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Getting Here <br />Was Half the Fun <br />Unless it’s winter, chances are you arrived here on a boat, <br />just as visitors have for more than a century. Standing <br />here in 1906 you would look out over a recently built <br />wharf to see steamboats filled with passengers ready for <br />a day of picnics and amusements. <br />We <br />s <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 />A vacation at Big Island Veterans <br />Camp (1921–2003) began when <br />the camp launch pulled up to the <br />Excelsior docks ready to take on <br />people and supplies. The camp <br />operated several boats over the <br />years, including the two launches <br />pictured here in the late 1930s. <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 />The Minneapolis was one of three steamers built to <br />ferry passengers between the Excelsior docks and <br />Big Island. The summer after the park closed, she <br />was burned and scuttled in a spectacle watched by <br />thousands. What remains of the ferry lies just south <br />of the island in 70 feet of water. <br />“As the flames started to eat their way in all <br />parts of the “Minneapolis,” some person in a <br />nearby motor craft sounded “taps” with a bugle. <br />. . . For an hour and five minutes the boat blazed <br />and then, burned to the water line, it settled <br />and sank beneath the waters with a sound that <br />resembled a half audible sigh, leaving only a <br />few smoldering timbers floating on the surface.” <br />Minneapolis Morning Tribune, August 9, 1912 <br />Westonka Historical Society <br />Steam whistles announced the departure of boats leaving the Excelsior docks <br />heading for Big Island. Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company developed Big Island <br />Park (1906–1911) in hopes of increasing ridership on its streetcars, particularly <br />on summer weekends. It was the last leg of the journey—across the water on a <br />steamboat—that set this experience apart from most other weekend getaways. <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