My Old Matchbook Collection
I probably started smoking when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I didn’t look like I was any older than I was, but for some reason the guys at the gas station never asked me if I was old enough too smoke. Those were simpler times. I didn’t want my parents to know I [...]
The Hub Then and Now
When the Hub opened in 1954 it was was the “largest planned shopping center in the Twin Cities”. The strip mall had 32 stores including J.C. Penney, Walgreens, Kresge and the New England Furniture Co. There’s still a Walgreens on the Nicollet side of the mall, but everything else has changed.
Academy of Holy Angels Then and Now
On Sept. 15, 1931, during a record-breaking heat wave of 104 degrees, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet opened a new Academy of Holy Angels with 107 students in grades 1-12 on its current site at 66th Street and Nicollet Avenue, Richfield. Built during the Depression in the midst of cornfields, the construction cost [...]
The Glass Block Then and Now
The L. S. Donaldson Co. was founded in 1883 and “The Glass Block” was built in 1884. The unique building at the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and Seventh Street included a small dome that was lit at night. The store was acquired by Allied Stores Corp. in 1928. Sadly the Glass Block was dismantled for scrap [...]
Plymouth Congregational Church Then and Now
In April 1857, 18 people organized Plymouth Congregational Church. They built their first building a year later at Nicollet and Fourth Street. That building was destroyed by fire 16 months later, rebuilt and used until 1875 when a larger building was built at Nicollet and Eighth. In those early years, Plymouth started Sunday Schools at [...]
