On May 29, 1911, President of the United States William Howard Taft toured Wayzata. As a result, a public meeting was held in which townspeople requested the Village Council take the legal steps necessary for the U.S. government to accept the public square as a site for a summer residence to the president of the United States.
The cause of this request stemmed from President Taft’s enthusiasm over the panoramic view of Lake Minnetonka from the public square, then described as “lying north of, and contiguous to, Indian Mound Street and popularly known as Bald Hill.”
During his tour, Taft was entertained at the Lafayette Club in Minnetonka Beach and given a tour of the lake area. The highlight of his tour, however, remained to be the view of the lake from Indian Mound Hill.
Despite the enthusiasm of both Taft and the townspeople, Wayzata was never home to a summer White House.
Information from “Happenings Around Wayzata” by Ellen Wilson Meyer. 1980, p. 56.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
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