Cinerama at the Century
The Century Theater opened as a vaudeville house called the Miles in 1908. In 1915, the place was rebuilt, and reopened as the Garrick Theater. In 1929 the Garrick was gutted and The Century Theatre was created in the old theater’s shell. The Century proclaimed the most modern movie house west of Chicago. The new [...]
The Pantages
The Minneapolis Pantages Theater opened as a vaudeville house in 1916. The original, Beaux-Arts style building, designed by the Minneapolis architectural firm of Kees and Colburn was originaly operated by Winnipeg theater tycoon, Alexander Pantages’ entertainment consortia. At the height of his empire, the Greek immigrant owned and operated 84 theaters in the United States [...]
The Loeb Arcade
The four story Loeb Building at 7 5th street was built by Samuel Loeb in 1915. The building was designed by Chicago architect Henry Ottenhiemer. The Loeb’s three story shopping arcade arcade had room for 90 shops inside a curving skylit gallery clad in gleaming terra-cotta tiles. In 1920 the building was remodeled [...]
Longfellow Gardens
Originally from upstate New York, Robert Jones arrived to Minneapolis in 1876. He got a delivering meat, managed to scrape up $500 and bought a fish market on Hennepin Avenue. Jones was known “The Oyster King” after he took out an ad in the St. Paul Pioneer Press with an illustration of himself as a [...]
Wong Wen’s Kin Chu Cafe
Wong Wen came from California to Minnesota with his family in 1912. He opened Kin Chu Cafe on Hennepin Avenue in 1926. Dishes ranged from simple egg patty to lobster tail adorned with Chinese green pea pods. Wong was an important member of the local Chinese community and president of theMinnesota branch of the [...]
