Meet Me in the Park!
1915
The land around old Johnson’s Lake was the first parcel purchased by a newly formed Minneapolis Park Board in April 1883. Central Park became a popular destination almost immediately. After the lake was expanded in 1884, the park board created a skating rink. Electric lights for night skating were added the following year. The park board built a bandstand in1886 and the first tennis courts appeared in 1887. In 1890 Central Park was renamed Loring Park in honor of the first president of the park board, Charles Loring. Minneapolis came close to losing Loring Park in 1895 when the park board voted to donate the park for the site of a new state capitol building. The state wisely declined the offer and chose a more suitable St. Paul location. Loring Park is smaller than it once was. The first piece of the park to go was in 1891 when Hennepin Avenue was widened. Twenty-three trees were saved and transplanted to what is now Windom Park over Northeast. In 1939, Loring Park lost more land when 15th Street was widened. The largest loss of land took place in the 1960s when I-94 was built. Construction required moving and adding lanes to Hennepin and Lyndale on the west side of the park to accommodate the interstate and the Lowry Hill Tunnel.
1965
I like how the first card depicts the yet unfinished Basilica in a completely different perspective, as if one was standing at the corner of the Fawkes block on Hennepin Avenue. Those German card makers weren’t always on top of their game and probably stole the image from another card and plopped it in their out-dated photo of Johnson’s Pond. The second is interesting because it appears the pond has flooded the park. Judging by the tall blooming Cannas, it must be the latter part of summer, probably August.
My great grandfather was a german postcard maker. I spent months translating the dusty old ledger he left behind. Three years ago I set to work creating this blog in order to preserve some of his incredible image lifting secrets. Thanks for looking at it.