On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tonka Bay is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tonka Bay’s overall grade.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Tonka Bay’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Tonka Bay’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Circa 10,000 B.C. – Tonka Bay forms during the recession of the last glaciation – the Wisconsin. Upper and Lower Lake Minnetonka and the peninsula and bays that now make up Tonka Bay forms as the ice sheet retreats.
1852 – Signing of Treaty of Traverse des Sioux that opens up the Lake Minnetonka area to white settlement.
1852 –Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey explores Lake Minnetonka and officially names it “Minne” (Sioux for water) and “Tonka” (Sioux for big or strong).
1853 – Reverend Stephen Hull comes to the area. He creates the first narrows, “Hull’s Narrows,” located nearby present-day County Road 19 north of West Point Road. The Narrows allows boats to pass between Upper and Lower Lake Minnetonka.
Tonka Bay is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Tonka Bay?
23% of Tonka Bay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1982.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
