On the northeast shores of rambling Lake Minnetonka nestles the community of Wayzata. Lake Minnetonka, located in western Hennepin County in the glacial moraine area of central Minnesota, is a fine deep lake of many bays and beautiful shores. Discovered in May of 1822 by four young men from Fort Snelling, including Joseph Snelling, son of Colonel Josiah Snelling, the lake soon attracted settlers.

After the Civil War, the lake area became popular as a resort center. During the 1880’s, the people from the great cities of the south and central states came to the Wayzata and other Lake Minnetonka areas to spend their summers at the plush resort hotels along the shores. From the railway station in Wayzata, they walked down to the docks where porters touted the merits of the individual hotels. At the dock, lake steamers waited to take them to the hotels. The Belle of Minnetonka, just one of the many steamers, was a 300-foot side-wheeler with a capacity of 2500 passengers.

But this era soon passed and even before 1900 had arrived, Minnetonka was already changing from a summer and resort area to a community of year-around residents.

In the early 1890’s, there were a number of Master Masons living in the Wayzata area. Many of these drove by horse and buggy, or walked to the nearest Lodge, the one in Excelsior, to meet with their brother Masons. But the trip was long and time consuming and before long, they developed an interest in forming their own Lodge. On July 20, 1891, 17 brothers, a majority of them from Excelsior Lodge No. 113, signed a petition requesting a charter from the Grand Lodge of Minnesota for a Lodge at Wayzata…

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