Designed in the English Tudor Revival style by architect Samuel L. Bartlett, the depot was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

When the railroad was extended westward through the town, local citizens protested because trains would shower the business district with cinders and sparks.

The railroad ignored their complaints, but nevertheless influenced the town's economy and identity as it connected local farmers to large, urban markets and made Wayzata a transportation center for Lake Minnetonka's burgeoning tourism industry.

In 1879 it was purchased by James J. Hill and other investors and reorganized as the Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway (StPM&M).

In 1891, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled against the Great Northern, holding that the company was trespassing on village property (Lake Street) with its tracks through the downtown area.

[4] As promised, Hill tore down the existing station and moved it to flat land beneath today's Bushaway Road railroad bridge.

Hill responded by commissioning the construction of a new depot near Wayzata's downtown business district on the shores of Lake Minnetonka.

[1] In the summer, the Museum of Lake Minnetonka operates the historic Minnehaha steamboat from a dock located adjacent to the depot.

[7] The Wayzata Depot was designed by Great Northern architect Samuel L. Bartlett in the English Tudor Revival style of architecture.