Passenger Ferry Mohawk
From the private archives of the Minnetonka Minute.
The images seen in this article are almost certainly one of a kind. They come from a scrapbook dating to about 1912 or 1913, with a group of family or friends visiting the lake area for a short time.
Ordered for construction around 1903 and originally going by the name of Sha Won Da See this 53 1/2 foot, gasoline powered, ferryboat was the private transportation for Calvin Goodrich who, at the time, was president of the Twin City Rapid Transit Company. Upon her launch, this would have been one of very few TCRT boats on Minnetonka. Yet, within just a few years, the streetcar company would gain near monopolistic dominance over the lake’s passenger shipping industry.
Sha Won Da See would continue to be a member of the Twin City Rapid Transit fleet for a number of years before being sold and renamed to Mohawk. While little is known of her subsequent owners, nor the year she was renamed, it’s somewhat safe to assume this was done around 1910-1913. In the photo below, it’s easy to see her original design was still in tact.
Traditional coal fired engines were significantly larger, needing space for boilers, triple expansion engines, piping, and smoke funnels. Conversely, Mohawk’s 24 horsepower gasoline engine allowed her passengers more room to move about inside the cabin. Additionally, her upper deck was capable of seating yet more passengers plus a canopied deck off the boat’s stern which occupied some 20% of her total deck space.
Given the boatbuilding trends of the time, her hull was likely cypress or mahogany with oak deck planks and superstructure.
In the early 1920’s, the Twin City Rapid Transit Company’s Excelsior property was sold to entrepreneur Fred Pearce. Following the sale, Mohawk was operated by Pearce’s Excelsior Amusement Park for a number of years as a sightseeing excursion boat for park guests.
Photo from the private archives of the Minnetonka Minute.
By 1940, Mohawk had been sold out of passenger service and, instead, was purchased by the local Kenneth Cole family. The Coles oversaw major “renovations” to the ferry, turning her into a functional houseboat. Her superstructure was closed off and bulked up, while her upper deck’s seating seemed to be removed entirely. Additionally, the family entirely removed Mohawk’s stern canopy favoring, instead, an open air “porch” where Mrs. Cole kept a small garden of flowers. This would be the last well documented phase of her life, slipping into obscurity not long after.
