About the Depot
Wayzata began in roughly 1855 as settlers moved into the area building a sawmill, hotel, and blacksmith shop. The local economy was largely based on agriculture. The Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad extended its tracks into Wayzata in 1867 making it the transportation hub of the area. The railroad became the "gateway" to Lake Minnetonka, and wealthy tourists began to frequent the area which now boasted several grand hotels.
Wayzata was incorporated in 1883. One of the city's priorities was to get the railroad moved off of the city's main street. But this began a feud with James J. Hill, chairman of the newly formed Saint Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad. The city took the railroad to court, and Hill reacted by demolishing the train station at the foot of Broadway Avenue and building a new one outside of town. He also moved the tracks, but closer to the lake instead of further away as the city had desired.
Tourism began to fade in the 1890's and the area started to become known instead as home of summer cottages for urban dwellers. The Wayzata city council passed a Reconciliation Ordinance to repair relations with James J. Hill and his railway in 1905. Hill responded by building a new train station, the one we now know as the Wayzata Depot Museum, in 1906. Hill declared it to be the "handsomest" on the entire line.
