The minnehaha 4

THE LORE OF LAKE
MINNETONKA’S STREETCAR
BOATS…
FROM CHERISHED
TO SCUTTLED
TO DISCOVERED
TO NEGLECTED & FINALLY
REBORN!
1

The Museum of lake Minnetonka
WELCOME & WARNING…
 Welcome aboard the Streetcar Boat Minnehaha
 Once we get underway, our Pursers will come around & punch your tickets
 Pursers are happy to answer questions & have their picture taken (most of them
charge only a modest fee for pictures!)
 As we prepare to get underway, please take your seats & remain seated
 Fasten Your Seat Belts
 No Smoking & No Beverages or Food (after all, this IS a museum!)
 Please ask a crew member to Open/Shut your Window
 We are not subject to FAA Guidelines so there’s no need to turn off your mobile
device during take off or landing – please take pictures, post & tweet to your
hearts delight
 Countdown to blowing the whistle!
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SAFETY GREETING…
Hello and Welcome onboard the historic Streetcar Boat Minnehaha.
This thoroughly tested & regulated vessel is owned and operated by the Museum
of Lake Minnetonka.
Our restoration of the 1906 Minnehaha is as authentic as we could make her.
All of our Captains, Pursers and Engineers have a detailed knowledge of the
Minnehaha and the history of Lake Minnetonka. We are happy to answer any
questions you might have.
The volunteer group of men and women who maintain and operate the
Minnehaha are pleased to have you onboard today.
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SAFETY GREETING…
In order that our voyage is a safe one for both passengers and crew, we ask that
you observe the following rules:
 The Minnehaha is a museum…no carry-on food or beverages please. If you care for
a drink, a watercooler, cups and a water paper basket are located aft of the steam
engine.
 Smoking is not permitted on board Minnehaha.
 Parents are expected to closely monitor their children…passengers should keep an
eye out for them as well.
 Please move slowly as you walk around the boat.
 Keep your hands inside the boat and outside of the engine & boiler compartments.
 Also, take extra caution when you climb the ladder to the upper deck.
 Please do not seat on the railings or on the backs of any of the seats.
 Life vests for everyone onboard are stored throughout the Minnehaha.
 In the Main Cabin, life vests are located under the seats.
 On the Upper Deck, they are located in the storage box on the raised deck behind the
smokestack.
 If you would like to have your window opened or closed, please ask a uniformed
Purser to help you.
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SAFETY GREETING…
We’re happy to have you onboard with us today.
Lake Minnetonka is one of the most beautiful of Minnesota’s more than ten
thousand lakes.
We hope you enjoy your voyage…and thank you for sailing on the Minnehaha.
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WELCOME ANNOUNCEMENTS…
 Your Crew Today:
 Engineer:
 Pursers:
 Pilot:
 Captain:
 Today’s Route:
 Mention upcoming Minnehaha Cruises:
 Special Dates (i.e. July Wed-night Concert cruises, Family-friendly ($5) cruises,
Grand Minnetonka Voyages, ELMHS Tapping Events
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LAKE MINNETONKA QUICK FACTS…
Minnesota’s 10th largest lake
Surface Area 14,043 acres (1’ depth = fill 5 New Orleans Superdomes)
Shoreline 125 miles – 40+ bays, inlets, peninsulas & 20+ islands
Depth 113’ max / 30’ mean
Ordinary High Water
Level
929.4’ above sea level (Grays Bay Dam closes at 928.60)
All-Time Water Levels
High: 932.66 1882 / 2nd: 931.4’ June 2014 (+2’)
Low: 922.5’ 1935 (-8’)
Ice Out April 15th avg. / Mar. 11, 1878 (137 yrs) May 8th, 1956
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The Name Minnetonka is Dakota…Minne = Water, Tonka = Big
Minnehaha: Haha = Falling or Laughing Water
Minnesota: No, not Soda Water > Cloudy Water

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS…
 Was the Minnehaha simply a streetcar slapped on top of a boat?
 Was there any connection between The Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company
(that operated the Minnehaha) and today’s Metropolitan Transit Company
(MTC)?
 What was the Minnehaha’s top speed & how long did it take to commute to
downtown?
 How much of the original Minnehaha remains intact after 110 years?
 Will any of the Minnehaha’s sister Streetcar Boats ever be raised?
 With its canary yellow color, the Minnehaha looks like a double-decker
school bus – was it ever used to take kids to & from for summer school?
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HISTORICAL CONTEXT…
 It’s been speculated by historians that Lake Minnetonka may have been
visited by early French voyageurs (no definitive record to prove so)
 1680 Father Hennepin (St. Anthony Falls/Mpls), 1766-7 Jonathon Carver
 Lake Minnetonka originally under foreign control
 1671 – 1762: France
 1762 – 1800: Spain
 1801 – 1803: France (Napoleon)
 1803: U.S. Louisiana Purchase (Thomas Jefferson)
 As the U.S. recognized new states following the Louisiana Purchase, Lake
Minnetonka was a part of 6 state territories before MN became a state
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Territory Territory
1805-1812 Louisiana 1836-1846 Wisconsin
1812-1821 Missouri 1846-1848 Iowa
1821-1834 Unorganized Territory 1849-1858 Minnesota
1834-1836 Michigan

HISTORICAL CONTEXT…
Pre-
Minnehaha
Year Event
80 yrs 1822 LM first seen by European men (Wm Snelling & Josiah Brown)
50
1851
Treaty of Traverse des Sioux: Sioux cede 2mm acres of southern &
central MN to US (3 cents/acre; sold $1.25/acre)
1852 Gov. Alexander Ramsey names Lake Minnetonka (“Big Water”)
1853 Excelsior colony established
1858 Minnesota granted statehood
40
1861-5 Civil War (1862 Dakota Sioux Uprising)
1867 Railroad extended to Wayzata
30
1870’s –
1880’s
LM southern tourist destination – curative climate, rail access,
surge of hotels, steamboats
1879-1882 Mega Resort Hotels established
1878 Thomas Lowry made President of Mpls Street Railway Co.
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THOMAS LOWRY & TCRT…
 Thomas Lowry (lawyer / real estate / transportation)
 Joined Mpls Street Railway Co. in 1875, made President in 1878
 Fledgling, Privately-Owned company (streetcars were horse-drawn
carriages)
 1891 merged with St. Paul City Railway Co. to form Twin Cities Rapid Transit
Co.
 Forerunner to today’s MTC Metro Transit Commission
 Manufactured its own streetcars (harsh winters) – and for Chicago, Duluth,
Seattle, etc.
 TCRT system recognized internationally as a model mass transportation
 50 miles: Stillwater to Excelsior / 1021 street cars / 530 miles
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THOMAS LOWRY & TCRT…
 Lowry recognized: Influx of private residences = a great opportunity to drive ridership
 Railroaders: shortest distance between two points (least incline, curvature)
 Dilemma:
 LM’s 125 miles of meandering shoreline & labyrinth of 40+ bays/inlets made
streetcar infrastructure cost prohibitive (track + wiring + power stations + depots)
 Revenue too limited (seasonal, lack of weekend traffic)
 Solution:
 Streetcar track extended to Excelsior in 1905
 Extend the streetcar system via a fleet of “Express Boats” providing regular &
reliable service
 Stimulate weekend ridership - build Amusement Park & Covert Lake Park Hotel
Year Event
1905 - 1906
Wright Brothers flew the 1st airplane (Kitty Hawk Dec 17th 1903)
Teddy Roosevelt was President – elected 2nd term 1904
First Air Conditioning patents granted (Carrier) Jan 2 1906
Dow Jones Industrial Average hit all-time: 95! Jan 2nd 1906
Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company established Feb 1906
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EXPRESS BOATS OVERVIEW…
The Spec’s The Construction The Crew
70’ Length
Hulls assembled in Moore’s
Wayzata Boat Works
Assembled & fitted out in TCRT’s
Streetcar Shop at 31st & Nicollet
Transported back to Excelsior via
flatcar in Spring 1906
3-person crew:
Captain
Engineer
Purser
14’ Beam
6’ Draft
55 Tons
Coal-fired Boiler
Triple Expansion Engine
Top Speed: 12-15 mph
 Lowry enlists Royal Moore – Wayzata boat builder
 Built private launches (individual families) > 135 passenger capacity
 Design reflected her role: Speed & mimic Streetcar appearance
 Canary Yellow & Red trim (“Yellow Jackets”), fold-down upper deck benches,
cane cabin seats, drop-down window frames
 Torpedo Stern for speed, Propeller Shaft never reverses direction
 1914 added red & white striped upper deck canopy – for coal embers/soot
 Commissioned 6 boats to be built/named for streetcar stops: Harriet, Como,
Hopkins, Stillwater, White Bear, Minnehaha (a seventh boat, Excelsior, added 1915)
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EXPRESS BOAT SCHEDULE…
 Express Boats: Commuter service connecting people to streetcars
running to/from downtown
 Minnehaha & Stillwater the first completed, Minnehaha launched May
2nd, 1906
 Operated on a hub & spokes system – 4 routes radiated hourly from
the Excelsior Docks
 (2) Upper Lake routes: Zumbra Heights Express & Spring Park Express
 (2) Lower Lake routes: Minnetonka Beach Express & Deephaven Express
(1907 Wayzata)
 Altogether, 22 miles of service
 May 15th thru Sept. 30th 6:30am – 7:30 pm Fare: 10 cents 1-way
 While each streetcar boat had a designated route on the lake, I can
assure you the Minnehaha’s route NEVER provided express service
to Minnehaha Creek & Minnehaha Falls!
The Museum of lake Minnetonka9

BIG ISLAND AMUSEMENT PARK…
 Not uncommon for Streetcar companies to own Amusement
Parks
 Helped to drive ridership on weekends, etc.
 Big Island Amusement Park was unique as it was the only
amusement park on an island
 Created unique set of logistical challenges (and expenses)
 On-site dormitories for workers
 Ferrying of materials & supplies

BIG ISLAND AMUSEMENT PARK…
 65-acre picnic & amusement park constructed in 1906
 186’ lighted tower (Tower of Seville), lighted trails, merry-go-
round, roller coaster & music casino
 Companion to TCRT’s Wildwood Amusement Park in Mahtomedi
 Spanish Mission Revival architecture – red clay tiles, white
stucco
 John Philip Sousa reportedly played at the music casino
 Old Mill Ride at MN State Fair
 Lake Park Hotel purchased & converted to the Tonka Bay Hotel
 The Express Boats role was NOT to shuttle folks to the
Amusement Park, but as feeders
 Instead served by (3) 1000-passenger double-ended ferries from
Excelsior (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Minnetonka) ala Staten Island
Ferries

STORM CLOUDS BREWING…
 Public reception to the Express Boats & Amusement Park was initially
enthusiastic
 Ridership on the Express Boats grew annual peaking in 1915 (shortly
after start of WW1)
 Park attendance in 1907 & 1908 was 10-14M per weekend
 Quickly fell off – park closed in 1911 after only 5 years (dismantled in
1917)
 Increasing suburbanization of Lake Minnetonka
 LM no longer a vacation destination – growing RR networks opened
more remote destinations (Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite)
 Influx of private year-round residences drove construction of roads, etc.
 Advent of Henry Ford’s horseless carriage / Model T (1908 $825)
 Post WW1, The Roaring 20’s – by 1926 15MM Model T’s sold

FROM CHERISHED TO SCUTTLED…
 1920’s ridership began to fall –
 Roaring 20’s & the post WWI rapid economic expansion,
industrial growth & consumerism (autos, electricity,
telephones, motion pictures, radio)
 1924: Stops eliminated & the 4 routes were reduced to 2
 Death knell sounded only 6 weeks into the 1926 season
(after only 19 years), streetcar boats deemed no longer
viable & service was abruptly ended
 Minnehaha, Como, White Bear – contents sold at auction,
superstructure removed, filled with debris, then towed off
northeast end of Big Island & scuttled in 80’ of water
 1927: Hopkins sold to Excelsior’s Blue Line Café, painted
white & renamed Minnetonka – used for charter service
 1928: Harriet, Stillwater dismantled
 1949: Excelsior (Hopkins) scuttled (also off Big Island)

FORGOTTEN FOR 54 YEARS…
 Minnehaha rested undisturbed, stuck in the muck on the bottom
 From time to time, interest would spark in searching for & raising
 But in the days before underwater sonar arrays, the task was like finding
a needle in a haystack…blindfolded !
 Enter JERRY PROVOST in 1974
 Discovered July 19th, 1979
 Cypress, cold waters & low oxygen levels, buried deep in muck
 Salvaged by BILL NICCUM / MINNETONKA PORTABLE DREDGING
 Raised August 29th, 1980…remarkably she floated!
 From Blissful Re-Discovery to 10 years of Contentious Disputes & Neglect
 Legal dispute of illegal raising, ownership, preservation plan, etc.
 Deterioration on shore worse than 54 years submerged on the bottom

THE MINNEHAHA RE-BORN…
 Leo Meloche to the rescue
 1990 Title to the MN TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM – Steamboat Division
 Restoration / Replication
 No blueprints / photographically re-architected (subsequently found)
 Fuel Oil vs. 6-tons Coal, Upper Deck canopy, modern safety & navigation
equipment
 100% Volunteer effort (6-year effort / 85,000 man-hours / $500,000)
 Return of original items: anchor, brass searchlight, 13 upper deck
benches, interior cane seats & the ‘liberated’ ship’s wheel from the
Hopkins, prop from Como
 Fall 1995 quietly launched & put through sea trials
 May 25, 1996 The Minnehaha is back!
 16 yrs after being raised & 70 yrs after her last run
 Re-christened by Louise Lowry (grand-daughter of Thomas Lowry) &
maiden voyage

TRIPLE-EXPANSION STEAM ENGINE…
 Triple-Expansion – 3 cylinders
 Dual Compression – steam used to push piston up & down

THE MINNEHAHA TODAY…
 2016 marks the Minnehaha’s 20th year of service since being restored to her
glory
 Matches her length of original service
 Operated by the MUSEUM OF LAKE MINNETONKA
 100% volunteer 501C-3 organization
 Contribute our time as schedules permit
 Summer: Weekend Cruises & special events (James J. Hill days, etc.)
 Winter: Saturday maintenance work sessions
 Woodworkers, pipefitters, painters, marketers, archivists

ABANDONED SHIPWRECK ACT OF 1987…
1987 Congress passed ABANDONED SHIPWRECK ACT assigning to states the
duties of managing abandoned shipwrecks & cultural / archeologically
important sites underwater
 Clarify ownership in cases of abandonment
 Create guidelines for protection & preservation
MN OFFICE OF STATE ARCHAEOLOGIST
 Protocols for documenting archaeological sites, raising, preservation, etc.
MINNESOTA HERITAGE MUSEUM
 Since 2011, MHM mapped all of Lake Minnetonka’s underwater footprint using
sonar, documenting known shipwrecks and undetermined anomalies on the
lake bottom
 36 wrecks identified: 23 are designated as Nautical Archeological Sites
 Identified marine boilers, pontoon, raft, various cars (1936 Plymouth Sedan),
etc.

WILL ANOTHER STREETCAR BOAT BE RAISED?
No!
Requires approval of State Office of Archeology
 Extensive documentation of wreck/site
 Approval of formal restoration plan
 Fully funded in advance
 Preservation of all artifacts, etc.
Before raising…
 Proper storage facility & decision to conserve or restore
 Conservation would submission of wreck in tank with proper chemicals &
monitoring for 5+ years
 Restoration would require a restoration facility, volunteer group &
passengers
MLM already budget challenged – impact of a 2nd streetcar boat would
jeopardize both boats

THANK YOU & PAY IT FORWARD…
We hope you’ve had a great time today with us. We want to thank all of those who believed
in the vision of the Minnehaha and who PAID IT FORWARD through donation of their time and
money. Just as it was originally, the revenue from ridership is the only source we have to
offset the cost of fuel, insurance & annual maintenance on this 110 year-old vessel.
So if you enjoyed yourself today, we hope you’ll…
1. Come back for one of our other themed cruises!
2. Take a selfie, post it on FB & tell your friends to experience the Minnehaha themselves!
3. Consider Paying It Forward to continue preserving this marvelous experience by
making a donation in one of the donation boxes or in the clay jug as you exit the boat
– we promise it won’t be used to buy beer for the crew

SEAT TRAYS UP, SEAT BELTS BUCKLED…
 As we approach the dock, 2 requests of everyone PLEASE…
1. KEEP ALL HANDS, ARMS, HEADS INSIDE! – a special lookout for children !!
2. REMAIN SEATED
 Why?
 There is NO forgiveness when a 55-ton steamboat meets a timber pier!
 Landing the Minnehaha takes a coordinated effort of the entire crew – need room to
operate & maintain visual communication
 Every landing is unique & we may need to quickly maneuver to accommodate
unanticipated boat traffic, wind gusts, etc.
 We’ll sometimes will gently nudge the dock, and on occasion, we have to abort a
landing & try again
 Even once it seems like we’ve come to a stop, it can take the crew a couple of
minutes to get the Minnehaha maneuvered into position to be fully secured to the
dock
 So please, REMAIN SEATED until the ALL SECURE is given!
 On behalf of the entire crew, THANKS for your cooperation!

MINNETONKA’S GOLD
COAST

MINNETONKA’S GOLD COAST CRUISE
 WAYZATA
 Wayzia – god of the north, a giant who blew winds from his mouth
 ta – for north shore
 JAMES J. HILL & GREAT NORTHERN DEPOT
 1883 law required RR tracks be moved 300 feet from the shoreline
 1889 filed lawsuit to make JJH comply
 JJH vowed to make town walk a mile for 20 years to catch a train
 1891 MN Supreme Court declared law illegal – depot to Bushaway Rd
 1905 Wayzata Council voted a Reconciliation Ordinance & JJH promised
he would build the finest station on his entire line
 Architect: Samuel Barlett & A. H. Hogelund (National Park hotels)
 English Tudor style, completed 1906 – decommissioned 1971, Nat’l
Register Historic Places 1981

 MINNETONKA BOAT WORKS
 Moore Boat Works (builder of TCRT’s Express Boats)
 Ramaley Boat Works
 Minnetonka Boat Works
 FERNDALE
 1 of 3 most prestigious MN addresses: SUMMIT AVE / ST. PAUL,
LONDON RD / DULUTH
 Close proximity to Minneapolis
 Who’s Who of Minneapolis Society – Peavey’s, Heffelfinger’s,
Dayton’s, Bell’s, Washburn’s, Crosby’s

 DAYTON | BURNET HOUSE
 Built 1920 by Kenneth & Judy Dayton
 Example of timeless modernism
 Architect Romaldo Giurgola – next-generation architect
 Goal: honor the art of architecture
 Indian Mound

 BONSYDE…(Scottish for Fair Winds Forever) …FERNDALE
 Built 1894 for William Northrup
 Architect: William Channing Whitney (Peavey’s Ferndale, current
Governor’s Residence)
 Greek revival architecture, later modified as colonial revival
 Referred to as the White House of MN for its colonial style & big
pillars
 Restored 1995-9, formal English gardens
 Demolished 2013

 BELFORD…JAMES STROUD BELL (Washburn-Crosby Co.)
 Bell estate built 1907-8
 Mediterranean-style manor house – two stories, white stucco w/
red tile roof (aka“Redtop”)
 Designed by William Channing Whitney
 1919 became a year-round residence, 3rd story added (removed
1963)
 Last original estate on Ferndale Road South

 LANG | JOHNSON HOUSE
 Hamm twins (Theodora “Pinkie” Hamm Lang & Marie Ankeny)
 1977 MN architect Karl Humphrey – 81,000 square foot classic
Italian villa w/ breathtaking vista of LM
 Humphrey designed the house & terrace on the same plane as
the ale so that from the center room she could feel as if she could
plunge off the end of the terrace into the water

 SOUTHWAYS…PILLSBURY | JUNDT MANOR HOUSE
 Designed by Harry T. Lindeberg (one-of-a-kind American country houses)
for John & Eleanor Pillsbury
 Believed house can be elegant without being ostentatious & in traditional
designs of graceful proportion & built of beautiful materials & expert
craftsmanship
 Completed 1919 - Eleanor lived there until her death in 1991 (104)
 Called Southways because you have to go south a ways from the country
road to approach the house
 Purchased by the Jundts in 1992 & converted from a partially winterized
summer residence to year-round home
 Jundts: “This house belongs to the whole country: we’re just the
caretakers”

 LITTLE (STEVENSON) HOUSE…CEDARHURST
 Built for Frank & Mary Little 1914
 Frank Lloyd Wright architect (extra-marital affair)
 Prairie style, Coal-heated, drafty
 Dismantled 1972 – rooms & dispersed to museums: Music Room (NY
Metropolitan Museum), Mpls Institute of Arts

LEGENDS OF
BIG ISLAND

LEGENDS OF BIG ISLAND CRUISE
 GALE ISLAND
 Safe zone during Dakota War of 1862
 Purchased by Harlow Gale 1872 for $2.85
 Octagonal house
 BIG ISLAND
 275 acres
 Named Wetutanka (Great Sugaring Camp) by Dakota camped there to
tap giant maples for sugar
 OWENS ISLAND – named for Colonel John Owens (associate of Gov.
Ramsey)
 MEEKER’S ISLAND (Mpls judge Bradley Meeker)
 MORSE ISLAND – acquired in 1856 by brothers W.B. & John Morse - sold lots
for cottages, rents tents

 FRUEN | O’CONNER FAMILY CABIN & CHALET
 Crown Point on island’s southeastern tip
 Purchased by Arthur Fruen in 1927 (son of Wm owner of Fruen
Milling Company & what became Glenwood-Inglewood Co.)
 Typical 1920s north woods frame summerhouse w/ screen porch
 1930s built a Swiss-style chalet at the water’s edge
 Massive stone wall took 4 years to build
 99 steps up to reach clearing w/ cabin

 CRUISERS COVE:
 Aka Tanqueray Bay
 Despite requests, the Minnehaha does not drop people off to spend time
at Cruisers Cove. We will, however, drop anchor if we spot someone
wearing a yellow polka dot bikini
 OLAF A. SEARLE:
 Rags to Riches Story: Penniless Norwegian immigrant made fortune selling
steamship tickets & farmland to immigrants
 1891 Purchased 125 acres (1/3 of Big Island)
 Built 3-story, 21-room Colonial Revival style mansion w/ sweeping lawns &
Japanese gardens
 1895 hired laborers to dig channel separating his property
 Likely opened both ends of existing swamp allowing navigation thru island
 Easy Come, Easy Go…property foreclosed 1920, Searle was living in a
lodging house
 House burned 1930

 OAKWOOD:
 Swedish neighborhood
 Rambling cottages built 1890s
 Serviced by Streetcar Boats until 1925
 Several remain today

VICTORIAN GEMS
&
COTTAGE TREASURES

THE GRAND HOTELS
 All three designed by famous MN architect Leroy Buffington (patented iron-framed
skyscraper construction)
 1870’s – 1880’s – resort capital of America w/ guests from across the country
 Guests – particularly the wealthy - would stay all summer to escape the heat
 HOTEL ST. LOUIS
 St. Louis attorney Charles Gibson – catered to Southerners/escape hot summer
 Opened in Deephaven / St. Louis Bay in 1879 (demolished 1907)
 LAKE PARK HOTEL
 Built in 1879 by Northwestern Sunday School Assn (originally called Mtka Park Hotel)
 Catered to health-conscious…MN climate thought to be healthy (cool, clean MN air
as a cure for illness) – recover from insomnia, hay fever, tuberculosis
 Built in Tonka Bay – 4 stories, 200 rooms (all with a veranda to view the lake) - $2.50 -
$3.50/day
 Purchased by TCRT in 1907 & renamed Tonka Bay Hotel for guests of Big Island
Amusement Park (closed 1911)

VICTORIAN GEMS & COTTAGE TREASURES CRUISE
LAFAYETTE HOTEL:
 Built by J. J. Hill in Minnetonka Beach (between Lafayette & Crystal Bays)
 Opened July 2, 1882 – 800 rooms (the largest & grandest) – nearly 10,000
guests in 1st year
 Site of many elaborate parties & galas – the grandest of them all:
 Sept. 3, 1883 JJ Hill celebrated the completion of the Northern Pacific RR (5
days later) Grant would drive the final ‘golden spike’ in western Montana –
linked Mpls & Great Lakes to Puget Sound
 Special trains from NY – royalty from England, military officers, 9 governors, ex-
President Ulysses S. Grant, sitting Pres. Chester A. Arthur, architect Cass Gilbert &
environmentalist John Muir – to dine at 10-course, 1000-guest banquet
 Controversy: teetotalers in Wayzata & Excelsior convinced city councils to go
dry. Local temperance societies & owners of rival hotels called for Lafayette
Hotel to be shuttered
 Debacle embarrassed JJ Hill & rallied enforcement & fed Prohibition Movement
City of St. Louis sailed 20 hrs/day & earned $1500 daily from alcohol sales
 1897 JJ Hill losing money on Hotel & planned to tear it down next year
 Burned Oct 4th 1897 mysteriously after water shutoff, fine china removed

 CAMP MEMORIAL CHURCH aka ST. MARTINS BY THE LAKE
 Presentation at Lafayette Hotel, Bishop Gilbert called on summer visitors to
not to take a vacation from Christianity when vacationing from the city,
directed people to build a place of worship
 Major George Camp gave the property on Lafayette Bay as a memorial
for Camp’s three children who died in infancy & celebrate the marriage of
the daughter “Miss Lou” that lived
 Bishop’s cousin – Cass Gilbert – commissioned (MN State Capitol, US
Supreme Court)
 Completed in 1888 for Miss Lou’s wedding
 Resemble seaside-style New England architecture, steeply gabled roof
 Interior modeled off a Stave Church in Olso, Norway
 Subsequently relocated to its present site

 SEXTON-RICHARDS HOME…MINNETONKA BEACH
 Victorian home built by Charles Sexton 1885-90 for daughter & son-in-law Bergmann
Richards
 Wide, open porch wrapping the front of the house
 12,000 square feet
 ALLERVIA (HACKER/MATTHEWS)…MINNETONKA BEACH
 Built 1885
 Victorian style with intricate Gingerbread carvings on lakeside façade (Chinese in
style)
 BIRKHOLZ HOUSE (READERS)…MINNETONKA BEACH
 Built 1905
 7,000 square feet Colonial revival designed by architect W.J. Keith
 Features a series of white columns supporting an open, wrap-around porch
 Three sleeping porches with gabled roofs on top

 THOMPSON | WILLIAMSON SUMMER COTTAGE…MTKA BEACH
 Large Queen Anne green & white summer cottage
 Built 1887
 Old-school compared to LM’s palatial estates & contemporary
homes…wrap-around airy porch, wicker chairs
 Great example of common summer cabins on Lake Minnetonka
 Nat’l Register of Historic Places 1998
 Restored 2005

 GALE ISLAND:
 Safe zone during Dakota War of 1862
 Purchased by Harlow Gale 1872 for $2.85
 Octagonal house

MINNETONKA
MEMORIES

MINNETONKA MEMORIES CRUISE
 WALDEN…WALTER DOUGLAS
 Walter Donald Douglas born in Cedar Rapids
 Douglas operated a mill - merged in 1901 to become Quaker Oats
 1906 married 2nd wife, Mahala
 Designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw of Chicago – French Chateau
 Constructed 1909-11 on old Hotel St. Louis site
 Douglas & wife (and her maid) traveled to Europe to buy new furnishings,
made fateful return trip in April 1912 on TITANIC
 Purchased in 1987 & restored

MINNETONKA YACHT CLUB
 Casually organized August 1882
 Starting with 25 members, the sailing was social and easy going
 On May 15, 1889, with 54 members and 30 boats, MYC incorporated
 LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND:
 Man-made from dredging St. Louis Bay – donated by Charles Gibson
 1890, Harry Wild Jones designed original clubhouse
 Introduced Shingle style architecture in Mpls (Lakewood Chapel - byzantine tile)
 Multi-level rooflines with 360° verandas resembling full sails on the
water (“possess the same puffy charm of a filling spinnaker sail”)
 Destroyed by fire 1943, re-built shortly thereafter

MINNETONKA YACHT CLUB
TODAY:
 Scow Fleets:
 A (38’), E (28’), C (20’), M-20’s (20’), M-16’s (16’), X (16’)
 Today, the club has over 500 members and hosts the A, E, C, M17,
MC, Yngling, J22, Laser, X, Optimist, Open Fleet, and Classic Boats
 Lake Minnetonka Sailing School – youth & adult classes
 Bug Island – site of Minnetonka Ice Yacht Club (1899 – 1904)

ONAWA
 Ward Burton commissioned local builder Andrew Dyer in 1893
 24’ scow – a flat hulled boat designed to have minimal surface in the
water & thereby reduce resistance (increase speed)
 Onawa was winning all races against larger “sandbaggers” then in vogue
 The Onawa marked a turning point in sailboat construction and brought
fame to her Deephaven builder, Arthur Dyer, her owner Ward Burton, and
the Minnetonka Yacht Club
 On display at Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society

 HOTEL ST. LOUIS
 St. Louis attorney Charles Gibson
 One of Lake Minnetonka’s 3 Grand Hotels
 Opened in Deephaven / St. Louis Bay in 1879
 Catered to Southerners eager to escape hot summer
 Would travel from St. Louis up Mississippi River to St. Paul on steamboats
 Demolished 1907

 GRANDVIEW POINT…CARSON’S BAY
 1890’s known as Cresthaven – owned by William Donaldson who owned
the Glass Block on Nicollet Avenue (several houses, bowling alley, boat
houses)
 1910 Emery Mapes – founder of Cream of Wheat Corporation – bought the
point
 1925 daughter built a 16-room family home w/ grand views in every
direction
 1971 property sub-divided into 12 half-acre lots
 NORTHWEST LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION


 CHIMO…HAZEN BURTON
 1st year-round lake residence designed for a Mpls commuter
 90 acres (Burton built his own railroad station)
 Queen Anne Victorian design built in 1890
 Architect: William Channing Whitney
 8 years
 Community hub for memorable events through the years – commuters,
tennis players, sailors
 JAMES FLETT CARGILL HOUSE…brother to Wm Cargill (founder)
 Built 1905-6 as a summer residence – prairie & craftsman design
 Splendid wrap-around porch
 4,000 square feet

EXCELSIOR AMUSEMENT PARK
 EXCELSIOR AMUSEMENT PARK
 Operated 1925 to 1973 in Excelsior Bay
 Roller Coasters, Fun House, Carousel, Rides
 Fred Pierce
 Big Reggie’s Danceland Ballroom
 Originally part of Lake Park Hotel, transported over the ice to Excelsior
 Hosted Tommy Dorsey > Lawrence Welk > Beach Boys (‘63) > Rolling Stones
(‘64)

MARITIME HERITAGE MINNESOTA
 NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES:
 Nautical archeologists using modern side & down sonar imaging
to develop a complete survey of the lake bed in an effort to
identify all underwater wrecks & anomalies
 Towed a sonar array & crisscrossed the entire lake
 GPS coordinates; size/shape of finds
 Then scuba divers verified sites
 Two phases: Lower Lake 2011 & Upper Lake 2012
 36 known wrecks of which 23 are designated as nautical
archeological sites by the Office of the State Archeologist
 Including 3 additional streetcar boats: Como, Hopkins, White Bear
 Steamboat pier at Big Island Amusement Park

MLM HALL OF FAME
Jerry Provost
Jim Ogland
Leo Meloche
Kerm Stake
Gabriel Jabour
Jim Murphy
Brad Buxton
Sharon Provost
Bob Johnson

THREATS TO LAKE MINNETONKA
 NATURAL THREATS: EXOTIC / INVASIVE SPECIES
 Sewer runoff, etc. in ‘60s > Algae
 Eurasian Milfoil – first discovered in LM 1987
 Prolific growth in warm (80 degree) water – 2 inches a day / reproduce via
stem fragmentation
 Disrupts recreation by forming mats on surface of water; Displaces native
aquatic plants
 LMCD proactive management programs: Harvesting & Herbicide Treatment
 Zebra Mussels – first detected in LM 2010
 Fingernail –size; native to Caspian Sea in Asia, brought over to the Great Lakes
in ballast water of freighters
 Discovered in 1988 in Detroit, made way thru Great Lakes to Duluth & now to
inland lakes
 Detected in Lake Minnetonka in 2010
 Prolific propagation – 1MM eggs/year; sharp & attach to hard surfaces

THREATS TO LAKE MINNETONKA
 HUMAN THREATS: OVER-USE & IMPROPER USE
 Wide variety of uses: Fishing, Sailing, Tubing, Water-skiing, Jet-ski’s,
Cruising, Paddleboards, Windsurfers, etc.
 Boat Density, High Speeds, Inconsiderate Operation, Intoxication
 Hennepin County Water Patrol

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