Laying it Out - Streetcars to Excelsior!
Since its discovery, Lake Minnetonka has been increasingly drawn into the orbit of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Railroads connected city dwellers to the lake as early as the 1860’s but, perhaps more famously, streetcars connected them as well. The Twin City Rapid Transit Company’s ties to Lake Minnetonka began in 1904 with announcements for a new track connecting Minneapolis to Excelsior. The company’s founder, Thomas Lowry, had ceded some control of the company to his brother-in-law, Calvin Goodrich. Under his command, the Twin City Rapid Transit company began acquiring land that had been abandoned by the Great Northern Railway a few years prior.
By early 1905, company leaders openly announced that the new streetcars would bring visitors to Minnetonka in less time than any railway. Trial runs on the new tracks took just over fifteen minutes, equating to a speed of fifty-five mph. However, Minnetonka was far from the only stop west of Minneapolis and, to accommodate for stopping and safety, the company designated forty minutes to the route. In fact, the line would make fifteen stops west of Lake Calhoun before reaching Excelsior. Despite the lengthened timeline, the streetcars did still run at a high speed which thrilled many passengers.
It can be challenging to imagine the scenery of the route with our modern perspective. While, today, the route from Calhoun to Minnetonka winds through residential neighborhoods, freeways, and shopping districts, the view from the window of a 1905 streetcar would be more akin to a drive up north. Gardens, farmlands, and patches of densely wooded land would pass by, creating a blur of greenery outside the car. As they passed Saint Louis Park, the car would occasionally run alongside Minnehaha Creek and, eventually, along the strip of land separating Christmas Lake from Saint Albans Bay.
Of course, the company had plans beyond just laying track to Excelsior. Across the nation, it was common for streetcar companies to develop amusement parks to garner additional ridership on their lines and the Twin City Rapid Transit Company fully intended to capitalize on the trend!
Bibliography of Sources:
Maravelas, 2023, The History of Big Island — Lake Minnetonka, pg.235-239
1916 streetcar map republished by the Minneapolis Star Newspaper, 1972
Other photos sourced from the Minnetonka Minute private collection
