Spring Park, Minnesota
Website: https://www.ci.spring-park.mn.us
Spring Park is a small city, rich in history, nestled on the shores of Lake Minnetonka and is about 20 miles west of Minneapolis. What is now Spring Park was once the grounds of Hotel Del Otero, a summer lake resort built by James J. Hill when his Great Northern Railroad was extended to Spring Park around 1882. The Hotel Del Otero remained until it burned down in 1945. Spring Park became a favorite lake resort area boasting a dancing pavilion, baseball park, and a playground that were unequaled at the time. Spring Park was incorporated into a village in 1951 containing 82 1/2 acres of land. The population at that time was 221. Spring Park has been the home of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Water Patrol headquarters since 1968. The city has grown from 82 1/2 acres of land in 1951 to 225 acres today, or about .35 square miles of land. The city has approximately 300 households, 7 apartment buildings, and 60 businesses.