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    Eden Prairie Local News
    Home»City of Eden Prairie»Before the suburbs: A Czech farm’s Eden Prairie legacy
    City of Eden Prairie

    Before the suburbs: A Czech farm’s Eden Prairie legacy

    Janet Holasek Worrall’s new book traces her family’s farm history before highways and housing reshaped the landscape.
    Stuart SudakBy Stuart SudakFebruary 4, 20258 Mins Read
    The cover of ‘A Czech Farm in Minnesota,’ a historical memoir by Janet Holasek Worrall, rests on the steps of the old Holasek farmhouse, now located at True Friends Camp Eden Wood. Worrall grew up in the home when it stood east of where Life Time Crosstown now sits. The book, published in December, traces her family’s journey from Bohemia to Minnesota and life on their Eden Prairie farm from the 1920s to the 1960s, exploring immigration, agriculture, and changing landscapes.
    The cover of “A Czech Farm in Minnesota” rests on the steps of the old Holasek farmhouse, now at True Friends Camp Eden Wood. Janet Holasek Worrall grew up in the home when it stood where Life Time Fitness Crosstown now sits. Published in December, the memoir traces her Czech ancestors’ arrival in Minnesota in the 1850s and explores farm life in Eden Prairie from the 1920s to the 1960s. Photo by Stuart Sudak

    Eden Prairie’s evolution from farmland to suburb wasn’t just a shift in landscape – it was a transformation of daily life.

    For Janet Holasek Worrall, whose family farm once stood at Baker Road and Highway 62 – now the site of Life Time Fitness Crosstown – preserving that history became a personal mission.

    Janet Holasek Worrall, author of "A Czech Farm in Minnesota." Source: Spring Cedars
    Janet Holasek Worrall, author of “A Czech Farm in Minnesota.” Source: Spring Cedars

    Her book,  “A Czech Farm in Minnesota,” published in December 2024, traces her Czech ancestors’ immigration to Minnesota in the 1850s, their settlement in Hopkins and Eden Prairie, and a century of farming the land.

    The book is dedicated to her parents, Richard and Evelyn Holasek, who passed away in 1996 and 2002, and her sister, Dorothy, who died in 2010. Drawn from family letters, newspaper clippings, and recordings of her mother’s later-life recollections, the memoir captures the rhythms of farm life between the 1920s and 1960s.

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    Holasek Worrall, a 1958 Eden Prairie High School graduate,  pursued higher education and earned a doctorate in history. She spent more than 30 years as a professor at the University of Northern Colorado, where her historian’s mindset shaped how she documented her family’s past.

    “I had always wanted to leave a record, mainly for my grandchildren and future generations, because we are a Czech family,” she said. “I’m 100% Czech – both of my parents were – and I grew up in what was largely a Czech community.”

    A historian’s approach: From memories to a book

    Holasek Worrall has always thought like a historian – documenting, recording, preserving.

    “Once I retired, I finally had time to put things together,” she said.

    At first, her notes were just fragments of memory, small moments captured on paper. Then, someone suggested she turn them into a book.

    “Maybe I will,” she thought. And so she did.

    What began as a personal project soon took over her days.

    “I started seriously working on it about a year and a half ago, and the process took much longer than I expected,” she said.

    There were drafts. Then more drafts.

    “I spent all of last year going back and forth with my editor – revising, making corrections, selecting pictures,” she said. “I was happy she wanted to include so many photos, so the book has quite a few.”

    At last, in late December, it went to press.

    The finished product – 300-plus pages with 30-plus footnotes – wasn’t quite academic, she said, but that was never the goal.

    “An academic book would have more (footnotes), but this is a personal account,” she said.

    The farmhouse, built by Richard Holasek’s uncle, Steve Holasek, stood adjacent to the farm owned by Richard’s father, John Holasek. Steve later sold the home to Richard, and Richard and Evelyn Holasek lived there from 1924 to 1967.
    Built around 1890 with Chaska bricks, the farmhouse was constructed by Richard Holasek’s uncle, Steve Holasek, next to the farm owned by Richard’s father, John Holasek. Steve later sold it to Richard, who lived there with his wife, Evelyn, from 1924 to 1967. Photo courtesy of Janet Holasek Worrall

    The farm that became part of a suburb

    For decades, Richard and Evelyn Holasek ran a dairy operation, tended vegetable gardens and grew strawberries and raspberries. Evelyn worked alongside her husband, pitching hay, husking corn and managing the household.

    By the 1960s, the farm’s fate was sealed. Highway 62 and Interstate 494 cut through the land, accelerating suburban development.

    In 1967, the couple relocated to a pink ranch-style house farther south on the property, where they lived during their “golden years” until they sold it in 1989. That house was later moved to an unknown location but originally sat just south of what is now the tennis courts at Holasek Hill Park.

    The cover of ‘A Czech Farm in Minnesota’ is pictured in the foreground in front of the Life Time Crosstown sign in Eden Prairie. The fitness club now stands where author Janet Holasek Worrall’s childhood home and family farm once stood. In her memoir, published in December, Worrall traces her family’s journey from Bohemia to Minnesota and life on the farm from the 1920s to the 1960s.
    The cover of “A Czech Farm in Minnesota” is shown in front of the Life Time Crosstown sign in Eden Prairie. The fitness club now occupies the site of author Janet Holasek Worrall’s childhood home and family farm at 6233 Baker Road. Photo by Stuart Sudak

    “What had been a family farm was replaced with a health club,” reads the book’s back cover.

    That happened over time. Northwest Racquet and Swim Club built the Crosstown Club at 6233 Baker Road in the 1980s. By 2006, then under Wellbridge’s management, it was sold to Life Time Fitness.

    “If you drive through that area now, you’ve probably seen the big Eden Prairie water tower and the huge power lines,” Holasek Worrall said. “That land used to be my family’s farm – the place where we grew strawberries and pastured our cows. There’s no sign of it now. That big Life Time Fitness facility sits where our farm used to be.”

    The Holasek House, now located on the grounds of True Friends Camp Eden Wood, was the childhood home of author Janet Holasek Worrall. The house, which originally stood where Life Time Crosstown now sits, has been moved twice from its original location.
    The Holasek House, now at True Friends Camp Eden Wood, was the childhood home of author Janet Holasek Worrall. Originally located where Life Time Crosstown stands, it has been moved twice. Photo by Stuart Sudak

    Echoes of a Czech legacy

    While the farm is gone, reminders of Eden Prairie’s Czech heritage remain.

    Many Czech immigrants from Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) settled in Minnesota in the 19th century, forming tight-knit farming communities like the one Holasek Worrall’s family called home.

    In her book, she highlights the strong Czech community in both Eden Prairie and Hopkins, where many businesses were Czech-owned. Her mother grew up in Hopkins before marrying a farmer in 1924, and her father, Stanley Svec, ran a grocery store on Excelsior Avenue.

    “Shady Oak Cemetery (in Minnetonka) is still there – it was a burial place for many Czech families,” she said. “The Faith Presbyterian Church on Excelsior Boulevard was originally the John Hus Presbyterian Church, serving the Czech community for many years.”

    She also documents historical events that shaped the community, such as the 1918-1919 flu pandemic, the polio epidemic of the 1950s, and the Hennepin County Home School (Glen Lake Farm School for Boys), which operated in Minnetonka for nearly a century.

    “I wanted to document places and institutions that no longer exist,” she said. “It’s not just about my family – it’s about a changing community.”

    Yet, one piece of her family’s history still stands.

    The 1890s farmhouse where Holasek Worrall grew up has been moved twice and now sits on the grounds of True Friends’ Camp Eden Wood, originally established in 1925 as Glen Lake Children’s Camp – a summer refuge for children with tuberculosis.

    “The woodwork is still in good shape, but the plumbing and electrical systems are outdated,” Holasek Worrall said of the house, which she last toured in 2022. “I’m not sure what will happen to it – it would be incredibly expensive to renovate.”

    The cover of A Czech Farm in Minnesota features a 1950s photo of Evelyn Holasek atop a haystack, with her husband working below. Author Janet Holasek Worrall said the image reflects her mother’s hard work both in the home and on the farm. Photo courtesy of Janet Holasek Worrall
    The cover of “A Czech Farm in Minnesota” features a 1950s photo of Evelyn Holasek atop a haystack, with her husband working below. Author Janet Holasek Worrall says the image reflects her mother’s hard work both at home and on the farm. Photo courtesy of Janet Holasek Worrall

    A record of ordinary lives

    Holasek Worrall’s book is filled with family photos – snapshots of a lost way of life. Among them: her mother’s bread-making bowl and a towering haystack.

    “I really love the haystack photo on the cover because it represents my mother’s role,” she said. “She worked so hard – not just in the house, but outside, too. She made hay, husked corn – she did so much farm labor. She wasn’t just a mother and a wife; she was actively involved in farm work every day.”

    She wrote the book to document ordinary lives – the ones history often overlooks.

    “We read so much about the rich and famous, but we rarely read about how everyday people lived,” she said. “I wanted to leave a record of what day-to-day life was like for regular farm families.”

    The book, published by Spring Cedars, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and from the publisher.

    Holasek Worrall hopes it will strike a chord with those who remember a different Eden Prairie.

    “The farm is gone, and the area has changed dramatically,” she said. “But there’s still a story here. I just want people to know it exists.”

    She said she never missed farm life after leaving for college and settling in Colorado.

    “Even if my parents had sons instead of just my sister and me, I don’t think they could have kept the farm going,” she said. “Small family farms just couldn’t survive with mechanization and changes in agriculture.”

    Still, she is grateful for her upbringing.

    “My sister felt the same,” she said. “We knew where our food came from – potatoes, carrots, everything. We knew what farm life was like.”

    Richard and Evelyn Holasek, the parents of author Janet Holasek Worrall, on a swing outside what they called the ‘pink house.’ The home stood where the back parking lot of Life Time Crosstown is now located. They lived there from 1967 until selling the land in 1989. According to Worrall’s book, the house was later moved to an undisclosed location.
    Richard and Evelyn Holasek, parents of author Janet Holasek Worrall, sit on a swing outside their “pink house.” After moving from the family farmhouse just to the north, they lived here from 1967 until selling the land in 1989. According to Worrall’s book, the house was later moved to an undisclosed location. It originally stood just south of where Holasek Hill Park is today. Photo courtesy of Janet Holasek Worrall

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