13209 McGinty Rd E
Hopkins, MN 55305, USA

History Lesson: A glimpse of the past...at Minnetonka Mills

This is the former mill in 1893 at Minnetonka Mills, once located near Minnetonka Boulevard and Plymouth Road. The land was allowed to be settled with the signing of the treaty of Traverse de Sioux in 1851. Minnetonka Mills was the first settlement west of Minneapolis in Hennepin County. A 12-foot dam was built across Minnehaha Creek and the original lumber mill was constructed. Trees were cut down along the creek and along the shores of Lake Minnetonka and floated down the creek to the lumber mill. Later, a furniture factory was also working with the mill. It was the largest business in Hennepin County. This mill burned down in 1868. In 1869, a new owner built another mill on the site; this time, a grist mill (pictured), for milling grains. The mill changed hands several times, but ultimately ceased production of any type and was torn down in 1900. The office building currently sits next to the Burwell House.

The Burwell House: A reminder of Minnetonka's bygone mill era

The Burwell House, located at 13209 E. McGinty Road in Minnetonka, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is owned and operated by the city of Minnetonka. It was built in 1883 for the family of Charles H. Burwell, then secretary and manager of the Minnetonka Mills Company, the first mill west of Minneapolis.

The property is listed on the National Register for its “carpenter-Gothic stick” style architecture and association with Minnetonka’s early milling history.

According to information from the Minnetonka Historical Society and the National Register nomination form first filed in 1974, in the early 1850s, the newly-established village of Minnetonka Mills saw the construction of a 12-foot dam across Minnehaha Creek, two miles east of the Lake Minnetonka outlet, and a sawmill was built in the village in 1853. The sawmill and an adjacent furniture factory and varnish house were impacted by the Panic of 1857, and by 1860 both had burned.

In 1869 a four-story flour mill was constructed, and it eventually produced four hundred barrels of flour a day. Burwell became the mill’s manager in 1877, and purchased it seven years later. He decided to build his home for his children and new young wife, Mary Dunham Burwell, on a parcel of land adjacent to the mill.

In the late 19th century, the mill prospered and Minnetonka Mills enjoyed a short life as a prominent industrial town. As competition from the growing Minneapolis mills increased, operations eventually moved to Minneapolis, and the Minnetonka Mill was closed and torn down in 1900.

The Burwell House was occupied continuously by members of the Burwell Family until 1958, when it was sold to the William Smith family. Even then Miss Louise Burwell, the last of the family to reside on the property, moved into the guest house (a small cottage adjacent to the house) for several years.The city acquired the property in 1970.

13209 E McGinty Rd E, Minnetonka, MN

Eastlake Folk Victorian Italian Villa Italianate Minnesota Historic Homes National Registry

Built in 1883, the Burwell House was constructed by Charles Henry Burwell for his growing family, second wife and four children. Mr. Burwell was the Manager of the Minnetonka Mills Company beginning in 1874 until the mills demise in 1886. The land was purchased from the mill at a cost of $1000, and the house was built from a design found in the Pallisers American Cottage Home catalog (see below). It is said to have cost a mere $3260 to build. While the home is said to be in the Italianate style, I really feel it is an in-between house. The home does not have any strong Italianate features like window hoods, bracketed eves, or low pitched gables. In my opinion, it is more a cross between an Italian Villa, which features a central tower, and the Victorian Folk style. The home was built at the very end of the Italian popularity, but in the middle of Folk period. It is not always easy to pin down a single style to Victorian era homes, but it is easy to see architectural influences in some of them. One part of the home not originally built in 1883, is the wrap around porch. Added on somewhere between 1989-1906, it is a good example of the Eastlake influence, with its elaborate spindles and woodwork. The cottage (upper left) was moved to the site in 1894 from the Minnetonka Mills site to house Mr. Burwells widowed mother. It is one of the original 15 cottages constructed to house mill workers. The summer kitchen (upper right) was added to the home in 1892. The mill office (lower left) was Mr. Burwells office and was moved to the site in 1894. It now serves as the Minnetonka Historical Society building.The final photograph is of the original ice house (lower right). The home is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and is owned by the City of Minnetonka. Summer tours are available from June to August.

Burwell house at old Minnetonka Mills site

Burwell house at old Minnetonka Mills site
Content: 1971
Photographer: Johnson, Loren C.