Steamboat Acte Takes Center Stage!
1905 postcard by the Rotograph Company, New York, NY. In possession of Minnetonka Minute archive.
In the lineage of steamboats on Lake MInnetonka, few are as easily recognizable as Charles Cheeley’s steamer, Acte. Before the boat you see above was even launched into the lake, it had big shoes to fill. This boat was originally christened as The New Acte, as she was the second to carry the name Acte.
Built by local shipwright George Godfrey in 1898, The New Acte was a 60 foot single screw steamboat with a capacity of 100 passengers. For reference, this is roughly the same length as steamboat Minnehaha. The glass windows seen above were added as part of Acte’s remodel in 1903. She was remodeled again in 1905 with heavy renovations to her engine & boilers, allowing room for additional passengers.
Captain Cheeley was well known in the area for operating his boats later into the season than his competitors, with excursions even being booked into November. The Acte was a well known favorite with locals and visitors alike until the launching of the Twin City Rapid Transit Company’s streetcar boats in 1906. However, by this time, Captain Cheeley would have already taken a position with the Rapid Transit Company as their new fleet’s superintendent. His role with the company stirred speculation that he had sold or leased Acte to the Rapid Transit Company, which proved untrue. By April, 1906, he sold Acte off to Captain Charles Heath, who was known for operating the steamer Muskegon in 1904 and 1905. Heath would oversee minimal change to Acte’s structure, only having added a hinging funnel which allowed her to go through low bridges.
By the spring of 1907, Acte had been sold once more, this time to Mr. Alfred Melvin. Then, on August 11, Acte burst into flames while moored at her dock in Excelsior, near the area where excursion boats are parked today. The Minnetonka Record reported the fire breaking out around 3am with engineer E. Woodward sleeping aboard the boat. He was awoken by the intense heat of the fire which, evidently, was burning through Acte’s dense oak deck boards. When the Excelsior fire department arrived, it was determined that there was little to be done for the ailing steamer but, with fear of the fire spreading to buildings on land, they untied her ropes and pushed her out into Excelsior Bay, where a gale caught the boat and carried it out to the end of Solberg’s Point. She sank in roughly 15 feet of water, where she remained for some time. Eventually, Acte was recovered and towed back into Excelsior Bay before being dismantled entirely. Like many ill fated boats of the time, her engine was removed, repaired, and reused elsewhere. In this case, it was dropped into the tugboat Priscilla.
So ends the story of the Acte or, if you’re so inclined, The New Acte. Few boats today are remembered in quite the same way as Acte is remembered. She’s easily forgotten among the rank of bigger, faster, and flashier steamers to have plied the waters of Minnetonka. Yet, to the historian, she’s fondly remembered as one of the lake’s most unique boats with a storied career and tales worth recounting.
Plus, if you keep diligent watch, you may even see a boat on Minnetonka that still carries the name: Acte.
