''Minnehaha'' is a steam-powered excursion vessel 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 ...

in the U.S. state of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. The vessel was originally in service between 1906 and 1926. After being scuttled in 1926, ''Minnehaha'' was raised from the bottom of Lake Minnetonka in 1980, restored, and returned to active service in 1996. The vessel operated uninterrupted on Lake Minnetonka until 2019. It is currently stored in a maintenance facility in the town of Excelsior.

History

''Minnehaha'' was built by 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) in 1906 and provided fast and reliable transportation for the residents of

during much of the early twentieth century. She ran alongside five identical sister vessels named ''Como'', ''Harriet'', ''Hopkins'', ''Stillwater'', and ''White Bear''. TCRT had commissioned boat builder Royal C. Moore to design these "Express Boats" in 1905. Each were long, wide, drew of water, and were powered by a single coal-fired

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

and

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

. 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 speed of approximately . The boats were designed in Wayzata and assembled at TCRT's streetcar shops in south

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 ...

. 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 (four in total) 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 the

Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities ...

area. The boats stopped at 26 designated landings around the lake. They were designed to closely resemble TCRT's streetcars from the internal details to the exterior yellow and red paint scheme. Because of their appearance and the fact they were named after busy TCRT streetcar stops, they were nicknamed the "streetcar boats." The streetcar boats proved to be very successful and economically solvent for many years. A seventh vessel named ''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 1921 and discontinued all steamboat service on Lake Minnetonka in 1926. Three of the streetcar boats were scuttled that summer, including ''Minnehaha''. Three others were scrapped. One of the vessels, the ''Hopkins'', was sold to a private entity and used as an excursion boat until 1949 when it was also scuttled. In 1979 a diver named Jerry Provost located the wreck of ''Minnehaha'' on the bottom of Lake Minnetonka. One year later, Provost and his underwater construction company raised ''Minnehaha'' to the surface with the intent of restoring and returning her to passenger service. However, due to a set of legal circumstances, ''Minnehaha'' sat in

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

for 10 subsequent years. After much litigation, ownership of the vessel was ultimately transferred to the Steamboat Division of the

Minnesota Transportation Museum The Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM, reporting mark MNTX) is a transportation museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. MTM operates several heritage transportation sites in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin. The museum is actively involv ...

in 1990, and a six-year

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

effort began. ''Minnehaha'' finally returned to passenger service on May 25, 1996, and operated on Lake Minnetonka as an excursion vessel until 2019. ''Minnehaha'' is currently owned and operated by the Museum of Lake Minnetonka, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit, all-volunteer organization formed in 2004 and based in Excelsior, Minnesota. The museum lost access to ''Minnehahas launch site at the end of 2019 and the vessel has been out of service since then. ''Minnehaha'' was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2021.

Gallery

File:Steamboat Minnehaha in 1906.jpg, ''Minnehaha'' in 1906 File:Wharf in Excelsior, Minnesota.jpg, Express Boat ''Como'' meeting a streetcar in 1906 File:Interior of Lake Minnetonka Express Boat.jpg, Express Boat interior circa 1906 File:Steamboat Minnehaha circa 1910.jpg, ''Minnehaha'' File:TCRT Trolley Boat.jpg, Express Boat ''Hopkins'' c. 1912 File:Express Boats Harriet and Minnehaha circa 1912.jpg, Express Boats ''Harriet'' and ''Minnehaha'' c. 1912 File:TCRT Express Boat Minnehaha.jpg, ''Minnehaha'' c. 1999 File:Minnehaha steam engine.jpg, ''Minnehahas steam engine File:Steamboat Minnehaha in 2010.jpg, ''Minnehaha'' in 2010 File:Steamboat Minnehaha in Excelsior harbor 2014-07-16.jpg, ''Minnehaha'' in 2014 File:Steamboat Minnehaha in dry dock.jpg, The restored ''Minnehaha'' in dry dock

References

External links

Steamboat Minnehaha website
{{authority control Maritime museums in Minnesota Museums in Hennepin County, Minnesota Passenger ships of the United States National Register of Historic Places in Hennepin County, Minnesota Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links