A Small River Town With a Big Employer
Bayport’s roots go back to three separate riverfront settlements, Baytown, Bangor, and Middletown, which merged in 1873 to form South Stillwater. The name changed to Bayport in 1922 after ongoing confusion with the larger, neighboring city of Stillwater. Today, Bayport is best known as the headquarters of the Andersen Corporation, which moved to the city in 1913 and grew into the world’s largest window and patio door manufacturer, remaining the city’s largest employer to this day.
Despite sitting right next to Stillwater, Bayport has kept its own identity, a small, walkable river town with a genuine local feel rather than an extension of its more tourist heavy neighbor.
What Types of Homes Will You Find in Bayport?
Bayport offers a mix of established, walkable neighborhoods and newer conservation focused development.
- Established homes throughout the city's small, walkable core, many with a classic, older Minnesota river town character
- Inspiration, a 250 acre conservation community designed by ecologists, with 70 percent of its land preserved as restored prairie, wetland, and woodland
- River access and marina adjacent living, reflecting Bayport's long history with boating and the Bayport Marina
- Nearby Miller Farms, just over the city line in Baytown Township, offering large wooded and wetland lots minutes from Bayport
Jason lives in Bayport and has personally sold homes both in Inspiration and in nearby Miller Farms, giving him direct, ongoing, firsthand familiarity with this market rather than secondhand knowledge of it.
Life Along the River
Bayport’s identity is tied closely to the St. Croix River, home to the historic Bayport Boat Yard, which built steamboats and repaired barges through World War II, and today’s Bayport Marina, where residents access the river for boating and fishing. Lakeside Park offers a public beach on the river, a popular local gathering spot in warmer months.
A Bit of Local Character
Bayport has a genuinely local feel, right down to its small downtown restaurant strip. Olio, a well loved Italian bistro known for its handmade pasta and olive oil ice cream, has become a destination in its own right, alongside Not Just a Cafe and Mabel’s Ice Cream Shop. Woody’s Bar & Grill rounds out the strip, known not just for its food but for a hidden, retro eight lane bowling alley inside called Pawnee’s Lanes, a distinctive and well loved piece of Bayport’s character that a visitor would never expect walking in.
Why Homeowners Are Drawn to Bayport
Bayport offers many of the advantages of the St. Croix Valley lifestyle, river access, small town character, and proximity to Stillwater’s downtown and dining, often at a different scale and pace than Stillwater itself.
- A small, walkable city with a genuine local identity
- Direct river access and a long boating tradition
- Part of the well regarded Stillwater Area Public Schools district
- Nearby access to St. Croix Preparatory Academy, a highly ranked, tuition free public charter school in Stillwater known for its classical education model and consistent top ten percent ranking among Minnesota public schools
- Newer conservation focused development alongside established, older neighborhoods
- Close proximity to downtown Stillwater without being downtown Stillwater
A Personal Connection to Bayport
Jason lives in Bayport, not just markets homes there. That firsthand, day to day familiarity with the city, its neighborhoods, and its character shapes the guidance clients receive, rather than advice based only on listing data.
For more on the surrounding market and the 55082 area, see the Stillwater, Minnesota real estate guide.