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Brickhouse: Carver County Real Estate
The Big Carver County Real Estate Woods region of Minnesota is home to Carver County, which lies just southwest of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The county gets its name from Jonathan Carver, who was an explorer and a writer, and is known for his mapping and surveying of the area. Carver County was founded on February 20, 1855, and officially became organized in March of the same year.
By the 1860s, most of the settlers migrating to Carver County were German and Swedish. The Germans built towns like Hamburg, New Germany, and Cologne while the Swedes founded towns like Watertown and East Union. Many of the immigrants became farmers, but brick-making was a booming industry during the beginning years of the county. Chaska, the county seat, sidles up to the Minnesota River, which has excellent clay deposits needed for crafting brick. The cream color of the bricks became a popular choice for houses in Chaska and its neighboring rural areas. The bricks were even used to form the foundation of the Minnesota Capitol building, which was built about 100 years ago. The brickyards gradually closed over the next hundred years with the last one shutting down in the 1950s.
Farming was also a major industry in Carver County’s past. While some farmers grew crops, others raised cows. For a while, the county claimed the title “The Golden Buckle of the Dairy Belt” because of its many creameries. Bongards’ Creameries remains as a lasting remnant of Carver County’s dairy heritage even though farming is no longer the primary industry.
Carver County is the least-populated of the seven counties that comprise the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro counties, but it’s the third-fastest growing county in the state. Carver County real estate shelters an estimated 90,000 people, and that figure is projected to double by 2030. Eleven cities, ten townships, four unincorporated communities, and over four dozen lakes fit within the boundaries of the county.
Carver County real estate will have the benefit of three regional parks maintained by the county: Baylor, Lake Minnewashta, and Lake Waconia Regional Parks. Each offers ample space for camping and picnicking, plus access to boating, canoeing, swimming beaches, and forest trails. Lake Minnewashta even provides an area for off-leash dogs, and each of the regional parks offers permits for the new technological sport of geocaching. During the winter months, Lake Waconia has a special hill just for sledding, plus the usual snow recreations of skiing and hiking. The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge lies partially within the county’s borders, and it’s the largest national wildlife refuge contained within an urban area.
Carver County real estate has developed at an exponential rate in Chanhassen (the county’s most-populous city), Chaska, Waconia, Carver, and Victoria. Much of the county’s residents commute to Minneapolis or its suburbs for jobs. County officials are working to maintain the vibrant history and culture while looking ahead to prepare for the expected growth through 2030, which means more Carver County real estate during the coming years.