Park Congregational Church

The Second Congregational Church of Minneapolis was first known as Vine Street Church and later called Park Avenue Congregational. The church founded in 1867 in an enclave of New Englanders on what was the city’s near south side. In the 1870s the first Scandinavian immigrants started showing up in Minneapolis and many settled in and … Read more

Flowers on West Broadway Again

I was thinking about the reading Madame Sarah gave me when I drove by her neon sign in a blizzard. I was in the ninth grade when I climbed up her steps for the first time. I went with a couple of the guys from school. We were putting together our first rock and roll … Read more

Call Me at the Curtis!

This large hotel and apartment complex occupied most of a downtown block between 1903 and 1984. The hotel tower and apartment hotel tower flanked two of the low-rise Curtis Court Apartments. With 800 rooms, the Curtis billed itself as the largest hotel in the Upper Midwest. In it’s later years the hotel added a suburban … Read more

The Cavern Cafe

St, Mortis is far away. but gay, candle-it Swiss caverns are all but around the corner. We refer of course, to Minneapolis’ most unusual cafe,The Cavern Cafe, 1022 Nicollet the like of whose chicken and spaghetti could never be ordered in the Alps. On New Year’s Eve, the Cavern Cafe will be open until the … Read more

The Winsted Village Hall

Back in 1893, way out west in McLeod Counrty,  the Village of Winsted approved the construction and 0n January 1, 1896 there was a public dedication of the newly constructed Winsted City Hall. Last official day of business in original “Village Hall,” was in November of 1997 nearly 102 years after it opened.

The Tonka Theater

In 1941, The 500 seat, $30,000, Tonka Theater opened at the end of the main drag in Excelsior. The auditorium was decorated with murals of steamboats on the nearby lake. Meet Dr. Christian was the first movie. Just three years later, however, the little place was gutted by a fire. It took an appeal to … Read more

I’m not anti-semantic!

Dear Edina Prairie, How’s things? Did that sore on your lip ever heal properly? Don’t worry about it. Things are pretty busy at B. Dalton’s. I spent the week closing up and boxing down the Pillsbury Center store. It was a little sad, but most of the employees are going to work for the new … Read more

The Post Office and The Pioneer Statue

The first post office in Minneapolis was built on the west bank on High Street in 1854 and operated by postmaster Hezekiah Fletcher. The present day post office was completed in 1933 and occupies nearly the same site. A seven-level parking ramp and loading dock for bulk mail were added to the west in 1976. … Read more

The Hiawatha Golf House Then and Now

Work on the Hiawtaha Golf Course began in 1931 after the dredging of the Lake Hiawatha swamp  was completed. The final touch to the new golf course was a clubhouse constructed in 1932. The new course was the only profitable course operated by the park board. While waiting to build the Hiawatha course, the park … Read more