The Ticonderoga was the first of only 2 Lake George Steamboat Company ships to not be built on Lake George. She earned her battle ribbons sailing in the Pacific during the final year of WWII. After the war she was sailed to Brooklyn Navy Yard and retired at anchor on July 16th, 1947. The company then purchased her from the Navy in 1949 for $11,000.She was sailed up the Hudson River, through the Champlain Canal, and into Lake Champlain. She sailed to a point near Ticonderoga and at this point she was then cut into 4 sections and moved 5 miles overland to the company’s dry dock in Baldwin on Lake George.
Lake George Steamboat Company
Logically, a steamer might follow the sidewheel tradition of the old lake boats, but the proposed boat was to be roughly 100 feet in length and a sidewheeler, so short, would appear ungainly,” Dow writes. Every day, every hour or so, the Minne Ha Ha departs the Steel Pier, its chirping steam whistles, calliope licks and the bright foam of its paddle wheel suffusing the air with a holiday sweetness. Difficult as it may be to believe, it’s fifty years old this summer.
Meet the Minne-Ha-Ha Calliope
Established in 1817, the Lake George Steamboat Company has been operating on Lake George for over 200 years. Experience the beauty of Lake George and the surrounding Adirondack Mountains on a cruise aboard the Minne Ha Ha, the MV Mohican II or the company’s flagship Lac du Saint Sacrement. To inspire an enduring connection to Lake Minnetonka’s cultural heritage by preserving and operating the streetcar steamboat Minnehaha as an authentic, living museum and community icon. Founded in 2004, the Museum of Lake Minnetonka is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization tasked with preserving and operating the streetcar steamboat Minnehaha. As owners of the vessel, we strive to preserve and operate Minnehaha as an authentic, living museum for all to experience. When the vessel was retired in 1926, she was stripped of valued parts and intentionally sunk to the bottom of Lake Minnetonka.
Lake George, NY
The settlements along the shores of the lake were small, local business was slight and there was a general antipathy towards steamboats as being somehow connected with the Devil. But the success of steam on nearby Lake Champlain was undeniable and probably contagious. The narration and beautiful views continue on this side of the lake as the boat heads back to its dock in town. All told, this hour-long tour covers around 5 miles of beautiful Lake George. Upon leaving the dock, the boat headed to the eastern shores of the lake.
How To Donate Family Artifacts to Lake Area Historical Groups
Learn more about the history of the Minnehaha, courtesy of the Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society. "Then when we come back in past the hotel strip we'll play some other rendition. And then we'll play it in intermission between trips," Quinn said. “We wanted to make the boat more manueverable, but mostly, I wanted to change the appearance,” said Dow.
Because of this, the boat is equipped with a diesel engine to be used only in emergencies. The Minne-Ha-Ha was added to the Lake George Steamboat Company fleet in 1969 and is completely powered by steam. Straight out of Mark Twain novel, it's one of the last steam paddle wheel ships in the United States. “Wilbur Dow believed that the new vessel should be an attraction in itself and should employ steam propulsion.
In 1882 a railroad branch was built between Glens Falls and Lake George. Passengers would step off the train at the still-existing railroad station (across the street from the Steel Pier and built in 1911) and onto the steamers for the trip up the lake to Ticonderoga. They could then board a train that would take them to Canada.
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Our popular Fireworks Cruise launches every Thursday night throughout the summer – weather permitting. After heading about 2 miles north along the lake, the boat crosses Lake George at Woods Point and heads to the western shore of the lake. If you can, sit on the right side of the boat as this will allow you to be on the shore side, assuming the boat follows the same route it did during my tour. The Minne Ha Ha features a small gift shop, snack shop, and a bar.
On December 14, 1907, the new hull was launched at Baldwin. And in the summer of 1908 the new ship was christened Mohican, after her predecessor, beginning the custom of reusing names of former lake boats which survived until the construction of the Lac du Saint Sacrement. The design of the new vessel needed to be one which would comply with modern safety regulations while still reflecting the traditions of eastern steamboating. The prototype selected was the old Hudson River day vessel, the Peter Stuyvesant. She had been a propeller-driven vessel, but her design had retained the character and grace of the vessels of the 19th century.
In June 2008, the Mohican was placed on the national Register of Historic Places, the third active passenger vessel to be so designated. On April 15, 1817 a company was incorporated by the New York State Legislature to operate commercial shipping on Lake George. The title given this company was the Lake George Steamboat Company. While leaving, there are great views of downtown Lake George, including the Fort William Henry Hotel, so make sure to look behind you as the boat is leaving dock.
People board the Minne with their children and think of their parents, who first brought them aboard. By celebrating her anniversary, we’re really celebrating what she means to people,” said Patricia Dow. An Acoustic Current Doppler Profiler (ADCP) was attached to the starboard side of the Minne’s hull. As she made her daily circuit, she was also measuring the velocity of water currents at multiple locations, the outlets of three of the lake’s largest tributaries among them.
She was the first steel-hulled ship to ply the waters of Lake George. But later on that year it was determined that the ship was too top heavy and wide. So after the season she was taken up to Baldwin, hauled out and cut into 2 pieces; 20 feet was added to her midships, bringing her to the grand total length of 223 feet.During her years of service the Sagamore would offer quite a deal. On Friday July 1, 1927 the Sagamore became lost in a very dense fog. Usually when this happened, the captains would use the clock and listen to the paddlewheel revolutions echoing off the mountains and shoreline to know where and when to turn.
Learn more about the effort to find Minnehaha a new launch site and return her to passenger service. Minnehaha served the greater Lake Minnetonka community from 1906–1926 and again from 1996–2019. Deemed Lake Minnetonka’s most important historical artifact, she now needs our help.
It was then decided to replace her with a newer and larger vessel. Later that year on October 13th she made her last voyage through the lake, accompanied by a flotilla of boats paying her respects. When she reached the dry dock in Ticonderoga, NY she was raised out of the water and during the next couple months she was cut apart and sold for scrap metal. She is firmly and fondly entwined in the memories of people from this area. The Sagamore was originally 203 feet long, 57.5 feet wide, drew 7 feet of water, and weighed 1,125 tons.
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