Inside the Yellowjackets

Postcard circa 1915

Are you a fan of the steamboat Minnehaha? Here is an uncommon postcard from 1910, shot from the interior of one of the streetcar boats!

Built in Royal C. Moore's Wayzata boat works building, the all six "Yellowjacket" sister ships were sent in pieces by train from Wayzata to Minneapolis, where they were assembled by the Twin City Rapid Transit Company. Once completed, each ship was loaded onto the streetcar track and sent to Excelsior, where they were launched into Lake Minnetonka. These sister ships were named Minnehaha, Como, Hopkins, White Bear, Stillwater, and Harriet.

Minnehaha was the first to be floated, on May 2, 1906. The fleet proved so popular that, in 1915, a seventh larger ship was added to the fleet, which was named Excelsior. By 1926, the ships had become drastically less profitable and were either scrapped or scuttled. (an acceptable method of disposal at the time) Only the Hopkins was sold and remained on the lake as an excursion boat until 1949, when she too was gutted and scuttled in the same vicinity as her sisters.
Today, three of the original express boats are still resting at the bottom of Lower Lake. Their collective legacy lives on in Minnehaha who was raised, restored, and has been made fully operational as an excursion ship for the Lake Minnetonka Historical Society. Her interior looks extremely similar to the photo seen here.