The remnant of an 1870s-era farmstead near Lake Minnetonka is among the latest Minnesota landmarks to be entered in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Schmid Farmhouse Ruins in Lake Minnetonka Regional Park were officially listed in the National Register last month. Officials with the Three Rivers Park District, which owns the property, hope the designation will help them preserve the site for future generations.

Bill Walker, Three Rivers' cultural resources program manager, said the ruins illustrate the bustling farming community that once existed around the lake: "It could be a resource … to teach people about the little known parts of Lake Minnetonka."

The Minnetrista ruins are the remains of a fieldstone farmhouse built for German immigrant Joseph Schmid and his family in 1876. Before Three Rivers acquired the site in the mid-1990s, it was part of the private estate of the late wrestling legend Verne Gagne. Before that, a section of the original farm was owned by a member of the family of Charles Loring, namesake of Minneapolis' Loring Park.

The stone farmhouse replaced a log structure occupied by the Schmid family. The original farm had 156 acres for livestock, as well as fields for corn, wheat and potatoes.

The Schmids began selling off the land at the turn of the century, with the last 80 acres passing to dairy farm operator Albert Loring in 1905. The house, rented out occasionally in the early 1900s, has been vacant since 1948. The 1-acre site underwent a series of archaeological digs in the 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, the building's roof has collapsed.

The Schmid Farmhouse Ruins are the remains of a fieldstone farmhouse built for German immigrant Joseph Schmid and family in 1876.

Walker said the historic designation would open up more opportunities for grant funding to preserve the site. Three Rivers plans to shore up the building's walls with a steel frame, build a rooflike structure over it to minimize damage from rain and snow, build a walkway into the farmhouse, and add displays for self-guided visits. That work and other improvements are expected to cost about $250,000, Walker said; if approved and funded, work could start in 2017. "There's not very many places left that tangibly connect to that story line," he said.

Three Rivers had another site listed in the National Register in 2015: the Noerenberg Estate barn, built in 1912.

"It's a big deal," Walker said. "It shows our commitment to cultural resources and history."

Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141