The Narrows bridge spans the channel connecting the Upper Lake with Lower Lake Minnetonka. The north side of the channel is in the town of Orono, and its south side is in Tonka Bay.
Lyman Lodge hosted the Minneapolis YWCA camp on Lake Minnetonka. A sidewalk brings campers from the lake shore Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad tracks up to the lodge. Camp activities included archery and swimming, postmarked 1940.
Wooden boats are pulled ashore and picnic baskets appear in this generic beach scene, with a black and white inset photo labeled Steamer Excelsior, Minnetonka. The writer mentions the large number of advertisements in the paper for fine horses for sale. The Bureau of Engraving's logos is printed on back, color added, postmarked 1910.
The Old Orchard estate was in Tonka Bay on Crescent Beach facing west on the Upper Lake. The large house has an adjacent three-story tower for viewing the lake. Its adjacent peristyle includes vine-covered columns and benches, color added for the border, postmarked and dated 1908.
Front view shows porch along the entire first floor of this four-story building, with young trees on the front lawn, Henry Schomberg, Proprietor, postmarked 1906.
Hillcrest Hotel on Lake Minnetonka, probably a private residence, was three stories tall with a stone foundation, and a screened porch on the first floor. Signatures on the back are dated 1908.
Visitors enjoy the shade in a grove of trees at Big Island Park, color added. Card is addressed to Hoke Smith, United States Senate, Washington, D.C., postmarked 1913. Message reads: Lithography is the working man's art. Don???t destroy American Art! Help us develop American art! Why not lithograph these in Amerika? More of these cards than ever are being lithographed abroad! I receive 25 dolls per week as a lithographer. Please don't cut this down. German lithographers get only one third of the wages Americans do.
Divided driveway curves toward entrance of the Lafayette Club is lined with flowering gardens and flowering trees, color added; publishing company logos is printed on the back.
This view from the porch of the Excelsior casino shows patrons in hats, both female and male. The message describes the view of Lake Minnetonka as "simply fine."
Several cottages, identical in design with a screened front porch and a name above the door, one called "Vista del Laco" and one called "El Casa," on a path bordered by flowering bushes.
The photo of the two-story wooden building housing the dining hall of the Baptist Assembly Grounds in Mound includes other buildings and the water tower.
Charming boathouse in the foreground of this photo of the Hotel St. Louis in the distance, on a hill overlooking Lake Minnetonka, postmarked and dated 1905.
The Saint Paul, a ferry boat steamer on Lake Minnetonka, had three decks and a side paddle wheel. In this photo flags are flying from both the bow and stern of the upper, open deck, and every deck is crowded with passengers. The ferries ran from 1906 to 1911.
This aerial view shows the roller coaster and fun house at Excelsior Amusement Park, on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. The amusement park was built in 1926.
This generic photo advertises the good old summer time on Lake Minnetonka. The colorized, wooded scene includes tents, a woman sitting on a hammock, and a fellow fishing from shore, postmarked 1910.
The Como was one of the streetcar steamboats on Lake Minnetonka. Message says the writer took the Como from the hotel to the island, and that the fishing is so good in this lake that it is not unusual to catch 100 pounds of bass in three hours, postmarked and dated 1907.
The aerial view shows the three-story hotel with its four-story octagonal tower and many porches, its water tower and wooded grounds, and the railroad tracks behind the hotel.
The Hotel Del Otero's entrance has a wooden sign overhead, in addition to a sign on each side, one advertising special dinners and dancing, A.F. King, Proprietor, and the flag is flying from the tour seen through the trees.
Trees along the shoreline lean toward the calm water of what appears to be Deephaven Bay, postmarked and dated 1910. This is one of the most common postcard views on Lake Minnetonka.
Formal flower gardens at Highcroft overlook Lake Minnetonka. This was the home of the Peavey grain milling family in Ferndale. House was razed in the early 1950s.
Color added to this view of Swift Point in Cottagewood (Deephaven) from Katahdin Point. This could be the Lucian Swift home, owner or the old Minneapolis Journal.
Three-decked steamer St. Paul steams across Lake Minnetonka with its flags flying, and its side-wheels working, carrying many passengers, color added, dated and postmarked 1908.
This express steamboat "White Bear" has just passed under the new steel bridge at the Narrows. Its advertising sign says it is an express for Zumbra; this channel connects the Upper Lake to the Lower Lake of Lake Minnetonka; the bridge connects Orono and Tonka Bay, postmarked 1916.
Janette Merrill Park adjoins a two-story clapboard cottage with screened porches on both the first and second floors facing Lake Minnetonka. The message from a visitor to the cottage talks of swimming and hiking, postmarked 1925.
This popular postcard depicts a fisherman on shore hooking a mythical giant fish, the epitome of the fish that got away, called the freak fish design. This card advertises Spring Park, Minnesota. The message, dated 1912, mentions a picnic held by the Maccabee Lodge of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which included 26 athletic stunts for which the winners received prizes.
This young man is holding a box camera, sitting on a fallen tree. Perhaps he arrived across the reedy bay by the canoe that is drawn upon the shore. Message says friends waved their kerchiefs as the train passed by.
Collage of Excelsior scenes includes photos of Joslin Brothers Hardware Store, Main Street looking south, High School, Catholic Mission House, Business section, Trinity Chapel, Sampson House, and the Lake Minnetonka Casino, postmarked 1912.
Wooden two-story building at Svithiod Home. The Svithiod Home was started in 1928 near Excelsior by the Independent Order of Svithiod for immagrants "who felt a need for fellowship outside the religious sphere."
This generic picture of people walking on gravel path along the edge of a lake (color added) includes an inset photo (black and white) entitled Lake View Hotel. This building is actually the Ice Yacht Clubhouse located just east of the Minnetonka Yacht Club. The emblem of the Bureau of Engraving, Minneapolis, is printed on the back of this card.
This is a view from Wayzata of Breezy Point on Lake Minnetonka, from Edward A. Bromley Collection, Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a reprint of a much earlier photo (circa 1860 - 1870).
The Lakeview Hasty Tasty and a second building at the boat landing in Excelsior advertise Coca Cola and 7 Up, 10 cent hamburgers, Coney Islands, pop or ice cream for a nickel, and cracker jack, plus bathing and picnic grounds, soft drinks and beer. The steam boat Minnetonka is docked at the landing, postmarked 1957.
Front view shows porch along the entire first floor of this four-story building, with young trees on the front lawn, hand-drawn flag flies from the peak of the middle dormer. Message dated 1907, but postmarked 1908, invites the recipient to come to the Lake to do the sender's sewing.
This photo shows three fellows decked out in suits with ties and hats with fishing gear (fishing pole, net, and oar) and their boat at the dock, on Lake Minnetonka.
This interview view of the Excelsior Amusement Park convention and picnic auditorium shows the curved roof of the room and a gathering, some people seated at benches and some at picnic tables. The printed message describes the park as "the family playground that's clean and wholesome. Ideal for church and school picnics."
Flag raising ceremony on August 17, 1912, dedicated St. Albans on Lake Minnetonka as the summer capital of Minnesota. A crowd of dozens gathered in front of the flag pole. Printed message from the St. Albans Company advertises charming environment, good service, rest and recreation, color added.
Entrance to Big Island Park shows the path through the grove of trees. Message says this pleasure park is 18 miles out by trolley, and that the tower, peristyle, etc., are all concrete, dated and postmarked 1909.
A crowd enjoys the tree-shaded picnic grove at Excelsior Amusement Park. Many picnic tables are filled with people of all ages. The printed message suggests this is "a most delightful place to spend a happy playday in the out-of-doors."
View of Hotel Del Otero from Lake Minnetonka shows the bathhouse and casino on the shoreline with boats pulled up on the beach, G.F. Hopkins and Company, Proprietors, postmarked 1906.
The interior view of this lovely porch, The Lattice Room, shows the white furniture and flowering vines, color added. Printed message states that this Inn, 17 miles west of Minneapolis, is owned and operated by Hotel Radisson Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Sleeping room at the Hotel Del Otero includes two beds, a dressing table and stool, two chairs, a patterned rug covering all but the edges of the wooden floor, and two large windows.
View from the hillside in front of the St. Louis Hotel faces the Ice Yacht Club and the Minnetonka Yacht Club in St. Louis Bay on Lake Minnetonka, postmarked 1908.
Ladies relaxing on the lawn and the steps of the pergola, viewed from vine-covered walkway, at the Hotel Del Otero on Lake Minnetonka, color added, postmarked 1909. The printed message reads: Minnetonka is a Sioux word for "big waters;" here was the scene of Hiawatha's wooing, and out of the lake flows the stream on which is located the beautiful falls of Minnehaha--"laughing water"--made famous by Longfellow.
The Degree of Honor Summer Camp was located on Casco Point in Orono on Lake Minnetonka. Some of the women are dressed for swimming, and the men are in boats at the dock, postmarked 1930.
This view from the lake shows the steep path and staircase from the Baptist Assembly Grounds on the top of the hill down to their dock and boats on Cooks Bay. The Buena Vista Hotel can be seen in the background.
This often created card shows a fisherman with a hypothetical catch of many fish, including Northern, Walleye and Bass. This card is labeled Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, postmarked 1909.
The Degree of Honor Summer Camp's recreation hall floor is marked with lines for games. There is a stage at the far end of the room, a piano, and plenty of wicker and wooden chairs.
This rectangular building with a wall of windows on all four sides was located next to the Hotel Del Otero, on the shore of Lake Minnetonka in Spring Park, postmarked 1909.
The Pleasure Park at the Hotel Del Otero includes tennis court and croquet lawn, as well as swings and benches, color added, postmarked 1910. The printed message reads: Minnetonka is a Sioux word for "big waters;" here was the scene of Hiawatha's wooing, and out of the lake flows the stream on which is located the beautiful falls of Minnehaha--"laughing water"--made famous by Longfellow.
The Neighborhood Club house has a stone foundation, walls of windows on the first floor, and wooden shakes on the second floor. Writer mentions picking raspberries before breakfast, postmarked July 1912.
The Glooskap Inn has a steep roof, appearing to draw to a point at the top of the third story, with a balcony at each window. This card is postmarked Deephaven, 1909.
This Interior view of the Excelsior Park ballroom shows a few couples on the shiny, wooden dance floor, a band on the band stand, and a wall of windows facing Lake Minnetonka.
In this view from the lake, the two-story casino in Spring Park has second-floor screened porches facing the lake and a walk way through an arbor, shaded by climbing vines, to the dock, dated and postmarked 1911.
The Buena Vista Hotel sits on a hill above its dock and boathouse which advertises boats, bait and tackle, in the neighborhood called the Highlands, postmarked 1901.