Playing at the Planetarium

This magnificent gold trimmed Public Library, serving as headquarters for Hennepin County and Minneapolis libraries, is located in the Gateway Development area, 300 Nicollet Avenue. The structure is made of granite, Italian marble and anodized aluminum. The library, geared for the comfort of its visitors, features smoking lounges and open shelves, invites browsing and casual … Read more

Over the Lake Street Bridge

…Continuing on Marshall avenue to the bridge and over the bridge to Lake Street. Just above the bridge is a government dam, originally suggested to improve navigation above Minnehaha. It is being finished by degrees. and possibly it may be utilized in furnishing electricity for power and light to the residents at Fort Snelling. Looking … Read more

On Christmas Lake

The old home that became the Glen Morris Inn on Christmas Lake was built in the late 1800’s for Manitoba Railroad civil engineer, Charles J. Morris. The original two story residence was described in Diamond’s Tourist newspaper as, “one of the most beautiful estates in the area.” Morris owned 1000 acres on Christmas Lake and … Read more

Fortune and the Fate of the Twin Cities

In April, 1936, Fortune magazine hired Austria-Hungary-born American writer and illustrator, Ludwig Bemelmans for an exhaustive article profiling the rather bleak fortunes of Minneapolis and St. Paul. I can almost hear our local boosters howling across the years. Fortune painted thoroughly unflattering, gloomy picture of the metropolis at the center of the most radical state … Read more

A Substantially Built Edifice

“The building stands on the south-west corner of Hennepin Avenue and 10th Street, one of the broadest avenues and one of the widest streets in the city. A bend to the northwest in the avenue, beginning at 10th Street, and a bend to the northeast in Tenth Street, beginning just before the avenue is reached, … Read more

Back at Bancroft Then and Now

Way back in 1875, Minneapolis Township built a two-room, wooden  school  on the southwest corner of Minnehaha Avenue and 38th Street. At that time the school was part of what was District #113,  It became part of the city school system when the neighborhood was annexed in 1887, and was named “Bancroft” the same year.  … Read more

Our Handsome City Hall

The Minneapolis City Hall was designed by Long and Keys in 1887. The building replaced the previous city hall a few blocks away between Nicollet and Hennepin Avenues. Construction began in 1889, and a cornerstone located thirty feet above the sidewalk was laid on July 16, 1891. Some of the individual granite blocks cut from … Read more