Waconia, Coney Island - circa 1907
To the West - Waconia! Carver County’s largest lake.
The old advertisement states quite clearly: A Family resort - No bar, No picnics.
This commentary from FlickR friend Jenny P. about Waconia:
"Paradise Island, later changed to Coney Island in 1884 by Lambert Naegele was considered the paradise of the northwest. Development on the island started after Naegele’s purchase with the first full season at the resort in 1885. This was a successful season and sparked further growth on the island. After the ice melted on the lake, construction of another resort started along with a boarding house, several cottages, and a boathouse. Two large steamships traveled back and forth to the island. Many of the residents of Minneapolis and St. Paul were frequent visitors to the resorts."
JP: "Legend also has it that the Minnesota Gophers football team practiced there in the early 1900's...though I have never seen the football field myself. The island is now deserted and fun to explore, but full of poison ivy, so visitors beware! If you are boating around it in the summertime you will hear and see a crazy amount of birds - we always joke that it's Jurassic Park as there are many exotic large birds circling it all summer. The island is privately owned by 2 families, I believe (one is my mom and dad's neighbor)."
posted by minnetonkafelix at 6:00 AM
3 Comments:
I just got back from spending a weekend camping there with about 200 other people. The island is amazing! beautiful veiws all around, amazing sunsets. A few friends and myself went exploring because we had never been there before and found all the abandoned houses, even a see-saw, and other miscellanius things. Really interesting place to visit. Those birds weren't so great, they sound like screaming monkeys at times. haha.
-NAnnonymous visiter to "coney island"
My kids grew up in Waconia , a lot of time spent on the lake and the Island. Just this last 4th of July we were given permission to camp on the Island ,4 glorious days of family fun fishing and exploration of this Beautiful place! Thank You to the owners of this piece of island paradise for allowing my family to spend my vacation on the Island!!! I understand the island is up for sale , I can only pray that the new owners do some wonderful things there, a camp ground would be perfect! I know live in California and come home every summer , Coney Island has always been my favorite place to camp !
FYI a big chunk of the land on the island was donated this year (sort of) to Carver County/Waconia, on the condition that it becomes a public park. Rumor has it that the other property owners on the island are considering the same sort of thing, or some way to cooperate with the idea.
Anyway, couple that with the folks that are starting a boat-tour service on the lake, and we're just about back to 1900...just need a hotel there. And the MN Gopher Football team practicing there in summer.
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