Big Island Park (commonly referred to as Big Island Amusement Park) was a popular tourist destination that existed near

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

between 1906 and 1911 on

Lake Minnetonka Lake Minnetonka (Dakota: ''Mní iá Tháŋka'') is a lake located about west-southwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lake Minnetonka has about 23 named bays and areas. The lake lies within Hennepin and Carver counties and is surrounded by 13 inc ...

's Big Island. Today the property is a municipal nature park owned by the City of Orono, sometimes referred to as ''Big Island Nature Park'' to distinguish it from the former amusement park. Big Island Park

History

Conception

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul once boasted one of the most extensive

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

systems in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with lines reaching 20 miles in either direction from the downtown area. At its height in the early twentieth century, lines reached the suburbs of Stillwater in the east and Tonka Bay in the west. The

Twin City Rapid Transit Company The Twin City Rapid Transit Company (TCRT), also known as Twin City Lines (TCL), was a transportation company that operated streetcars and buses in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Other types of transp ...

(TCRT), which owned and operated the system, announced in 1905 that it had plans to construct a grand

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

on of land that it had purchased on

's Big Island. The announcement was part of TCRT Chairman

Thomas Lowry Thomas Lowry (February 27, 1843 – February 4, 1909) was an American lawyer, real-estate magnate, and businessman who oversaw much of the early growth of the streetcar lines in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding com ...

's master plan to attract tourists and excursionists to the edge of the system on summer weekends, when ridership was typically low. The company was already operating another amusement park called Wildwood near the eastern end of the system on White Bear Lake. Big Island Park opened on August 5, 1906, with construction still underway.

Amenities

A total of 10,000 or more persons typically visited Big Island Park each weekend with good weather. Since Big Island Park was located on an island, TCRT had to build three 1,000-passenger ferry boats and a transfer terminal in the town of

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

to efficiently carry the visitors to and from mainland. Each of the ferries were long and were double-ended so that they didn't have to turn around after each crossing. TCRT's Express Boats also provided limited service to Big Island Park, but only on rare occasions. To lodge overnight visitors, TCRT purchased the dilapidated Lake Park Hotel in Tonka Bay, renovated it, and reopened it as the Tonka Bay Hotel. TCRT had commissioned LeRoy Buffington, a prominent local architect, to design Big Island Park's structures in the

Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

style of architecture. Many of the park's buildings, including a light beacon modeled after the Tower of Seville, were equipped with

electric lights An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...

. The light cast from the top of the beacon could purportedly be spotted from downtown

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

on a clear night, approximately 15 miles away. A 1,500-seat music casino was completed in 1907 to serve as the park's premier entertainment center. Among the biggest acts to perform at the casino were the New York band and orchestra of Frederick Innes and the Banda Rossa Orchestra under the direction Eugenio Sorrentino. Most headliners, however, were local. Other attractions at Big Island Park included a

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

, a

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

, boat rentals, a

log flume A log flume is a watertight flume constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain using flowing water. Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century. Logging operations pre ...

-type ride called the ''Old Mill'', and another ride called the ''Scenic Ride Through Yellowstone Park''. The park was also known for its fine picnic facilities.

Closure

Due to excessive operating costs and lack of revenue during the

off-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, TCRT closed Big Island Park in August 1911 and abandoned the property shortly thereafter. Most of the buildings and rides were dismantled over the winter of 1917-1918.

Rebar Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a Tension (physics), tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concr ...

within the structures was smelted down and used for the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

effort.

Big Island Park Today

The property was eventually sold to several

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

associations and used as a

campground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for camping, overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight u ...

for nearly 80 years. After the campground closed in 2003, the City of Orono purchased the property for $5.7 million and reopened it as a municipal nature park in 2006. Today there are very few remnants of the original amusement park left on the island, namely several foundations, a ditch that once contained the ''Old Mill'' ride, and the remains of the grand entrance, also referred to as "The Mall." Camping and alcohol are not allowed on the premises, but picnics, hiking, and other recreational activities are encouraged. A public dock is located at the site of the original steamboat wharf. Big Island's first and only school, the Big Island Summer Institute, was established in 2006. The program was forced to relocate, however, after a fire destroyed the facility in 2011.

External links

Big Island Archaeology Report
a
Internet ArchiveAmusement parks of the Twin Cities

Big Island Park
in

Orono, Minnesota Orono ( ) is a rural city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States west of Minneapolis. Located on the north shore of Lake Minnetonka, Orono is known for its rural character and abundant wildlife. The population was 7,437 at the 2010 censu ...

.
Big Island History
at Steamboat Minnehaha. Photos
Big Island Park
at the

Hennepin County Library Hennepin County Library is a public library system serving Hennepin County, Minnesota, US. The current iteration of Hennepin County Library was formed by the merger of urban Minneapolis Public Library and suburban Hennepin County Library on Ja ...

.
Big Island Park
at the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...