographs sit together, showing how these small waterfront buildings have changed.
Harry Wild Jones, American Architect
Elizabeth Vandam
A biography of architect Harry Wild Jones, whose work included buildings around Lake Minnetonka. Family photographs, diary material and an appendix of designs connect his career with the buildings he left behind.
The Trapper's Cabin of Wayzata
Irene Stemmer
The story of the Trapper's Cabin in Wayzata's Shaver Park, one of the town's oldest surviving structures. Stemmer, who helped save the cabin in 2014, follows the building and its preservation.
The lake and its islands
The History of Big Island, Lake Minnetonka
Paul Maravelas
A substantial study of Big Island and the surrounding lake, bringing natural history, the landscape, Dakota history and later island life into one volume. Maps, photographs, memoirs and illustrations accompany a documented account with footnotes, a bibliography and an index.
The Big Water: Lake Minnetonka and Its Place in Minnesota History
Frederick L. Johnson
A broad history that places Lake Minnetonka within Minnesota's larger story. Published by Deep Haven Books, Johnson's work offers a researched framework for understanding the lake beyond an individual town, family or shoreline.
Once Upon a Lake: A History of Lake Minnetonka and Its People
Thelma Jones
One of the familiar early histories of Lake Minnetonka, told largely through people, family memories and local stories. Jones, a Wayzata librarian, brought an intimate, conversational approach to the lake's past.
Tales from Tonka
Ellen Wilson Meyer
A collection of stories from the Lake Minnetonka area. Its smaller accounts give room to the people, memories and places that can be lost in a broad chronological history.
Historic Lake Minnetonka: Navigate Lake Minnetonka and Discover Its Rich History
Stephanie Larsen and Nancy Steinke
A bay-by-bay guide to Lake Minnetonka's hotels, steamboats and early estates. Its geographic approach connects a place on the water with the older story behind the name.
Barefoot on Crane Island: A Fond Reminiscence of Lake Minnetonka in the 1920s
Marjorie Myers Douglas
Douglas remembers childhood summers at her family's Crane Island cottage in the 1920s. Canoes, friendships and the rhythms of island life give this memoir a close, personal view of summers on the Upper Lake.
By the Waters of Minnetonka
Eric Dregni
Dregni explores Lake Minnetonka's history through its people, overlooked stories and enduring local legends. His account ranges from the Dakota past to later life along the shoreline, revisiting familiar tales and uncovering less familiar ones.
Photographs and postcards
Images of America: Lake Minnetonka
Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata and Westonka historical societies
A pictorial history assembled by three of the lake's historical societies and published by Arcadia. Its approximately 200 black-and-white images provide a view of earlier buildings, boats and lake communities.
Picturing Lake Minnetonka: A Postcard History
James W. Ogland
Vintage postcards and the photographers behind them provide a view of Lake Minnetonka's resort years. The book follows hotels, streetcar boats and the transportation connections that brought vacationers to the lake.
Lake Minnetonka - A Photographic Exploration
Bob Firth
Firth combines photographs, historic postcards, a map and information about Lake Minnetonka. The short illustrated volume offers a visual introduction to the lake and its surroundings.
Lake Minnetonka: 1850-2000 - A Pictorial History of Things and Places on Lake Minnetonka
Leo C. Meloche
Historic photographs and illustrations bring Lake Minnetonka's earlier buildings, places and shoreline into view. Meloche's pictorial history follows the lake across a century and a half, offering a visual companion to the written accounts of its communities.
Boats and resort life
Lake Minnetonka's Historic Hotels
Ellen Wilson Meyer
An illustrated account of the grand hotels that helped make Lake Minnetonka a summer destination. The buildings and their settings reveal a lake organized around guests, excursions and extended summer stays.
A Record of Old Boats
Randolph Edgar
A compact account of steam navigation on Lake Minnetonka beginning in 1860. Its vessel histories preserve a part of lake life when boats carried people and supplies as well as pleasure passengers.
A Directory of Old Boats
Scott D. McGinnis
An illustrated reference to Lake Minnetonka's earlier vessels, including steamers, sailing boats and launches. McGinnis brings the different kinds of boats together in a substantial directory of the lake's maritime past.
A Picture Book of the Excelsior Amusement Park from Rise to Demise, 1924-1974
Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society
Historic photographs trace the Excelsior Amusement Park from its rise to its closure. This picture book preserves the appearance of the park and the attractions that once drew visitors to the south shore.
Excelsior Amusement Park, Playland of the Twin Cities
Greg Van Gompel
Van Gompel follows Excelsior Amusement Park and its owners, the Pearce family, from the park's beginnings through its demolition and later legacy. Photographs from historical-society and private collections document a familiar south-shore destination.
Royal C. Moore, The Man Who Built the Streetcar Boats
Lori Cherland-McCune
A family-authored biography of Wayzata boat builder and businessman Royal C. Moore. Photographs and accounts of life and business around the lake follow the period from 1879 to 1930.
Early reference works
Guide and Directory of Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota
H. W. Mowry, publisher
A period guide and directory from the lake's nineteenth-century resort years. Its descriptions and names provide a contemporary record of residences, islands and places that later histories discuss in retrospect.
Minnetonka Story
Blanche Nichols Wilson
An early book-length account of Lake Minnetonka, published by Colwell Press and later reprinted. Its place in the lake's literature is important: it helped gather local stories into a single volume before many of the histories familiar today appeared.
History of Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis
George E. Warner and Charles M. Foote, compilers; includes work by Edward D. Neill
A nineteenth-century county history with material on the communities and people around Lake Minnetonka. Its descriptions preserve early place names and ownership references that can be compared with later histories and maps.
Guide & Map of Lake Minnetonka, Lake Minnetonka Tourist Booklet, circa 1930
Period tourist booklet; reproduced edition
A reproduction of a Lake Minnetonka tourist booklet from the 1930s, combining a map with photographs and descriptions of hotels, restaurants and local attractions. It shows how the lake was presented to visitors during that period.
Picturesque Minnetonka 1906 Tour Guide
S. E. Ellis, original publisher
A reproduced Lake Minnetonka tour guide from 1906. Its period descriptions and illustrations preserve the lake as visitors encountered it during the resort era.
Communities and estates
Happenings Around Excelsior: The First Hundred Years, 1853-1953
Ellen Wilson Meyer
A local history focused on Excelsior's first century. It gives the south shore a closer view, following the community and its relationship to the lake rather than attempting to cover every part of Minnetonka.
Happenings Around Wayzata
Ellen Wilson Meyer
A chronicle of Wayzata from 1853 through 1953, illustrated with historic photographs. It follows the town's first century and offers a local counterpart to Meyer's writing about other lake communities.
Boulder Bridge Farm: As It Was, 1926-1950
Deborah Morse-Kahn
An account of Boulder Bridge Farm during the period identified in its title. It offers a closer look at a named estate and the family life associated with it, including recollections connected to the surrounding lake.
Orono, Minnesota, 1889-1989: 100 Years by the Waters of Minnetonka
Edited by James R. Roehl
Orono's centennial history, following a century of community life by the waters of Lake Minnetonka. It provides a municipal perspective on a city whose landscape includes both lakeshore and inland neighborhoods.
The Early Background of Minnetonka Beach
Bergmann Richards
A focused history of Minnetonka Beach published by the Hennepin County Historical Society. Richards' archival approach provides a documented account of one of the lake's distinctive communities.
100 Years in Excelsior
Daisy Ellen Dillman
Dillman follows Excelsior Congregational Church through its first century, from 1853 to 1953. The church's story also records the growth of the surrounding town, making this slim illustrated history useful for understanding early Excelsior.
Eureka, Life in the Summer of 1939
Bob Montrose
Montrose recalls the small Shorewood community of Eureka during the summer of 1939. The short memoir offers a close view of everyday life in one corner of the Lake Minnetonka area.
Hezekiah Brake - Excelsior Pioneer
Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society
The experiences of early Excelsior settler Hezekiah Brake are presented in his own words. This brief volume brings an individual voice to the community's early settlement history.
Historic Excelsior
Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society
An illustrated guide to historic Excelsior sites recognized by the city's Heritage Preservation Commission. Its focus on individual buildings and places makes it a useful companion to broader histories of the town.
Historical Tour of the Westonka Area - 2015
Jeff Magnuson
A self-guided tour of Upper Lake places in Mound, Minnetrista, Three Points, Island Park, Spring Park and Seton. Historic images and documentation connect recognizable locations with a century of local change.
History of Wayzata 1854-2004
Charles Schoen
Photographs, maps and written accounts trace Wayzata's development over its first 150 years. This compact community history connects the town's early lakeshore settlement with its later growth.
Minnetrista Memories
Mildred Krenke Banks
Banks moves from her grandparents' lives in the nineteenth century to her own childhood and graduation from Mound Consolidated High School in 1921. Her recollections offer a personal account of early Minnetrista and the surrounding communities.
Navarre, The Hub of Lake Minnetonka, A Guide To History And The Community
Navarre Community Initiative
Maps, local stories, historical events and accounts of notable residents and businesses document Navarre. The illustrated community guide follows both earlier and more recent life around this Lake Minnetonka hub.
Picturesque Deephaven
Ellen Wilson Meyer
A pictorial history of Deephaven, bringing the community's earlier landscape and people into view through historic images. It complements Meyer's histories of other Lake Minnetonka towns.
Schools, music and industry
Classroom Voices
Pamela Myers
Student and teacher recollections give a personal view of education in western Hennepin County from the 1850s through 1950. Photographs and memories cover rural schools and Mound Consolidated High School, District 85.
Mighty-Tonkas, A Collector's Guide (1963-1983) (CD)
Mark A. Vaught
A collector's reference to Mighty Tonka toys made in Mound. The historical society catalogs this title as a full-color PDF scan of a 160-page book supplied on CD, a format worth distinguishing from a printed volume.
Movies Come to Excelsior
Grace Knowlton
A short history of Excelsior's movie houses and the role they played in town life. Knowlton preserves memories of a form of local entertainment that changed alongside the community.
The Andrews Sisters
Tom Rockvam
Rockvam traces the Andrews Sisters' history and their connection to Lake Minnetonka. The illustrated account brings music and the lives of performers into the area's broader story.
Tonka
Dennis David and Lloyd Laumann
An illustrated history of Tonka Toys, from its beginnings in Mound in the late 1940s through Hasbro's purchase in 1991. The book connects a familiar toy brand with the manufacturing history of the Lake Minnetonka area.
Historical Insights booklets
Minnehaha Steamboat - Lake Minnetonka Historical Insights
James Ogland
A brief illustrated account of the Minnehaha streetcar boat, combining historical stories with photographs. It is part of the Lake Minnetonka Historical Insights series.
Mound - Lake Minnetonka Historical Insights
James Ogland
Historical stories and photographs introduce Mound in this short Lake Minnetonka Historical Insights booklet. Its local focus provides a quick starting point for exploring the Upper Lake community.
Postcards - Lake Minnetonka Historical Insights
James Ogland
Historical stories and images examine Lake Minnetonka postcards in this brief Historical Insights title. The postcards preserve the views and destinations that earlier visitors chose to share.
Steamboats - Lake Minnetonka Historical Insights
James Ogland
A short illustrated introduction to Lake Minnetonka steamboats, combining historical accounts and photographs. This Historical Insights booklet offers a compact companion to the larger boat histories.
Yachting - Lake Minnetonka Historical Insights
Jim Ogland
Historic photographs and stories introduce yachting on Lake Minnetonka. This short Historical Insights volume adds sailing to the collection's accounts of steamboats and other lake vessels.
Lake guides and recreation
101 Things to Do on Lake Minnetonka
Chris Dinesen Rogers
A guide to enjoying Lake Minnetonka, combining local history with outdoor activities and places to explore. Rogers writes for residents and newcomers alike, offering reasons to look more closely at the lake and its surrounding communities.
Continue exploring Lake Minnetonka History, Lake Minnetonka Architecture, Lake Minnetonka Islands and Lake Minnetonka Boathouses.