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JIM ROE MUSEUM PLANNING | BIG ISLAND NATURE PARK CONCEPT PLAN | APRIL 15, 2021 9 <br />Ex <br />c <br />e <br />l <br />s <br />i <br />o <br />r <br />- <br />L <br />a <br />k <br />e <br /> <br />M <br />i <br />n <br />n <br />e <br />t <br />o <br />n <br />k <br />a <br /> <br />H <br />i <br />s <br />t <br />o <br />r <br />i <br />c <br />a <br />l <br /> <br />S <br />o <br />c <br />i <br />e <br />t <br />y <br />Ex <br />c <br />e <br />l <br />s <br />i <br />o <br />r <br />- <br />L <br />a <br />k <br />e <br /> <br />M <br />i <br />n <br />n <br />e <br />t <br />o <br />n <br />k <br />a <br /> <br />H <br />i <br />s <br />t <br />o <br />r <br />i <br />c <br />a <br />l <br /> <br />S <br />o <br />c <br />i <br />e <br />t <br />y <br />Theme 2: <br />A DAY ON THE ISLAND: BIG ISLAND <br />AMUSEMENT PARK, 1906 – 1911 <br />Potential Stories— <br />Arrivals and Departures. Twin Cities Rapid Transit developed Big Island Park in hopes <br />of increasing ridership on its streetcars, particularly on summer weekends. It was the <br />last leg of the journey—on board a steamboat—that set the experience apart from most <br />other weekend excursions. <br />Night into Day. At a time when many city dwellers still lit their homes with gas <br />lamps, Big Island Amusement Park made a spectacle of electric light. Drawing on the <br />same source that powered its streetcars, the park’s developers laid a cable from south <br />Minneapolis to the shores of Lake Minnetonka (Ferguson Point) where it dropped <br />underwater out to the island. <br />Summer Jobs. Many of the park’s seasonal workers lived in dormitories on the <br />island—one for men, another for women.