Nicknamed "The Gateway to Lake Minnetonka," Wayzata is known for both its shopping and restaurant scene along with its access to outdoor recreation.

[6] The Dakota resided in this area of Minnesota until 1851, when the Treaty of Mendota was signed and land west of the Mississippi was opened for Euro-American settlement.

In 1857, this flourishing economy was nearly terminated by a grasshopper infestation, but the community rebounded when ginseng was discovered in the remaining hardwood forest.

In 1867 the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad extended its tracks to Wayzata, making it the area's transportation hub.

The railroad also made Wayzata the original "gateway" to Lake Minnetonka, which was billed as a place of commanding beauty and good health.

James J. Hill, who had become chairman of the newly formed Saint Paul, Minneapolis, & Manitoba Railway in 1879, initially ignored the council's order.

When the council took the case to court, Hill reacted by demolishing the train station at the foot of Broadway Avenue and building a new one east of town at a stop called "Holdridge."

A number of factors including new railroad regulations, new vacation spots, and a national economic depression contributed to this decline.

Many urban dwellers began to construct summer cottages along Lake Minnetonka's shores as the Twin Cities grew.

Notable families who built country estates there include the Bells, Boveys, Crosbys, Peaveys, Pillsburys, and Washburns.

That changed in 1905, when the village council voted for a Reconciliation Ordinance to repair relations with Hill and his railway (now known as the “Great Northern”).

As the cottage era continued, downtown Wayzata rebounded with residences and small commercial centers at each end of Lake Street.

Motorboating was all the rage by 1920, and Wayzata was at the center of the trend with two nationally famous boat makers, Ramaley and Wise, based there.

Wayzatans were fortunate when one of their own, Mayor Rufus Rand, stepped forward to lead the town in meeting the challenges of modernizing its infrastructure.

Under Rand, water and sewer service was provided to every building, streetlights were installed, roads were paved, and the public beach and park was opened.

After World War II, many local farms and summer cottages were converted for use as year-round, single-family homes.

After it became a charter city, Wayzata began to annex land from Minnetonka, Plymouth, and Orono, and doubled in size.

These physical and economic changes caused some of Wayzata's downtown shops to be replaced by condominiums and office buildings.

Strip malls and fast food franchises came to a part of the town near the highway.Wayzata is a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, 9 miles (14 kilometres) to its west on the northeast tip of Lake Minnetonka.

[9] Wayzata's climate is humid continental, with hot summers, cold winters, and moderate autumns and springs.

[10] Before it was settled by Euro-Americans, the Wayzata area was largely "upland deciduous forest, with small inclusions of wet prairie, and lakes.

"[9][11] Some of the species of plants considered invasive in the Wayzata area are purple loosestrife, narrow-leaf cattail, common buckthorn, leafy spurge, tartarian honeysuckle, garlic mustard, reed canary grass, Siberian elm, and Amur maple.

[9] Some rare native species have also been seen in Wayzata, including the Acadian flycatcher, pugnose shiner, and red-shouldered hawk.

[17] The United States Postal Service maintains a post office in Wayzata, which is assigned the ZIP code 55391.

The character Ben Linus in the TV series Lost assumed the identity of a Henry Gale from Wayzata, Minnesota.

Aerial shots of Wayzata were featured in the fourth episode of the 2018 TV series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.