Waconia Chamber of Commerce
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Fun Facts

Fun Facts

  1. Emile Amblard, a French wine merchant, built 3 chateaus on the island; 1 for himself, 1 for his wife, and 1 for his mother-in-law.
  2. The Yellowstone Trail went from Plymouth Rock Mass. to Puget Sound. It ran along the east side of Lake Waconia & down Main Street.
  3. Waconia was the nation’s largest manufacturer of sorghum molasses
  4. In 1864, possibly earlier, the lumber mill was located where Lola’s landing is now.
  5. The Waconia County fair was first located on the shores of the lake near Bayview Elementary.
  6. By the year 1907 Lake Waconia (then called Clearwater Lake) was well known for its bass.
  7. In 1907 Lake Waconia (then called Clearwater Lake) had several launches, 1 steamboat, and 110 boats on the lake.
  8. In 1921, Camp Manakiki opened and welcomed campers to the eastern shore of Lake Waconia.
  9. In 1882, the Valley Herald reported that the 4th of July celebration began at 3 am with men marching and firing their guns.
  10. The first hotel in Waconia was called the Lake House, built in the early 1860’s on the corner of Main and Vine Street.
  11. The Paradise Nite Club (now known as the Lake Waconia Event Center) opened on July 29, 1933.
  12. Island View Golf Club was officially incorporated on December 18, 1958.
  13. In 1917 Arthur Mackenthun opened a meat market in Waconia. Today, Mackenthun’s is Minnesota's longest running family grocery.
  14. In 1872, 10,000 salmon were stocked in Lake Waconia.
  15. From 1903–1905, the U of M Varsity football team used Coney Island as a training facility, under Doc Williams.
  16. The town site of Waconia was platted in 1857 by R.P. Russell.
  17. In 1884, Lambert Naegle purchased Coney Island for $5,200.
  18. The first Waconia Brewery, located on Oak St N on the lake, was built in 1875.
  19. The Sioux called Lake Waconia “Meday Wa Ko Ni Ya." This spelling evolved to Waconia.
  20. By 1913 there were 3 daily passenger trains going in each direction from the Twin Cities area to/from Waconia.
  21. The Coney Island Hotel, est. 1888, advertised Amusement, Dancing, Boating, Fishing, Croquet and Tennis.
  22. Room and board at the Coney Island Hotel was $3 and $3.50 per day.
  23. In 1885, the steamship Niagra was launched and served tourists on Lake Waconia until it was demolished by the tornado of 1904.
  24. The Boston Ice Company built their first icehouse on the east shore of Lake Waconia in 1902, harvesting 40,000 tons of ice in 1908.