- Crane Island Historic District
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Crane Island Historic District
Location: Minnetrista, Minnesota Coordinates: 44°54′2″N 93°39′43″W / 44.90056°N 93.66194°WCoordinates: 44°54′2″N 93°39′43″W / 44.90056°N 93.66194°W Built: 1907 Architect: Unknown Architectural style: No Style Listed Governing body: Private NRHP Reference#: 91001005
[1]Added to NRHP: August 5, 1991 Crane Island is an island in the western portion of Lake Minnetonka in the city of Minnetrista, Minnesota. It consists of a number of private residential summer cottages and some communal amenities for middle-class Christian families. The island was designated a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[2]
Lake Minnetonka had been a popular recreation area after the American Civil War, drawing vacationers from the eastern and southern United States and later from Minneapolis as it grew. Crane Island had escaped development because it had been a heron rookery. A storm in 1906 blew down most of the trees from the center of the island. The herons moved to the nearby Wawatasso Island. Charles E. Woodward had been spending his summer vacation in the nearby town of Mound, and he explored the island after the storm out of curiosity. He figured the land would be ideal for cottages, so he organized a group from Bethlehem Presbyterian Church and formed the Crane Island Association.[3]
The association bought the island and surveyed a number of lots for development. The association established a commons area in the center of the island with a caretaker's lodge, an icehouse, and a tennis court. The commons area was modeled on the kind of commons in New England, where all neighbors would use common grazing land. Owners of the cottages could take the Great Northern Railway to the depots at Mound or Spring Park and then charter a private boat to the island. The yellow streetcar boats of Twin City Rapid Transit also made two daily stops at the island between mid-May and September.[3]
Writer Marjorie Myers Douglas spent summers on the island from 1917, when she was five years old, until she had finished college. Her book Barefoot on Crane Island chronicles many of her personal experiences with summers she spent on the island.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ Nord, Mary Ann (2003). The National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 0-87351-448-3.
- ^ a b Douglas, Marjorie Myers (1998). Barefoot on Crane Island. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87351-363-0.
External links
U.S. National Register of Historic Places Topics Lists by states Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • WyomingLists by territories Lists by associated states Other Categories:- Historic districts in Minnesota
- National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
- Geography of Hennepin County, Minnesota
- Buildings and structures in Minnesota
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
- Minnesota Registered Historic Place stubs
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