How times have changed! By 2000, the population swelled to almost 60,000, a 3,000 percent increase. It changed from a predominantly agricultural rural area to a thriving, business-rich community that is a highly desirable place to live and work.

The City owes its name to Elizabeth Fries Ellet, an East Coast writer who visited the area and proclaimed it to be the garden spot of the territory. American Indians were the first to live in the area. In 1851, a treaty opened land west of the Mississippi River to settlement allowing pioneers to settle in what is now Eden Prairie.

The town board of Eden Prairie held its first meeting in a log school house on May 11, 1858, the same day Minnesota became a state. In 1929, the first graduating class left the Eden Prairie Consolidated School. Today that building serves as the main office for Eden Prairie School District 272.

Eden Prairie's farming community grew slowly over the years. Flying Cloud Airport was the first sign of big development in 1946. The 1960's and 1970's were decades of growth for the City's parks and recreation system. In the mid-70's, the community earned a higher profile with the addition of Interstate 494 and the Eden Prairie Shopping Center. Today, Eden Prairie is home to more than 2,200 businesses, nearly 19,000 households and about 58,000 residents.