Lake Minnetonka - Golden Years

Golden Years

In 1905 the Twin City Rapid Transit Company (TCRT) expanded its streetcar system to the town of Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka's southern shore. The Lake saw dramatic growth between 1905 and 1906 as the TCRT opened the Big Island Amusement Park on the eastern side of Big Island and launched its Express Boat system. The Express Boats, informally known as “streetcar boats,” were merely treated as floating streetcars. At first six, and later seven, of these splendid steamboats would transport arriving streetcar passengers from Excelsior to twenty-seven different landings around the Lake. Most of the streetcar boat passengers were commuters who lived in the lake area. Tourists, on the other hand, would board one of three large ferry boats that specifically transported them to Big Island Amusement Park, where they could spend the day relaxing and enjoying several attractions. Big Island Amusement Park closed only five years after it opened due to its excessive operating costs, however the streetcar boats proved successful and remained that way until the 1920s.

The Crane Island, on the western side of the Lake, was organized as a summer cottage retreat in 1907. The Crane Island Association platted a number of lots around the perimeter of the Island and dedicated a commons area in the center. Crane Island had originally been a heron rookery until a storm blew down many of its trees in 1906. The Island is now a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

President William Howard Taft made Lake Minnetonka's Lafayette Club his summer White House in 1911.

1926 marked the end of Lake Minnetonka's "Golden Years." Roads and automobiles had become more prevalent in the area, and in June of that year three of the beloved Express Boats were scuttled in deep water north of Big Island due to lack of ridership. Three others were scrapped, and one was sold and used as an excursion boat until it, too, was scuttled in 1949. Streetcar service to Excelsior became evermore limited and was eventually discontinued in 1932.