Exploring the Beauty and History of Lake Minnetonka: Minnesota’s 9th Largest Lake

LAKE MINNETONKA, MN (trfnews.i234.me) A quick tour and history of Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. It’s the State’s 9th largest lake, just next door to the Minnesota’s largest city, Minneapolis. At one time it was the playground for the wealthy in America.
neil carlson here with a tour of lake minnetonka down by minneapolis now depending where you want to go on it lake minnetonka is 15 miles southwest of downtown minneapolis it’s minnesota’s ninth largest lake with 14 000 acres of water and at its deepest 113 feet and what makes it a spectacular water adventure is that lake minnetonka is actually 37 interconnected lakes and bays with 125 miles of shoreline and on its shores you’ll find some of the most expensive homes in minnesota i’m told the family from cambria granite is building this palace size mansion this home the bella vista estate on lake minnetonka was on the market for 15 million dollars a couple years ago but the people’s history of lake minnetonka came to life back in the late 1800s when it became the playground for the wealthy from all over the country at one point it boasted some 60 sometimes a sprawling massive hotels like the hotel lafayette which burned in 1897. by around 1900 america’s wealthy had begun to find other playgrounds around the country and entrepreneurs began to lure the region to lake minnetonka with attractions like big island park an amusement park with 65 landscaped acres connected to downtown minneapolis by streetcars you could take a car from downtown minneapolis out to the lake for a quarter where all kinds of paddleboat steamers were waiting to give you a tour of the lake or drop you off at dozens of destinations and while that era came to an end there are still all kinds of adventures and destinations waiting for you on a summer’s day or moonlit night this is lord fletcher’s bar and restaurant just one of many waiting for you on lake minnetonka i’m neil carlson reporting for inews dot tv