The Museum of Lake Minnetonka is a 501 nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that maintains and operates the Lake Minnetonka streetcar steamboat Minnehaha. The MLM formed during a restructuring of the Minnesota Transportation Museum in 2004 and is headquartered in Excelsior, Minnesota. Its mission is "to inspire an enduring connection to Lake Minnetonka's cultural heritage by operating the streetcar steamboat Minnehaha as an authentic, living museum and community icon."
Steamboat ''Minnehaha'' history
The Minnehaha was built by the Twin City Rapid Transit Company in 1906 and provided fast and reliable transportation for the residents of Lake Minnetonka during much of the early twentieth century. She ran alongside her sister vessels Como, Harriet, Hopkins, Stillwater, and White Bear. TCRT had commissioned Wayzataboat builder Royal C. Moore to design these identical "Express Boats" in 1905. Each were long, wide, drew of water, and were powered by a single coal-fired boiler and triple-expansion steam engine. The sleek, launch-style hull of the craft, modern for the time, made the boats exceptionally stable and efficient as they cut through the water at a cruising speed of approximately. Parts and materials for the boats were prefabricated at Moore Boat Works in Wayzata and assembled at the TCRT streetcar shop in south Minneapolis. From there the finished craft were transported via railroad flatcar to Excelsior and launched into Lake Minnetonka. Express Boat service first began on May 25, 1906 from Minnetonka Beach. Later that year a streetcar transfer terminal was completed in Excelsior, and all routes embarked and disembarked from there. The primary function assigned to the Express Boats was to provide fast and reliable transportation for the seasonal residents of Lake Minnetonka who commuted to work in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The boats stopped at 26 designated landings around the lake and, if flagged down, at suitable private docks. Since the boats were essentially an extension of TCRT's streetcar system, they were painted in the same color scheme as the company's streetcars and were furnished with many of the same fittings. Several nicknames developed for the vessels as time passed. These included "yellowjackets" and the more popular term "streetcar boats." The streetcar boats proved to be very successful and profitable for many years. A seventh vessel, the Excelsior, was added to the fleet in 1915 because of high ridership. However, ridership plummeted when roads were improved around Lake Minnetonka in the early 1920s. TCRT made cuts to steamboat service after 1922, but even then could only break-even. TCRT discontinued all steamboat service on Lake Minnetonka in 1926. Three of the streetcar boats were scuttled that summer, including the Minnehaha. Three others were scrapped. One of the vessels, the Hopkins, was sold to a private entity and used as an excursion boat until it, too, was scuttled in 1949. In 1979 a diver named Jerry Provost located the wreck of the Minnehaha on the bottom of Lake Minnetonka. One year later, Provost and his underwater construction company raised the Minnehaha to the surface with the enthusiastic vision of restoring and perhaps returning her to passenger service. However, due to a number of circumstances, the Minnehahasat in dry dock for 10 subsequent years. After much litigation, ownership of the vessel was ultimately transferred to the Steamboat Division of the Minnesota Transportation Museum in 1990, and a complete restoration effort was begun. The project, which cost approximately $500,000, continued for six years. The Minnehaha finally returned to passenger service on May 25, 1996, and has operated on Lake Minnetonka ever since. The Steamboat Division of the MTM reincorporated as the Museum of Lake Minnetonka in 2004 and is no longer associated with the former organization. The MLM continues to operate the Minnehaha out of the communities of Excelsior and Wayzata during the summer and autumn seasons and offers a variety of different excursions. The Minnehaha is currently the only authentic passenger steamboat home-ported in Minnesota.
