https://www.cityofminnetonkahistory.org/

City of Minnetonka Historical Society, 14600 Minnetonka Boulevard, Minnetonka, MN (2026)

08/30/2026

After Groves moved to St. Louis Park in 1982, the building became the home of the Volunteers of America MN and WI’s Omegon Residential Treatment Center. It was a residential treatment program that served adolescents with both a mental health diagnosis and chemical dependency and was one of only a few such treatment centers in the region. The building underwent about $250,000 in renovations as it transitioned to becoming a residential facility with 24 bedrooms, serving about 55 people a year.

Most recently the property was sold to Joshua Wert of English Rose homes in 2025. After going through the planning and permitting process, the Oak Knoll school was demolished in August of 2026. In its place, two senior living buildings will be built, with ten bedrooms in each, serving people living with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

Thankfully, the new owner of the property salvaged a couple pallets of the bricks from the school building along with the school's sign that was above the front entry, and the dedication year brick. They are intending to use the old school bricks to build two planter boxes by the English Rose sign and line the sidewalks leading to the front doors of the homes.

Though the building is gone, Oak Knoll will live on in the hearts and memories of many who walked through its halls over the past 100 years. We’ll wrap up our seven day series with the Oak Knoll Rouser.

“Oak Knoll - we sing to you
To our school so fine,
Ours will be the victory
If we will rise and shine

Let’s help our team to win
Play it straight and fair
Let’s be strong, shout loud and long
And make our voices fill the air

Chorus:
To you we cheer with all our might
Come on, Oak Knoll, get in and fight
For our name, and for our fame
And for our colors bright. Rah!”

08/29/2026

When Hopkins Schools announced they were closing Oak Knoll due to a decreasing student population in the district and the school’s proximity to the newer Tanglen Elementary School, parents of all but 25 students petitioned the school board to keep Oak Knoll School open. Richard Lunde, PTA President led the fight to keep the building open citing a loss of community as one of the reasons for keeping the neighborhood school building open. However, the school district moved ahead with its plan to close Oak Knoll and in the spring of 1972, the final class of Oak Knoll students walked the hallways of the building.

The following school year, 233 students from Oak Knoll would attend other schools, with many of the students going to nearby Tanglen Elementary School. But when one door closes, another opens. In 1972, the school building became the home of The Groves School.

The Groves School was a bold new idea - a private school that would specialize in helping students with learning disabilities and attention disorders to reach their full academic potential. It came about thanks to the passion and dedication of a group of 15 parents, educators, and a physician. US Senator Hubert Humphrey was a part of the ribbon cutting ceremony in September 1972 for the new Groves School. The school was named in memory of Frank M. Groves.

When the school opened its doors to students on September 6, 1972, it served students ages 9-15 and had 21 students enrolled, but the organization had its sights set on expanding to service to all primary through secondary students, offer pre-school and vocational programs, and increase enrollment up to about 150 students. J. Gerald Miskoff, who served two years in the U.S. Office of Education as coordinator of the learning disabilities unit of the Bureau of Education was the Executive Director, and the head teacher was Miss Mildred Gottleib from Stanford, Connecticut where she was a resource teacher and consultant for learning disabilities. Ten years later, in 1982, Groves had an enrollment of 115 students and moved to a larger campus off of Highway 100 in St. Louis Park. Many thanks to Groves Learning Organization for sharing the photos with us.

Groves students and staff, what are your memories from learning and working in the old Oak Knoll school? Favorite teachers? Recess memories? Activities and events?

08/28/2026

We're continuing our week of posts about Oak Knoll School by diving into what life was like at Oak Knoll in the 1960's and early 1970's.

In 1962 a robin made a nest in Mrs. Doris Empanger's second grade classroom window giving them a front row view of the four baby robins!

In 1963, one of Oak Knoll’s teachers made it into the pages of The Minneapolis Star. They reported that Mrs. Lucille Sanders’ 5th grade classroom was known as the nursery or maternity ward of Oak Knoll School. Mrs. Sanders’ students were eagerly awaiting the birth of sea-horse babies in their classroom aquarium. Several litters of hamsters had been born that year, and guppies and snails were regularly rearing their young in her classroom. If you opened her coat closet, you would be more likely to find salamanders, tree frogs, frogs, or snakes than the typical jacket and a scarf. Mrs. Sanders taught at Oak Knoll from 1943 until it was closed in the spring of 1972. Were any of you lucky enough to be a student in Mrs. Sander’s room? If so, tell us what you remember!

On July 8, 1967, Miss Elanor Rader, fourth grade teacher at Oak Knoll, got married to Derrick Alcock and invited her fourth graders to the wedding that was complete with a three tier traditional English wedding cake frosted with a layer of almond paste, royal icing, and fondant flowers and wedding bells. Did any of you go to the wedding?

Also in 1967, Oak Knoll began an exchange class with teachers and students from Harrison Elementary School in Minneapolis. Two teachers took half of their class with them as they went to Harrison to teach for the day while two teachers from Harrison brought half of their students to Oak Knoll. This exchange aimed to connect city and suburban kids.

The best memories of a place usually come from the people you were there with and the experiences you had together. Oak Knoll School was special because of the staff, students, and very active PTA. For today’s post, we want you, the Oak Knoll students from the 1960’s and early 70’s to tell the stories that really made Oak Knoll special. Which teachers did you love learning from, and why? Which teacher was the strictest? What school events do you have fond memories of? What games did you play at recess? What staff and friends will you always remember and why? What was your favorite part of the school? Why? Let’s fill the comments with stories that make the memories from Oak Knoll live on!

08/27/2026

As the population continued to increase in the Oak Knoll area, the school was bursting at the seams and no longer held all of the students in its attendance area. By 1950, Oak Knoll’s seventh and eighth graders were attending school in Hopkins because the Oak Knoll school building wasn’t large enough. However, the Hopkins School District was also dealing with increasing enrollment and warned they may need to limit enrollment to resident students after the 1950-51 school year, so another solution would need to be found.

A county proposal to merge Oak Knoll, Burwell, Harley Hopkins, and Hopkins school districts was created, but was voted down in March of 1950 by Harley Hopkins voters, so on June 27, 1950, from 5-8PM, Oak Knoll residents voted on a $110,000 bond to add on to Oak Knoll School. The bond issue passed 139 to 45. Construction was completed on January 1, 1952, providing six more classrooms to Oak Knoll. Unfortunately, the bids came in higher than expected and another $25,000 of bids needed to be approved before the project could begin. The total cost to build the addition was $121,688.

However, Oak Knoll School District still didn’t have a high school, so about half of the students went to Wayzata High School and about half went to Hopkins High School for 9th-12th grades. Oak Knoll residents were interested in joining another district so their children would have a high school within their district. During this time period, other small rural districts in Hennepin County were merging to provide more classes and opportunities to students, especially in high school. Wayzata and Hopkins School Districts were the top two choices for Oak Knoll given their proximity and history of hosting Oak Knoll students for high school. Perhaps predictably, given the school’s history of sending half of the graduating student body to Hopkins and half to Wayzata, Oak Knoll families divided into two camps, “Join Hopkins” and “Join Wayzata.”

Only adjacent districts could be annexed and the Burwell School District was located between Hopkins and Oak Knoll school districts. The Hennepin County commissioners had ordered Burwell to be annexed by Hopkins, but legal challenges by Burwell residents were holding up the process, so the “Join Wayzata” proponents argued that Wayzata was eager and ready to take Oak Knoll now, and even if Burwell was annexed, the new Hopkins High School likely wouldn’t be finished until 1955. The “Join Hopkins” proponents argued that joining Hopkins would be the better solution for the long term given the closer location of the future Hopkins High School on Highway 7 among other reasons.

In a straw poll at the November 7, 1953 Hennepin County Board meeting, residents in attendance voted 338 to 306 to join Wayzata. The county commissioners delayed voting to further study the issue. Just days earlier, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that the County commissioners’ action was just in annexing Burwell to Hopkins School District, and the annexation would soon take effect. On December 15, 1953, in front of a full house of Oak Knoll residents, the County Commissioners reconvened and voted to annex Oak Knoll to Hopkins as the Hennepin County School Survey Committee had recommended. Until Hopkins High School on Highway 7 was completed, Oak Knoll’s upper grade students would attend other nearby schools. Oak Knoll school district would dissolve and become a part of Hopkins School District, #225 beginning the 1954-55 school year.

Highlighted in the photos are two of Oak Knoll’s annual traditions, the spring PTA Carnival and Christmas concerts.

08/26/2026

Hope to see you tomorrow, Thursday, August 27th from 1-2:00 PM at the Minnetonka Community Center, 14600 Minnetonka Blvd, Minnetonka, MN 55345 for a presentation about Martha Larkin by CMHS's board member Barb Lindgren.

Martha and John Larkin farmed the land that the Dayton Co. bought for the development of Ridgedale Center, but that's not her claim to fame. Martha was a fabulous cook and had many hobbies including reading, photography, making hats, singing, and most notably, painting - everything from still lifes to murals to garage doors - all while she and John raised six children. Come and hear Martha's story, from her childhood family trip to Yellowstone via covered wagon, to her artwork, and how the creative art gene traveled through many of her family members.

$2 registration required • Call 952-939-8393 or register online at minnetonkamn.gov/register (3180408-1)

08/26/2026

During the 1946-47 school year Oak Knoll took first place in the Hennepin County Fair School Exhibit competition! Oak Knoll students had the opportunity to create projects for school exhibits that could be showcased at either the Hennepin County Fair or MN State Fair, with cash prizes! School exhibits were touted as a way to inspire students and give parents a better idea of the quality of their child’s work in addition to the quality of the school. An entire building at the Hennepin County Fair was dedicated to showcasing student work. The students' projects could be art, handicraft, or units of study developed over time.

In 1947 new Minnesota school district legislation was passed that encouraged counties to form school survey committees to study and recommend the consolidation of small rural schools. Hennepin County began looking into consolidating Harley Hopkins, Burwell, Hopkins, and Oak Knoll. The state encouraged reorganization as a way to make improved high school training available to all rural students, adjust to changes in student enrollment, and to be fiscally responsible.

8th grade graduation was a big milestone that was met with much pomp and circumstance for Hennepin County graduates in rural schools. Oak Knoll’s eighth grade graduates participated in commencement celebrations in Excelsior along with other rural schools in Hennepin County. Festivities at the Excelsior Amusement Pavillion included musical performances, speeches, and the awarding of diplomas followed by fun at Excelsior Amusement Park. In 1947, Oak Knoll had 14 eighth grade graduates and Christie Enke and Keith Illies claimed two of the the top five scores on the state board examinations from across all of Hennepin County’s 300 rural public and parochial school graduates. Oak Knoll’s graduating eighth graders typically attended high school in Wayzata or Hopkins since the Oak Knoll School District did not have a high school.

We’ve got lots of great class photos from the 1940’s to enjoy. Maybe some of you will recognize a relative or former teacher! Many thanks to Jennifer Roberts for sharing some awesome candid shots her dad, Charles Larson and his older sisters took while attending Oak Knoll in the 1940’s. If you’ve got any photos from your time at Oak Knoll that you’re willing to share, drop us a message. With our next post we’ll move into the 1950’s, a decade with some big changes for Oak Knoll School.

08/25/2026

Oak Knoll was one of 13 rural Hennepin County Schools that transitioned from a small ungraded school house to a larger multiroom building between 1925-26, with $2,700,000 of school construction taking place in rural Hennepin County schools. Oak Knoll was not just a school, but its own school district, #133. The school served kids through 8th grade, and then students had to attended high school in a neighboring district, like Hopkins or Wayzata.

Oak Knoll School was classified by the state as a “Superior Rural School.” The state of Minnesota had a set of minimum standards that schools must meet in order to be classified as a “Superior Rural School” and therefore receive state aid. The criteria included having a well drained school ground with room for a playground, well maintained building with heating and ventilation, sufficient clean water supply for washing hands and faces, a blackboard, seats and desks of different sizes for different ages, following the state guidelines for courses of study, adequate library services, nine maps, a globe, and at least seven dictionaries and four sets of readers for the four lower grades.

It seems there was quite a rivalry with the nearby Burwell School/District. In 1932, school staff in both districts created a joint play day to bring students from both schools together to build feelings of camaraderie and sportsmanship vs. competition. Mrs. Isabel Cook, the principal of Oak Knoll, told the Minneapolis Tribune, “The way it used to be, the children would come to games and hiss and boo at one another. Sportsmanship meant nothing unless their side was winning.” During the May 15, 1936 play day, Works Progress Administration recreational advisors arranged games like running races, potato sack races, and a ball game while the PTA helped teachers manage students and served refreshments including ice cream and lemonade.

In the spring and summer of 1932, church services for Oak Knoll Lutheran Church were held at Oak Knoll School until August 7th, when the construction of their church was completed. One week, Reverend J. C. Lysen led a sermon entitled, “Praying Pioneers.”

In the late 1930’s, schools and students around the state were able to listen in to a variety of daily educational programming on the radio. In 1940, Oak Knoll School was awarded a radio from WCCO, for best utilizing the American School of the Air in Minnesota lessons the prior school year! WCCO’s Max Karl came to an Oak Knoll PTA meeting to present the award.

We'll pick up the Oak Knoll story in the 1940's tomorrow.

08/24/2026

Oak Knoll School's story started under a different name. It was generally known as Christy School after the nearby farmer, John Christy. John and his wife Louisa immigrated from Sweden in 1869, purchasing land in Minnetonka in 1878. He seems to have been a leader in the 1895 petition submitted to the county which sought to create a new school district, District 133 which would provide a school for the area around Superior Boulevard (now 394) and Hopkins Crossroads, which was very much a rural area at the time. His efforts were successful, and a small wood-framed building was built in the newly created school district. County financial records printed in the Star and Tribune from 1901-1910 list John Christy as the treasurer of District 133. He was also engaged in local politics, serving as a township supervisor and constable at different times.

The community of Oak Knoll also had a prior name. It was previously known as Boulevard Gardens, likely due to the development of the same name which started selling lots in 1914. In 1913, paving work began on Superior Boulevard (now 394) which improved the speed and ease of transportation from Minneapolis to Minnetonka, making the rural land much more marketable to commuters.

The photo of the school children, taken in about 1918, shows a group of Oak Knoll students during World War I. Two students are holding posters encouraging saving and serving as a way to contribute to the war efforts. We’re not sure exactly when or why the school name changed to Oak Knoll. One source states that a class of students gave the school the name of Oak Knoll, sometime around when this photo was taken.

However the school came to be known as Oak Knoll, the surrounding area eventually became known by the same name, with several developments named Oak Knoll and Oak Knoll Terrace being platted around the County Road 73 & Superior Boulevard area.

Tomorrow, we’ll pick up the story with the construction of the new brick building that stood until this year. If you went to Oak Knoll and have any photos you'd be willing to share, message us and we may include them in one of our posts this week as we recount Oak Knoll School's history.

08/23/2026

This past week Oak Knoll School's long history in Minnetonka came to an end. This coming week we'll pay homage to the old brick school building that sat on Hopkins Crossroads for the last 100 years by taking a look back at the history of Oak Knoll School.

08/22/2026

70 years ago today, Minnetonka Township residents went to the polls and voted to become a village. The polls were open from 7AM to 9PM at Minnetonka’s town hall on Minnetonka Boulevard. The path to incorporate as a village was a contentious one, going all the way to Minnesota's Supreme Court, and it wasn't Minnetonka's first attempt to incorporate.

C.H. Burwell first sought to incorporate the township of Minnetonka back in 1892, to excise Hopkins. However, Hopkins fought back, with the Attorney General joining the dispute. Burwell’s attempt to incorporate Minnetonka was struck down by Minnesota’s Supreme Court in 1894 citing it was illegal under current laws due to the fact that it was a sparsely populated rural township. In 1946, there was a second push to incorporate with a very similar outcome. In 1948 the community of Glen Lake held a vote to incorporate, but Minnetonka voters struck down that proposal.

Minnetonka returned to the idea of incorporation again in 1956 in an effort to stop the surrounding villages from annexing parts of Minnetonka Township. When Minnetonka Township was first created, it looked roughly square in shape and extended well beyond the Minnetonka we know today. After repeated annexations by the neighboring villages of St. Louis Park, Wayzata, and Hopkins, Minnetonka Township looked more like a puzzle piece. Most people in Minnetonka seemed to agree that becoming a village was a necessary step, but opposing plans developed.

At first, a few different areas of Minnetonka considered a push to incorporate, but things boiled down to two incorporation proposals. One group sought to turn the entire territory of Minnetonka into Minnetonka Village. Another wanted to create the Village of Burwell out of the northern third of Minnetonka Township. The fight included a race to file at the county auditor’s office and legal filings that went to Minnesota’s Supreme Court, but in the end, a vote was held on August 22, 1956 where Minnetonka Township residents voted 2,309 to 1,275 to incorporate the entire township into a village.

City of Minnetonka Historical Society

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