Waconia looking north
Early 1900s and 2020
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.
Waconia then and now
53 photographs from the association’s collection, matched with the same view today. Drag across any picture to change the year.
Waconia looking west. Taken from the St. Joseph School cupola after the 1904 tornado and before the 1909 City Hall was built. The Sherman House has its bed sheets drying on lines under the trees; the 1895 Public School is top centre.
Bird's-eye views
Photographers climbed the 1895 school roof, the St. Joseph steeple and the school cupola in the early 1900s. A drone flew the same angles in 2020.
Waconia looking northwest
Early 1900s and 2020
The Lake House is in the centre on Main Street with the peninsula behind it. The flour mill on the shore burned down in 1920.
Waconia looking southeast
Early 1900s and 2020
Down 1st Street: the 1901 St. Joseph Church on the left, the 1908 school and convent beside it, and the 1890 Trinity Lutheran Church on the right.
Looking south along Elm Street
Early 1900s and 2020
From the St. Joseph steeple. Trinity Lutheran Church, seen on the right, was demolished in 1987 for the post office and its parking lot.
Waconia looking southwest
Early 1900s and 2020
From the St. Joseph School cupola, with Trinity Lutheran Church and school left of centre and Elm Street below.
Main Street and 1st Street
The two streets that have carried Waconia’s shops, saloons and parades for 150 years.
Main Street looking east from Vine
Early 1900s, 1953 and 2020
One corner in three eras: a dirt street of frame storefronts, a row of 1950s sedans, and today’s Main Street.
1st Street looking west from Elm
1940s and 2020
The Waconia Creamery smokestack in the background, Julius Manteuffel’s saloon on the left and the 1909 City Hall behind it.
1st Street looking west
1947 and 2020
Post-war 1st Street, curb to curb with parked cars.
Main Street looking east from Walnut
1934 and 2020
The residence district on the way into downtown, from a hand-tinted postcard.
1st Street looking east from Oak
1936 and 2020
Another hand-tinted residence district postcard, matched house for house.
Main Street looking southwest
1950s and 2020 · Courtesy of the Carver County Historical Society
Beattie’s Bar in the centre of the photo.
1st Street looking east
About 1900 and 2022
The two-storey public school on the left and St. Joseph Church near the centre.
Elm and 1st Streets
About 1915 and 2022
John Yetzer and his son Joe deliver ice cut from Lake Waconia to Julius Manteuffel’s bar. The brick Farmer’s Bank stands on the northwest corner.
Churches, schools and the hospital
Five school buildings, two church towers and a hospital that grew to three storeys.
St. Joseph Catholic Church, Elm and 1st
1930s and 2020
The 1901 church, still the tallest thing downtown.
Southwest corner of Elm and 2nd Streets
1930s and 2020
The 1890 Trinity Lutheran Church survived heavy damage in the 1904 tornado. It was demolished in 1987; the post office stands there now.
32 West 1st Street
1858 to 1875 and 2022
Waconia’s first public school: one storey, 15 by 20 feet, about 15 students.
116 West 1st Street
1875 and 2022
The second public school, 30 by 40 feet. It served for more than 15 years and is now part of the old VFW building.
116 West 1st Street
Late 1800s and 2022
The Waconia Fire Department Band in front of the second public school.
Walnut and Main Streets
1918 and 2022
The new public school, built partly from materials salvaged from the 1895 school. Bayview Elementary stands there today.
West Walnut, between 1st and Main
1930 and 2022
The Waconia High School Band with director Theodore Grivelli, far left, and Superintendent Laumann on the right. The county fairground buildings stand behind them.
Waconia Ridgeview Hospital
1963 and 2020
The entrance faced east, with Highway 5 and farm fields behind. The hospital has since grown to three storeys and many additions.
Garages, shops and hotels
Blacksmiths became garages, banks became cafés, and two grand hotels became parking lots.
Elm Street, west of St. Joseph Church
1901 and 2022
The Sherman House, three years before the 1904 tornado tore off most of its roof. It was razed in 1977.
121 West Main Street
Early 1900s and 2022
The two-storey brick North Star Hotel replaced an earlier one in 1898 and was razed in 1977. The Main Street Exchange building stands there now.
16 West 1st Street
Early 1900s and 2020 · Courtesy of the Carver County Historical Society
A garage selling Hudson, Hupmobile and Essex cars, and the Waconia Motor Express freight terminal. Remodelling of the bowling lanes later revealed the bricked-up garage doors.
301 South Elm Street
1909 and Fall 2021
The Waconia Creamery Association creamery.
1st and Maple Streets
1930s and 2020
The creamery’s later building, now the Maplecrest Commons apartments.
Olive and 1st Streets
About 1938 and 2020
Diessner’s Drug Store below, with Dr. Harold Nagel’s 10-bed hospital in rooms beside his office upstairs.
1st and Maple Streets
1930s and 2020
Charles “Hoppy” Radde’s “used stuff” shop. He fixed his blacksmith shop after the 1904 tornado and moved here in 1912.
37 West 1st Street
Early 1930s and 2020
The Citizen’s State Bank, then Carver County’s first funeral home, then a saloon, tavern and café. Today it is Pangea Café.
124 West Main Street
1916 and 2022
The Waconia Patriot newspaper office, with editor Charles Reil, Tony and Bill Wessale and George Mayer.
200 West Main Street
About 1915 and 2022
William Stahlke’s garage, featuring auto repairs.
46 West Main Street
1923 to 1929 and 2022
The first Braunwarth Ford garage, before the dealership moved to 200 West Main in 1929.
4 East Main Street
1930s and 2022
Menzel’s Garage and car dealership, the future home of the American Legion.
2nd and Olive Streets
1965 and 2022
Pieper’s North Star Service Station, sold to Yetzer’s in 1966.
208 South Olive Street
Late 1980s and 2020
Paul Brown’s Pontiac GMC Truck. The Crossings, part of the City Hall complex, stands there now.
Recognise a building?
Tell us what you know about any of these photographs: who ran the shop, when it closed, who is standing in the doorway.
Photographs from the Waconia Heritage Association collection; several courtesy of the Carver County Historical Society. Aerial views of 2020 by J Fuerst Real Estate Photography.
