Whether you live next door to Canada or in the tropics your basic car needs are the same…

In 1948 Willys-Overland photographed their station wagon in cities all over the world and used catchy alliterations like Atlanta and Amsterdam, Boston and Buenos Aires. Minneapolis and Mexico in series of print ads. The wagon was designed and first built in 1946 by Brooks Stevens. The series served as a counterpoint to previous campaigns that pitched the wagon as an economic sport utility vehicle.  The station wagon sold well enough to continue its production through 1965.

The Hotel St. Francis building was erected for George Benz and Sons on the site of the old St. Paul Library after it was destroyed by a fire in 1915. Fred C. Norlander was awarded the building contract.The 215 room St.Francis Hotel and the New Palace Theater opened up in 1916.The name of the theater was changed to the Palace-Orpheum Theatre in 1922 and Orpheum Theatre. The Palace name was dropped altogether three years later. In the 1930′s the hotel was home to Lester Gillis, aka George ‘Baby Face’ Nelson and his wife Helen. In the 1940s, RKO remodeled the Orpheum Theatre. Twelve years later, Ted Mann purchased the theater from RKO. In 1956, the St. Francis was renamed the Capri Hotel. First run films ended at the Orpheum Theatre in 1977. The building was revamped the Orphem reopened and the old hotel was converted into the Seventh Place Apartments in 1981. The theater closed again in 1984. The lobby is still being used as a 125 seat dinner theater.

1943 and 2012

You can’t tell by looking at this old photo, but the place where Hennepin and Lyndale Avenues meet was almost as big a traffic snarl in 1943 as it is today. It may have been worse. Back then Minneapolis had close to 100,000 more residents and many more shopping working and living close to downtown. Sure you could take a street car, but if you were lucky enough to be driving around in some beautiful old  heap built before the war, you better leave early because it was going to take you a little while to get past Loring Park on Hennepin Avenue. The area was a notorious bottleneck. The upside was you might be able to find a curbside resting spot. Parking meters were cheaper and fewer in the forties.

Basilica of St. Mary in the 1950′s

The Edna S. Purcell House in 1914, 1964 and 2012

The Edna S. Purcell house was designed by William Gray Purcell & George Grant Elmslie for Purcell and his family in 1913. The house is considered on of the finest examples of work done by the local architecture firm of Purcell and Elmslie. The structure’s horizontal plane, flat roof, use of natural materials and colors reflect the Prairie School design ethic. The long, narrow floor plan of the house disregards Victorian concepts about room divisions and shows the influence of Louis Henri Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. The landscaping was designed by landscape architect Harry Franklin Baker. The house, considered to be William Gray Purcell’s finest, has been extensively restored, and is now owned by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Tours are available on the second weekend of every month. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

The Granada Apartments in 1968 and 2012

The Mediterranean Revival was first introduced in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. It  became popular during the 1920s and 1930s. The style evolved from renewed interest in the Italian Renaissance architecture of palaces and seaside villas dating from the sixteenth century. The Grananda was built in 1929. For many years there was a small retail space in the basement that was home to Trudi’s Beauty Shop.You can still get a one bedroom in this place for less than $800.00 and there’s a lovely view of the Lund’s parking lot across the street from most units. Studios starting at $675!

Lake Nokomis in the early 1900′s

Nokomis was originally named Lake Amelia in honor of Captain George Gooding’s daughter, Amelia, in 1819. Its current name wasn’t adopted until 1910. Nokomis was Hiawatha’s grandmother. Before the lake was dredged it was only 5 feet deep. In 1925 Rice Lake was renamed Hiawatha and 1929 Over 1.2 million cubic yards were dredged out of it. The golf course on the west side of the new lake was created on using the dredged fill material. I’m thinking once and thinking twice, I hope they don’t change the name back to Amelia and Rice.

Dredging Equipment at Lake Nokomis in 1916