To the West, Carver County! Some Very Random History

Carver County, to the West of Lake Minnetonka is a beautiful county with rolling hills, lakes and the most beautiful parks one can find. I particularly enjoy the Carver County Reserve with its broad prarie expanses, trails and wetlands. When one travels to the West side of the Lake, there is a distinctive 'rural Minnesota" feeling (my opinion).

Here are some random facts about Historical Carver County - from the Carver County Histoical Web site:

1. On March 3, 1855, the Minnesota Territorial Legislature organized Carver County with a population of 352. The Villages of Chaska, Carver, and San Francisco were founded prior to Carver County.

2. In 1856, the county's first murder trial was argued. John Schlemline was accused of murdering Nicholas Barton near Chaska over a land claim dispute. Schlemline was acquitted.

3. During the Dakota Conflict of 1862, many settlers sought protection on Coney Island in Lake Waconia.

4. During the Civil War, 588 county residents served in the Union Army.
5. The county experienced a grasshopper plague in 1870.


6. Watertown Bell Factory, the only bell factory in the state at the time, produced 4,000-5,000 bells per year.

7. The Village of Chanhassen was founded in 1896. Prior to that date, the community had been called St. Hubertus

8. Mayer enacts law to bar livestock from running loose on the streets in 1908.

9. In 1908, Bongards Cooperative Creamery was organized.