Waconia from the St. Joseph School cupola about 1905, with the Sherman House and its washing on the line

Waconia’s history, since 1983

Volunteers collecting the photographs, maps and stories of the town on Lake Waconia. Two books in print, and a members’ digital archive on the way. Pledge $5 a month, or any amount, to help collect the town’s stories.

Same street, a century apart. 53 matched photographs.

Waconia looking north, 2020
Waconia looking north, Early 1900s
Early 1900s2020

Waconia looking north From the roof of the 1895 Public School. The brick North Star Hotel stands on Main Street, with Coney Island of the West behind it.

See all 53 pairs

A resort town on Clearwater Lake.

Platted in 1857 beside what settlers called Clearwater Lake, and full of summer visitors by the 1890s.

  1. 1857The village is platted on Roswell P. Russell’s land beside Clearwater Lake
  2. 1882The Sherman House opens, the first of the town’s hotels
  3. 1884The island sells for $5,200 and becomes Coney Island of the West
  4. 1904A cyclone kills five people and wrecks downtown
  5. 1940Frank “Shorty” and Gertrude Dvorak take over the island resort
Read about the 1904 cyclone
Coney Island of the West seen from the Waconia shore The Sherman House hotel on Elm Street in 1901 An early advertisement photograph of the North Star Hotel

Guess the year. Ten photographs, one slider.

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1925

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A digital archive of Waconia.

Tens of thousands of photographs, letters and clippings, scanned into one archive members can search, map and add to. This preview runs on real captions. Open the full preview

Pledge $5 a month, or any amount.

Every pledge is a charitable gift to the association. It funds scanning the collection and collecting stories from the people of Waconia: their memories, family photographs and the names behind the faces.

The association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Pledges and gifts are tax deductible as the law allows.

Annual association membership

$15 a year

Family $25. Seniors 62 and over $10 each.

  • Also makes you a member of the Carver County Historical Society
  • Its photo collection online and member discounts
  • Supports the association’s volunteers and books
Get the membership form

Two books of Waconia history.

Hardcover histories written and published by the association. Every sale funds scanning the collection.

The set, both volumes

$98

  • Free pickup in Waconia. At City Hall, Monday to Friday.
  • Shipping anywhere in the US.
  • Proceeds fund the archive. Scanning and collecting stories.
  • Also at the Carver County Historical Society, the City Hall office, Mackenthun’s Country Market and eBay.
Waconia, Paradise of the Northwest, The Lake and Its Island: the blue hardcover

Volume 1, 1986the Blue Book

The Lake and Its Island

Coney Island of the West, the lakeside hotels and the resort summers that made Waconia a destination.

$49

1
Waconia, Paradise of the Northwest, The Town and Its People: the red hardcover

Volume 2the Red Book

The Town and Its People

The stories, families, businesses and photographs of Waconia itself, from Main Street to the schools.

$49

1

12 facts about Waconia.

3,080 acres

Lake Waconia is the second-largest lake in the Twin Cities area, after Lake Minnetonka. It is 37 feet at its deepest.

Source: Minnesota DNR LakeFinder