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