Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of Minneapolis. At the 2024 census, the city's population was 52,651.
Minnetonka is the home of Cargill, the country's largest privately owned company, and UnitedHealth Group, the state's largest publicly owned company. I-494 runs through the city while I-394/US 12 and US 169 are situated along the suburb's northern and eastern boundaries respectively.
History
Since the mid-19th century, Minnetonka has evolved from heavily wooded wilderness through extensive farming and industrialization to its present primarily residential suburban character. The Minnetonka area was home to the Dakota before Euro-Americans arrived in the 1800s. They believed Lake Minnetonka (mni meaning water, and tanka meaning big, anglicized to Minnetonka) and the land around it to be sacred.
The first recorded exploration of the area by Euro-Americans was in 1822, when a group from newly constructed Fort Snelling made its way up Minnehaha Creek (then known as Brown's Creek or Falls Creek) to the lake. In 1851, the Dakota were forced to sell the area including Minnetonka to the United States with the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. The first census, the Territorial Census of 1857, lists 41 households. Twenty-nine of the heads of households are listed as farmers. The occupations of the remaining twelve are associated with the operations of Minnetonka Mill and a nearby hotel.
In 1852, a claim was staked on Minnehaha Creek near McGinty Road. The sawmill that was constructed in the thick woods of maple, oak, elm, red cedar and basswood was the first privately operated mill in Minnesota west of the Mississippi River. Oak timbers from this mill were used to build the first suspension bridge across the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in 1853. The settlement of Minnetonka Mills that grew up around the mill was the first permanent European–American settlement west of Minneapolis in Hennepin County. In 1855, a two-story sawmill was constructed with a furniture factory on the second floor. A building for varnishing furniture was built on the south side of the creek, at the present Bridge Street. Production consisted mainly of chairs and bedsteads.
thumb|250px|right|The [[Charles H. Burwell House]]
thumb|250px|The Cargill Lake Office, occupying a former mansion, formerly housed the company's top executives.
In 1860, after only 8 years of operation, the sawmill closed. In 1869, a flour and grist mill were constructed and operated until the late 1880s. In 1874, Charles H. Burwell came to manage the Minnetonka Mill Company, and he built a Victorian home on the north bank of Minnehaha Creek (Minnetonka Boulevard at McGinty Road East) for his family. The Charles H. Burwell House is now on the National Register of Historic Places and is owned by the city. There were two other mills in Minnetonka: the St. Alban's Mill, which was less than downstream from Minnetonka Mills on Minnehaha Creek, operated as a flour mill from 1874 to 1881. A grist mill built on Purgatory Creek was washed out in a flood shortly after construction. Minnetonka Mills, with its post office and port for Lake Minnetonka, was the principal business and trading center for a large area until the 1870s.
Between 1883 and 1956, the area within the original township grew smaller as Wayzata, Hopkins, Deephaven, Woodland and Saint Louis Park incorporated or annexed portions of then-Minnetonka Township.
Until as late as the 1960s, many portions of Minnetonka were still rural in character, with horse pasture and farms. Those final areas have since been developed with the city now a fully developed suburban community.
The Minnetonka Town Hall, built in 1906, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Part of the city includes the eastern tip of Lake Minnetonka, one of the largest lakes in Minnesota. The outlet of Lake Minnetonka is Minnehaha Creek, which winds through south Minneapolis and flows over Minnehaha Falls and into the Mississippi River. Minnetonka is located west of Minneapolis, in Hennepin County.
Economy
The headquarters of Carlson is in Minnetonka. The headquarters of Cargill are located in Minnetonka and are in the Wayzata Post Office area. Founded in 1865, Cargill is the largest privately held corporation in the U.S. in terms of revenue. Other companies based in Minnetonka include UnitedHealth Group, Digital River, Radisson Hotel Group, and the uniform companies AmeriPride Services and G&K Services.
Top employers
According to the city's 2024 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! Employer
! # of Employees
|-
| 1
|UnitedHealth Group
|4,200
|-
|2
|Carlson Holdings, Inc.
|3,600
|-
|3
|Lake Superior Software, Inc.
|3,500
|-
|4
|Medica Health Plans
|2,800
|-
|5
|Independent School District (No. 276)
|2,000
|-
|6
|Multibrand Field Services, Inc
|2,000
|-
|7
|Continental General Insurance Company
|500
|-
|8
|St. David's School for Child Development & Family Services, Inc.
|450
|-
|9
|Opus National, LLC.
|360
|-
|10
|Veolia WTS Solutions USA, Inc.
|300
|-
|}
Education
Public schools
The city of Minnetonka is covered by three independent school districts. The Hopkins School District, which encompasses the central and eastern part of Minnetonka; the Minnetonka School District, in the western part of city; and the Wayzata School District, which covers an area along the northern boundary of the city. Some students attend public schools in other school districts chosen by their families under Minnesota's open enrollment statute.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
! colspan=3|Public Schools in Minnetonka (Minnetonka School District)
|-
! Elementary School !! Junior High School !! Senior High School
|-
|Clear Springs Elementary||Minnetonka Middle School East||Minnetonka High School
|-
|Groveland Elementary||Minnetonka Middle School West
|-
|Scenic Heights Elementary
|-
|Minnewashta Elementary
|-
|Excelsior Elementary
|-
|Deephaven Elementary
|}
The Minnetonka School District also includes four schools outside of the city of Minnetonka: Deephaven Elementary School (Deephaven), Excelsior Elementary School (Excelsior), Minnewashta Elementary School (Shorewood), and Minnetonka Middle School West (Chanhassen).
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
! colspan=3|Public Schools in Minnetonka (Hopkins School District)
|-
! Elementary Schools !! Junior High School !! Senior High School
|-
| Gatewood Elementary School || Hopkins West Junior High School || Hopkins High School
|-
| Glen Lake Elementary School || Hopkins North Junior High School
|-
| L. H. Tanglen Elementary School
|}
The Hopkins School District comprises two-thirds of the city of Minnetonka, the entirety of Hopkins, and portions of the cities of Golden Valley, Edina, St. Louis Park, Wayzata, and Plymouth. In addition to schools located within Minnetonka, the Hopkins School District also includes four schools in the cities of Hopkins and Golden Valley:
Eisenhower Elementary School/Xin Xing Academy (Hopkins), Alice Smith Elementary School (Hopkins), Meadowbrook Elementary School (Golden Valley), and Harley Hopkins Early Childhood/Family Center (Hopkins).
Private schools
There are three private and parochial schools within Minnetonka's city limits:
- Accell Academy, an accredited private college preparatory school serving grades K-12
- Notre Dame Academy, preschool through eighth grade
- Minnetonka Christian Academy
Public libraries
The Hennepin County Library has its headquarters in the Ridgedale Library in Minnetonka. The system also operates the Minnetonka Library.