Wayzata (pronounced /waɪ.'zɛ.ɾə/) is a west suburb of Minneapolis located in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. Wayzata came into existence in the center of Chief Shakopee’s Indian village.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²)— 3.2 square miles (8.2 km²) of it is land and
0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (1.55%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were
4,113 people, 1,929 households, and 1,041 families residing in the city. The population
density was 1,292.6 persons per square mile (499.4/km²). There were 2,047 housing units at an average density of 643.3 per
square mile (248.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.11% White, 0.41% African American, 0.32% Native American, 1.34% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. 1.41% of the population
were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 1,929 households out of which 20.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.6% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.0% were
non-families. 39.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the city the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from
45 to 64, and 20.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $65,833, and the median income for a family was $96,859. Males had a median
income of $51,000 versus $39,257 for females. The per capita income for the city was
$63,859. None of the families and 2.3% of the population were living below the poverty
line, including no under eighteens and 5.0% of those over 64.
History
Early settlement
The first people to settle on the land around Lake Minnetonka were the
Mdewakanton Dakotah, a major division of the Sioux nation.
They treasured the "Big Water" as an endowed hunting and fishing ground and protected this land from the rival Chippewa
tribe, who were known as Ojibway.[1] While these natives had been living off the land for many years prior, in 1803 the land was claimed by France, who sold it to the United States as part of
the Louisiana Purchase. The nearest Euro-American settlement then was Fort Snelling, and
it wasn't until the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was signed in
1851 that the lands west of the Mississippi River were
opened for land claims to be filed. Although today the Sioux are no longer living on the land, their legacy lives on in the name
of the city. The name Wayzata is derived from the American Indian
word Waziyata, which had almost a mystical connotation to the Sioux tribes who originally inhabited the area.
Waziya was their god of the North, a giant who blew the cold winds from his mouth. With the
suffix ta added, the name meant "North Shore."[2]
In 1852, two pioneer families settled on the present site of
Wayzata, one of them being the family of Oscar E. Garrison. He built a cabin at what is now Lake Street and Broadway Avenue in
downtown Wayzata. In 1854 he drew a survey of the area and filed his claim for most of what is now
Wayzata proper. In 1855, Wayzata had an influx of settlers who built a sawmill, a hotel and a blacksmith shop. Most
of these early settlers made their living off the land by clear cutting the trees to grow
corn and wheat. But, in 1857, this growing economy was nearly terminated by a grasshopper plague. At the time, ginseng roots were in great demand as an aphrodisiac in the
Orient and the eastern forests had been exhausted of their supply. When ginseng was
discovered in the remaining hard wood forest which had been left standing, these trees being too great a distance from the lake
to float down stream to the sawmill, Wayzata became a collection center for the roots discovered around the lake.
Resort town era
With commercial traffic by steamboats becoming common on Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata's
position to St. Paul assured growth for the city. After the Civil War, vacationers from the south began enjoying cool breezy summers at the lake and the era of
the resort arrived. In 1867, the St. Paul and
Pacific Railroad (today's BNSF Railway) extended its tracks to Wayzata, making
Wayzata the transportation hub of the area. James J. Hill, who would later have a major
role in Wayzata's history, was at the time a St. Paul freight agent for the railroad. With numerous trains scheduled for
activities in the area, hotels quickly popped up around the lake, one being built where Garrison's cabin had been, called the
Maurer House-West Hotel. Boating, fishing, and picnicking would bring twenty thousand vacationers west, who would stay at seventeen hotels that were scattered
around the 99 miles of the lakeshore. Transporting the vacationers from the railroad landing in Wayzata to the hotels were large
paddlewheel boats, some able to accommodate as many as 3,300 passengers. This era, the beginning of "The Gilded Age" reached its
peak in 1882 when Hill, now owning the railroad he had renamed The Great Northern, built the 800
room Lafayette Hotel in Minnetonka Beach, a few miles further down the tracks.
Cottage era
By 1890, the height of the resort era on Lake Minnetonka had been reached. A nationwide
financial depression and the migration of tourists to newer resort territory gradually transformed Wayzata and a new era began
when the tourists moved on. Summer cottages began appearing
along the shores, even on the grounds of the grand hotels. The cottage builders needed building materials, and then provisions
when they moved in. In 1881 Wayzata broke away from Minnetonka Township and became a separate
governmental entity, mainly as a reaction to the roaring tourist-resorter lifestyle. Feeling their new power, the first act of
the village council was to ban the saloons, and the second would have a more
profound impact: they started a fight with James J. Hill to get the railroad tracks moved from downtown. An 1883 town law required the tracks be relocated 300 feet from the shoreline. Hill ignored the law, then in 1889 the
council filed a lawsuit to force Hill to comply. Hill responded that he had state law on his side, and if they continued with
their suit not only would he win, but he would make the town walk a mile for twenty years to catch a train. In 1891, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied the legality of the law,
and Hill, as promised, moved the station to flat land beneath today's Bushaway Road railroad bridge. Wayzata was literally taken
off the map, and for the next fifteen years the town barely grew. In 1905, the village council
voted a Reconciliation Ordinance, and Hill responded that he would have the finest railroad station on his entire line built in
Wayzata.
As the cottage era continued, downtown Wayzata became mostly residential, with small
commercial centers at each end of Lake Street. The following era was again recreational, based on motorboats. By the 1920, motorboating was the rage, and once again Wayzata was
at the center, with two nationally famous boat makers building speedboats located on the shore of Lake Minnetonka. Weekends
brought thousands of spectators to the lake to watch the boats race, and many of the visitors realized they could be happy living
in Wayzata.
In the 1930s, today's U.S. Route 12 had just reached
Wayzata as a hard surfaced road, and realtor Sam Batson was praising the benefits of buying a summer cottage and modifying it for
year-around living. The population nearly doubled in that decade, and Wayzatans were fortunate when one of their own,
Rufus Rand, stepped forward to lead the town as it met the challenges of modernizing the
infrastructure of a summer village. Under Mayor Rand, water and sewer service was provided to every building (lifting quite a
burden off the lake), street lights were installed to light the newly hard-surfaced town roads, and the city public beach and
park was opened.
As World War II approached Wayzata became a city with locally provided jobs and
retailers that provided all of a family's needs. The boat building era was ending and home-building was starting to grow. During
the war, wooden 8-man boats built in Wayzata were used by American soldiers to cross Europe's many rivers, and dairy farming became a large local activity. At wars end these farms were being converted into single
family housing sites. Highway 12 was widened to four lanes, and the population swelled
with commuters who worked in Minneapolis. Downtown residences were replaced by more stores serving not only Wayzata but the new
families moving onto the former farmlands outside of Wayzata. Longtime locals were still the only candidates for public offices
and the need for more schools was a growing concern. During the summers the lake continued to draw people for boating and fishing activities. Wayzata became a charter city at the same time people began considering it as part of the Minneapolis metropolitan area.
Small city to suburb
In the 1950s Wayzata doubled in size when it annexed land
from Minnetonka, Plymouth and
Orono. Shopping centers were built to meet the
daily needs of the residents, while the downtown shops focused on fashion and service businesses. The small town feel slowly
evaporated in the 1970s when the newly widened Highway 12
made the Twin Cities more easily accessible. Wayzata's downtown shops were
replaced by condominiums, office buildings and franchise fast food shops. Wayzata was no longer the central place in the lives of area youth and the lake itself took
on a role of being more scenery than function.
Education
Wayzata Public Schools are part of the Independent School District 284 and serve all or portions of eight west suburban municipalities (Plymouth, Corcoran, Hamel, Maple Grove, Medicine Lake, Medina, Minnetonka, and Orono). The district covers square
miles ( km²) and extends north and east from Wayzata Bay on Lake Minnetonka and lies approximately eight miles west of
Minneapolis. There are approximately 9,510 students enrolled in seven public elementary
schools (K-5), three middle schools (6-8), and one
high school (9-12). Wayzata is also home to the Highcroft campus of The Blake School (K-5).
Popular culture
The television show Lost featured a major character named Ben Linus, who had assumed the identity of a Henry Gale from Wayzata, who died sometime after crashing on the
mystery island in a hot air balloon.
In the movie Fargo, William H. Macy's character intends on purchasing a parking lot in
Wayzata.
In the TV show 90210, Jason Priestly ("Brandon Walsh") and Shannen Doherty ("Brenda Walsh) moved to California from Wayzata,
MN. On the show, they both incorrectly pronounce the city saying Way-za-da instead of Why-zet-a.
References
- ^ Wayzata Historical Society, City History
- ^ City of Wayzata website, History of Wayzata
External links
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