Steaming Across Lake of the Isles
Miss Robbinsdale, The 1954 Aqua Queen
Peter's GrillThe Excelsior Streetcar Line
The Excelsior Streetcar Line began operation in 1999. Excelsior is located about fifteen miles west of downtown Minneapolis. The restored line runs between Water Street and Old Excelsior Road on the former Minneapolis and Saint Louis Railway right-of-way now used by the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority as a bicycle trail. Featured in [...]
Parkwood Knolls
In 1949 the Edina city council was hoping to replicate the success of the Country Club neighborhood in the bluffs and hills on the city’s western edge. One of the Country Club Districts pre-eminent builders, Carl Hansen managed to persuade the city to view the lush rolling meadows to the west as a pastoral, [...]
Jazz Age Health Care in Wayzata
Scenes from the Minnetonka Hospital, Martinson Clinic and surrounding area on Lake Street in Wayzata. The Clinic was founded in 1928. I can’t find a date for the footage, but I’m guessing it was taken just a couple years later. The Minnetonka Hospital was located in a house built by early Wayzata doctor James [...]
The Depot at Crystal Bay Then and Now
The township of Crystal Bay was incorporated into the city Orono in 1955. The little neighborhood still has its own post office with and its own ZIP code 55323. The new 13.5-mile Dakota trail offers a spectacular view of Lake Minnetonka and follows the route of the former Dakota Rail Corridor through St. Bonifacius, Minnetrista, [...]
CU Project Powerline Protests
Here’s a clip from the documentary, ‘Powerplay’ showing one a many anti-powerline demonstrations took place at the substation in Delano in October of 1978. This segment, features The arrest of the singer Dan Reed who was famous in the Eastern Bloc at the time. The CU Project Controversy involved years of protest against a proposed [...]
1977 Ridgedale Skateboarding Contest
Precious footage from a 1977 Ridgedale Mall Skateboarding Contest Built in 1974, Ridgedale is the youngest of the four “dale” shopping centers circling the Twin Cities, originally developed by The Dayton Co. The others are Southdale Center, Rosedale Center, and Brookdale Center.The mall was was originally anchored by Dayton’s, Donaldson’s, J.C. Penney’s, and Sears.
St. Louis Park City Hall Then and Now
In 1954, voters approved a home rule charter that gave an overwhelmed St. Louis Park the status of a city. That action enabled the city to hire a city manager to assume some of the duties handled by the part-time city council.In those days, the primary concerns were the physical planning of St. Louis Park, [...]
The St. Louis Park Theatre Then and Now
The St. Louis Park Theatre opened in 1939. Designed by architect Perry Crosier in elegant Art Moderne style the theater resembled downtown nightclub and It was one of the first theaters in the Twin Cities to allow smoking. In 1957, the theater was modernized with the addition of 70mm projection equipment, Mann Theatres took over [...]
Steaming around Minnetonka in 1909
Three-decked steamer St. Paul steams across Lake Minnetonka with its flags flying, and its side-wheels working, carrying many passengers, color added, dated and postmarked 1909.
Among the Cornfields
Among the Cornfields on Minneapolis-Lake Minnetonka Electric LineThis postcard came from a card album owned by Dollie who lived in Montrose, Mn in the early 1900′s.
The Swamp of the Day is Saint Bonilicious
Swamps are found from the tundra to the tropics and on every continent except maybe Antarctica. Officially speaking, Clean Water Act defines a wetland or swamp as: ‘those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a [...]
Swamp of the Day
Minnetonka’s extensive loop trail system plan was adopted by the City Council in 1988. Included in the plan was a trail loop in the northwest section of the city, and this segment from Linner Park to Crosby Road, across Gray’s Bay spillway and dam, and south through the neighborhood to Minnetonka Boulevard.
