MILESTONES
You can start at the beginning by clicking the Formation milestone below or any of the other milestones to drop down to the timeframe you want. The Timeline itself starts right after the following list of milestones.
Formation
Exploration
Settlement
The Booming 1880s and early 1890s
St. Louis Park Becomes a Village
T.B. Walker’s Failed Dream
Boom and Bust
The Beginnings of Brookside
The Great Depression
World War II
The Postwar Boom
The 1970s
Notes and Conclusions
Acknowledgements and Sources
FORMATION
Minnesota first came on the scene about 4.5 billion
years ago. The first water appeared about 3.5 billion years
ago, and the first known life (in the form of algae)
appeared about 2.75 billion years bce. Glaciers appeared
between 2 and 2.5 billion years ago. The first river dates
back to 1.1 billion years ago. The first known animals with
hard parts were trilobites, ancestors of spiders, appearing
about 500 million years ago. Dinosaurs appeared about 90 million
years ago, along with sharks and trees. The first mammal was
a giant beaver, the size of a small bear, that lived about
10,000 years ago. Mammoths, mastodons, wolves, bison, and
musk oxen also date to about 10,000 years, along with the
first people, as evidenced by the earliest known stone tools
in North America. These Indians were descendants of the Asians
who came to North America across the Bering Strait about
20,000 years ago. The bones of the so-called “Browns Valley
Man” indicate that he lived about 6,000 years ago. The first
dog may go back to 7,000 to 5,000 bce. Early humans hunted
bison near Lake Itasca in 5,000 bce. People being
carving images into rock in 5,000 bce. Burial grounds
date back to 1,000 bce. The first game in
Minnesota was apparently dice, made out of antlers, dating
back to 500 bce. In 1,100 ad, people begin farming in
small population groups near Red Wing.
In the Park, the area north of Minnetonka Blvd. is
characterized by rolling uplands with well-drained loam
soil, along with lakes, bogs, or other wetlands. The
area south of Minnetonka Blvd. is part of the Mississippi
Valley Outwash Plain, and has nearly level to gently rolling
hills with intermittent wetlands. Sand and gravel
deposits are found in several locations throughout the City.
The highest point is just east of Westwood Lake at the
Westwood Nature Center. The lowest point is within the
Bass Lake Basin. The difference between them is about
130 feet. Remnants of presettlement vegetation can be found
along railroad corridors and along Minnehaha Creek.
EXPLORATION
The history of early Minnesota is really the history of
two separate entities, east and west of the Mississippi
River. The land to the east had first been claimed by
Virginia before the Revolutionary War, while the western
portion was part of the Louisiana Purchase. The following
chronology focuses on the west side of the river. Much of
the material for this section was taken from Minnesota: A
History of the State by Theodore C. Blegen, 1963/1975.
Also see the
Hennepin County Library’s web site, especially for
information about Native Americans.
Architectural evidence indicates that the Dakota lived
in the Itasca State Park area in 1000 bce to 1650 ad.
They occupied southern Minnesota and to the west, to
the Tetons, after 1000 A.D. The branch that controlled
Minnesota in the 17th Century was headquartered on Lake
Mille Lacs at the mouth of the Rum River. At the time of
white settlement, the Dakota were known as the Sioux, a
word that comes from an Ojibwe word meaning snake. The
Ojibwe were then known as the Chippewa.
1641: The Ojibwe first encountered Europeans and began migrating toward
the Great Lakes, displaced westward by European
settlement.
1670: The Ojibwe become major suppliers of fur to
French fur traders in the western Great Lakes area.
The two tribes were allies at first, but when the Ojibwe
got guns from the whites, they pushed the Dakota south
and they competed with each other for
dominance in the region.
1671
The French claimed the area west of the Mississippi.
French explorers searching for the Northwest Passage had
been the first white men to visit the region.
1673
Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette explored the Mississippi
River.
1680
Father Louis Hennepin named the Falls of St. Anthony of
Padua. Hennepin was a Franciscan missionary who came to the
area from Illinois. He and his companions were taken
captive by the Dakota in April, and as such became the first
white men to see Lake Pepin. It was during a hunting
expedition that he and his companions became the first white
men to see the falls. They were freed in July by Sieur Du
Luth, and Father Hennepin returned to France.
1745
Ojibwe Indians from Wisconsin won a major victory over
the Dakota at the Dakota village of Kathio on the western
shore of Mille Lacs, in large part because the Ojibwe had
guns. As
a result of this defeat, the Dakota were pushed to the south,
into the populated areas of Minnesota.
1754-63
Britain defeated France in the French and Indian War, winning
territory east of the Mississippi.
1762
France secretly ceded its possessions west of the
Mississippi to Spain. Spain secretly transferred the land
west of the Mississippi back to France in 1800.
1776
The U.S. issued the Declaration of Independence, starting
the Revolutionary War. Britain signed an agreement
recognizing U.S. independence, ending the War in 1782.
1787
Lands controlled by the Ojibwe and Dakota were included in
the Northwest Territory.
1803
The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase; the U.S.
bought the area west of the Mississippi from the French for
80 million francs. 828,000 square miles of land were
bought between the Mississippi River and the Rocky
Mountains, much of it occupied by Indians.
1804
The Louisiana Purchase was split in two and western
Minnesota became part of the Indiana Territory (est. 1800).
Lewis and Clark began their expedition.
1805
Zebulon Pike signed a treaty with Dakota Chief Little
Crow III and Stands Suddenly, who ceded an area nine miles
wide on both
sides of the Mississippi between St. Anthony Falls and the
mouth of the Minnesota River and nine square miles at the
confluence of the Minnesota and Minnesota Rivers. The treaty
called for the tribe to get $200, and an additional $2,000
worth of goods and 60 gallons of whisky were used as
incentives. The treaty was ratified by the U.S. Government
on April 16, 1808.
1812
The Missouri Territory was created and western Minnesota
became attached to it. War with Britain disrupted trade.
1818
The 49th Parallel was established as the northern boundary
of the U.S. from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains.
This was established by an agreement with Great Britain.
1819
Fort St. Anthony was built in 1819 – 1821 at the
confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers on the
land negotiated by Zebulon Pike in 1805. The name was changed to
Fort Snelling in 1825. It was abandoned in July 1858, and
purchased by Franklin Steele, a Minneapolis land speculator,
for $90,000. Steele wanted to start a town on the property,
but he was unable to keep up payments, and it reverted back
to the Federal Government just before the Civil War.
The first white woman to arrive in
present-day Minneapolis, a Mrs. Gooding, came on August 28,
1819.
1820
The Missouri compromise banned slavery in the Louisiana
Territory north of the southern border of Missouri.
1821
Missouri became a state. Since there was no more Missouri
Territory, western Minnesota was unorganized until 1834.
1822
In May, two 17-year old boys, William J. Snelling, the son of Colonel Snelling, and Joseph Renshaw Brown, a drummer boy from Maryland, followed Minnehaha Creek up to Lake Minnetonka. The word Minnetonka was Dakota for water-big. Snelling couldn’t take the mosquitoes and headed back, but Brown and two soldiers from the fort made it all the way, past Indian settlements, up to Gray’s Bay and Big Island, where they encountered a Ojibwe village.
1823
Although their 1823 map inaccurately described the course of the creek, the Brown party is thought to be the first group of white men to leave a record of having passed through the area that was to become St. Louis Park. For years afterwards, the creek was known as Joe Brown’s River; in 1853, surveyor Jesse T.
Jarrett called it Brown’s Creek. The source of the Mississippi River was eventually discovered at Itasca in 1832 by Henry R. Schoolcraft.
Joseph R. Brown was eventually discharged as a soldier, and
was given permission to live near Minnehaha Falls, within
the Fort Snelling grounds, making him the first person that
lived within the limits of Minneapolis Township. Brown had a
checkered history; in 1839 he was both an accused whiskey
peddler and a justice of the peace. He died in 1870.
Lake Calhoun was named in honor of John C. Calhoun,
former Secretary of War. The lake is nearly round, has a
circumference of over 3 miles, and is located a little more
than one mile from the the St. Louis Park city limits. In 1879, the
Minneapolis, Lyndale, and Lake Calhoun Railway brought
people from Minneapolis to the resorts, hotels, mineral
springs, etc. along the lake’s shoreline. The official count
of lakes in Minnesota is 12,034, with 18 in Minneapolis.
St. Anthony Falls was first used for power by soldiers from
Fort Snelling, who built a gristmill on the west bank of the
river.
The first steamboat, the Virginia, came up the Mississippi into
Minnesota, carrying Giacomo Beltrami, looking for the source
of the Mississippi River. He didn’t find it.
Major Lawrence Taliaferro came to Fort Snelling on May 2,
1823, bringing the state’s first slaves. He sold some of his
slaves to friends at the Fort and freed the rest.
Fur trade peaked in the 1820s in Minnesota. In 1826,
French-Dakota trader Joseph Renville established a fur post
near Lac qui Parle.
1829
Major Taliaferro, U.S. Indian Agent, opened a farm on the
east side of Lake Calhoun called Eatonville, named after
John H. Eaton of Tennessee, Secretary of War from 1829-31.
Eatonville established as a place for Indians to settle and
farm, and be assimilated into the white man’s way of life.
Philander Prescott was the first farmer there.
1832
Ojibwe guided lead Henry Schoolcraft to the source of the
Mississippi. He named it Lake Itasca.
1834
Missionaries Samuel W. and Gideon Hollister Pond arrived from Connecticut, becoming the first civilians to erect a dwelling in Hennepin County. A description written in 1885 praised the Ponds for working “hard and persistently to improve the condition and the morals of the savages…” From
1836 they worked with the Indians and learned their language, even putting out an English and Dakota language newspaper, but became discouraged and “began to realize the untameability of the Sioux nature.” Eatonville was abandoned in 1843 when the Indians were removed to the banks of the Minnesota River in Bloomington. In 1849, Charles Mousseau built a shanty on the abandoned site, and in 1877, it was the location of the Pavilion, a large public building erected by Col. W.S. King.
Gideon Pond (b. Washington, CT. 1810; d. 1878) went with the
Indians to Bloomington in 1843, and built a house for
himself and a schoolhouse for the Indians. He served in the
first territorial legislature in 1849. In 1852 the Indians
were moved again, but Gideon stayed behind, and after going
back east to be ordained, he became a minister in a local
church in Bloomington. Eastern and Western Minnesota were
both assigned to the Michigan Territory, the first time they
were united.
1835
Reverend J.D. Stevens, from New York, set up a school for
half-breed girls in a house in the woods on the western
shore of Lake Harriet.
1836
The Wisconsin Territory was established, which included
all of present-day Minnesota. The US Government sent Joseph
Nicollet to map the Upper Mississippi Valley.
1837
White settlers are able to populate east-central Minnesota
and adjacent Wisconsin following treaties with the Dakota and
Ojibwe.
1838
The first squatter shacks built within present-day
Minneapolis were constructed in the summer.
The Iowa Territory was established in 1838 and included
western Minnesota until 1846.
1841
The village of Pig’s Eye changed its name to St. Paul.
1842
The Senate considered a treaty with the Dakota to create a
permanent area of Indian residence in the area to become
southern Minnesota. The Senate later rejected the
idea.
1845
The first permanent house in St. Anthony was built by
Pierre Bottineau.
1846
Iowa became the 29th state, but without western Minnesota.
Stephen A. Douglas had prevented Iowa from extending its
state line north to include Fort Snelling and St. Anthony.
The Mexican-American War began.
1847
Stephen A. Douglas prevented Wisconsin from taking in St.
Paul and the Falls by supporting a bill for the organization
of the “Minasota” Territory. The bill was tabled, but
Douglas brought it up again in 1948.
1848
The first industry in present-day Minneapolis was a
sawmill run by Franklin Steele and Ard Godfrey.
The first land office was opened in St. Croix Falls, selling
land for $1.25 an acre.
A war with Mexico ended in February, with the U.S. winning
Mexico’s northern frontier from Texas to California.
Wisconsin became the 30th State; Minnesota had no
government.
1849
Minnesota became a Territory on March 3 when a bill
creating the territory was passed by the U.S. Senate and
signed by President James K. Polk (elected 1845). Its name means
“sky-tinted water” in the Dakota language. The
area had less than 5,000 people.
President Zachary Taylor (Whig/elected 1849) named Alexander Ramsey,
originally from Pennsylvania, as the first Territorial
Governor. The population of Minnesota was 4,000.
The Minnesota Historical Society was established, with
Alexander Ramsey as its first president.
Colonel John H.
Stevens, with his party of ten, arrived in Minneapolis in
April and occupied Minneapolis’s first house west of the
Mississippi, built by Charles Mousseaux, a settler from
Montreal. It was originally located near the banks of the
Mississippi River near the main post office, and was the
site of the organization of many entities, including
Hennepin County, the School District, and courts. Mary
Stevens, the first white child born on the west side of
Minneapolis, was born there on April 30, 1851. The house is
now in Minnehaha Park.
The first white child born in present-day Minneapolis
(presumably east of the river?) was Harriet R. Godfrey, born
on May 30, 1849. It was also the year of the first
protestant church, the first store, and the first school.
James Goodhue published Minnesota’s first newspaper, which
would become the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
1850
The first national census showed a Minnesota population
of 6,077. Nationwide, the population was 3.5 million.
1851
In 1851, Congress signed treaties with the Dakota Indians, opening up 24 million acres (19 million in Minnesota) for occupation by whites. The upper bands of the Dakota were to get approximately 7.5 cents an acre, paid out in an annuity of $1,665,000, payable over 50 years starting on July 1, 1852. The lower bands were to get $1,410,000. This action made the area safe for white settlement and started a land rush. The Dakota were relegated to two reservations, 150 miles long and 10 miles wide along both
sides of the Minnesota River. In 1858, Joseph R. Brown induced the Dakota to cede the northern half, leaving the Dakota with only the southern half.
Hiram Van Nest came to Minneapolis in 1851 and recorded the first warranty deed in Hennepin County in 1855.
Mary Stevens, the first white child born on the west side of Minneapolis, was born on April 30, 1851.
John Berry took a claim on the west side of Cedar Lake in April, and raised the first crop on the west side of the river. His son, Mark T. Berry, bought land in the same area in 1855. John Berry sold his claim in 1867 and moved to the city.
1852
On March 6, 1852, the Territorial Legislature granted
permission to formally establish the boundaries of
Hennepin
County. Previously, the area had been in Dakota County. In
the spring, rumors of the reduction of the Fort Snelling
reservation, which would make part available for settlement,
resulted in massive claim staking of property within the
boundaries of town. Soldiers ran them off until the next
spring, when the reduction took place and the land was
available to be legally claimed.
Minnesota citizens vote to outlawed the manufacture and sale
of alcohol on April 5. The law was declared unconstitutional
in November.
Franklin Pierce (Democrat) was elected President.
1853
Democrat Willis A. Gornman was elected Governor, replacing
Ramsey.
Southern Minnesota was purchased from the Dakota; the
settlement was not legal for another year and a half.
Settlers came anyway, going to far as to torch Indian homes
SETTLEMENT
1854
William and Mary Ann Laycock are generally believed to be the first husband and wife settlers in the area that would become St. Louis Park. Laycock (1808-1882), born in Yorkshire, England, married Mary Ann Rye (1830-1917) in 1848. Laycock sailed for America in 1849, worked digging sand in New York for a time, and when Mary Ann followed they lived in Providence, RI, from 1850-53. They came to St. Anthony Falls in the fall of 1853 and spent the winter in a log cabin built by Minneapolis pioneer Franklin Steele.
In March 1854, the Laycocks moved to their shanty on the 40 acres of land (that he preempted the following year) in the area of present-day Lake Street and Pennsylvania Ave. The Laycock’s only child, Emma Tyler Laycock, thought to be the first white female child born in the area that would become St.
Louis Park, was born in that shanty on January 2, 1858. They later bought a second 40-acre adjoining tract. Laycock had suffered an injury from a falling rock back in New York and was confined to crutches for much of the 20 years before he died. After an operation and an 11-week stay at the College Hospital, he died of “blood poisoning” on April 15, 1882. Mary Ann married John Ludlum in 1884 and survived him as
well, living to the age of 87 in 1917.
The City of Minneapolis was established. The word, dating
from 1852, combines the Dakota word for water (“minne”) and
the Greek word for city (“polis”). One legend has it that
Charles Hoag suddenly thought of it while in bed. Other
names considered were Albion, All Saints, and Lowell. The
town was chartered, its boundaries defined, and its
government established, in 1867.
The first commercial flourmill was built on the east bank
of the Mississippi at St. Anthony Falls.
The European-American population of the Minnesota Territory
was 30,000. Just three years later it would top
150,000.
The 15-section area that includes present-day St. Louis Park
was surveyed in 1854 by William R. Marshall and several
deputy surveyors in anticipation of opening it up to
private ownership. Jesse T. Jarrett send his field notes to
Surveyor General Warner Lewis in the Dubuque office, where
they were recorded on February 27, 1954. Surveyors noted that most if not all of
Richfield Township had already been claimed, and some
improved.
On August 4, Congress passed the Preemption Act, which
guaranteed that Minnesota settlers who had been squatting on
unsurveyed land could purchase their land. Settlers had to
have been on the land for at least one year.
1855
Surveyor’s maps were registered at the land office in
Bridge Square (Washington and 7th Street) in Minneapolis,
which meant that legal titles could be filed starting in
April or May. Settlers could buy land directly or through
auction, or through the Preemption Act (see above). By 1855,
all of Richfield Township had been claimed or preempted at
$1.50 per acre.
On May 16, 1855, 15 sections of the county were subdivided
into present-day St. Louis Park. The area west of the fifth
principal meridian (approximately Highway 100) was
designated as Township 117, Range 21. The area east of the
5th principal meridian was Township 28, Range 24. Brookside was included in
Section 21, which is bordered by Highway 100 to the east,
Goodrich Avenue to the north, Dakota Avenue to the west
(approx.) and the city limits to the south. Section 21 had 8
Government Lots, and Brookside is included in Government Lot
8, which is comprised of the 45 acres in the southeast
corner of Section 21.
Many of the early settlers were from New England, especially
Maine. (The first known Swede to live in the area, Nils
Nyberg, lived in St. Anthony in 1851. Scandinavians didn’t
descend onto the region until after the Civil War.)
Edward and Thomas Self, two bachelor brothers from England,
were first to file claims for ownership of property: 40
acres in Section 7, which was near the creek and south of
present day Excelsior Blvd. They had come to the area as
early as 1851. They
may have been the first white men to live on the land,
trading with the Indians. The Self brothers were gone by
1886.
Job
Pratt filed for a 45-acre lot in section 21 on September 7, 1855. His wife Polly was said to be the “first to be taken to her long home,” passing away in 1856 or 57. (He must have had a previous wife named Mary who passed away before he moved west – see Olivia Pratt, below.)
On May 20, 1855, Joseph Hamilton of Maine took a claim and farmed 160 acres on land just north of present-day Highway 7, south of the High School, and either side of Lake Street. In 1886 Hamilton established the Village’s first General Store, about a mile from his farm. In 1890, Hamilton sold his land to T.B. Walker and built 16-18 large two-story homes, located south of the tracks and north of the Industrial Circle. In 1892, he built the red brick,
two-story Hamilton Building on Broadway [6509 Walker Street], part of the so-called Brick Block. It burned to the ground on December 25, 1858, and in its place the Masons built the current one-story Masonic Lodge in 1960. Hamilton was one of the instigators behind the incorporation of the Village and served as the Village Council’s first president, a position he held from 1886-93, 1895-96, and 1899.
Irishman Jeremiah “Jerry” Falvey (b. Ireland, 1825; d. 1884) and his wife Hanora were married in 1854 in New York and came to Minneapolis that fall. In the spring of 1855 they settled on his farm on Section 8. An 1889 map shows the Falvey land to be on either side of the Great Northern tracks, northeast of the Center. Falvey was an early member of the school board and served as a justice of the peace. Unlike most of the early settlers, Falvey was a Catholic Democrat.
Of their 11 children, son Daniel J. Falvey, born February
24, 1857, is in contention with Chesley Hamilton as the
first white boy born in the future St. Louis Park. Daniel
was elected “roadmaster,” grading many of the roads in and
around the Park, including Excelsior Blvd. in 1903. An 1883
biographical sketch paints Daniel as an “outspoken advocate
of temperance who had done all he can to sustain the village
against any intrusion of the liquor traffic.” Upon the death
of Jeremiah, son William took over the family farm.
John Chamber received his patent from the U.S. Government on
land that would later be part of the Henry Brown farm in
1874. This would become Browndale.
William H. and Mary E. Lauderdale homesteaded north of Bass
Lake, adjoining
Christopher
Hanke‘s farm, on March 20, 1855:
temperature, 40 below.
George and Bethina Drew established their 170-acre farm in
the Brookside area on June 15, 1855, building a house on the
creek south of Excelsior Road. The house at 4262 Yosemite,
said to have been built in 1883, may have been the home of
the Drews.
This was a cold winter to be out in temporary quarters. The cold wave started on December 22, 1855, and except for a few hours on January 1 and 2, 1856, the temperature at Fort Ripley was at or below zero for the next 20 days, with many afternoon readings at minus 10 to minus 20 degrees.
The City of St. Anthony was incorporated in 1855, with H.T.
Welles as Mayor. It was soon linked to the village of
Minneapolis on the west bank by a suspension bridge, the
first over the Mississippi.
Mexican War veterans were given certificates for the
purchase of government land. Much of the land had
already been bought by speculators, who made a killing.
The Minnesota Republican Party was organized in 1855.
The national party was formed the year before.
The US and Ojibwe signed a treaty in Washington, DC.
1856
James Buchanan (Democrat) was elected President.
1857
Waterville Mill, located just across the southern border in Edina, was built.
The St. Paul and Pacific Road ran east-west through the
Park. The line began in 1857 as the Minnesota and Pacific
Road, with one line from Stillwater to Breckenridge and
another line from St. Anthony to St. Cloud. Only 62 miles
were graded when the depression of 1857 hit. In 1862 the St.
Paul and Pacific was organized to take over, and the first
run from St. Paul to St. Anthony took place on June 22,
1862. The St. Cloud branch was completed in 1866. The
Breckenridge line was completed in 1871. The Panic of 1873
forced the railroad into receivership, and was bought by
James J. Hill. In 1876 it used the Minneapolis and St. Louis
lines; it had its own line as the Chicago, Milwaukee, and
St. Paul, aka the Milwaukee Road by 1891.
The line provided service from Chicago to Seattle. Regular
passenger service was established in 1893, with two trains
per day to and from Minneapolis. It continued until 1955,
although by the end passengers had to flag down the train or
it wouldn’t stop. Freight service continued until 1968. In
1980 the Milwaukee Road 18-track classification yard between
Highway 100 and France Ave. was removed and made available
for development. The right of way was sold to the Hennepin
County Regional Railroad Commission to be used for light
rail transit.
The St. Louis Park Milwaukee Road depot was built in 1887 near the
intersection of Wooddale and 36th Street on Alabama Avenue,
a block east of Jorvig Park. Jack A. Felber was the depot
agent for the Milwaukee Road from 1925 to 1966. In 1968 the
depot was closed and scheduled for demolition. In July,
1970, with the help of a Federal grant, the depot was moved
to Jorvig Park (6210 West 37th Street) and became the first
St. Louis Park property on the Register of National Historic Places.
The Panic of 1857, which began in August, was precipitated
by the bankruptcy of the New York Branch of the Ohio Life
Insurance and Trust Company. The first Minnesota bank
collapsed in August, others followed in October, and
businesses failed. Land values fell by as much as 90
percent, and when landowners found themselves owing more on
the land than it was worth, many abandoned their claims and
left the territory. Although the effects of the depression
were felt mostly in the Northeast, the crops of 1857 were
poor, exacerbating the situation in the Midwest. The effects
of the depression persisted until well into the Civil War.
An important economic boost for Minnesotans was the presence
of Ginseng (also called wild sarsaparilla or “sang”) in the
Big Woods around Minnetonka. “Sangers” would dig up the
roots and bring them to Wayzata where brothers Edward and
Joseph B. Chilton operated a Ginseng buying and drying
station. There, the root could be sold for “real money” to
men in the East who exported it to China. It was used for a
variety of purposes: as a medicine, intoxicant, stimulant,
and even an aphrodisiac. The name Ginseng is a corruption of
the Chinese word meaning “man like,” after its shape. The
plant had bright, green leaves and red berries that were
easily seen. The bounty only lasted for about 18 months; by
1859, word got out and the woods were full of sangers. The
wild supply was exhausted by June 1859, the market in the
East was glutted, and the five or six-week boom was over.
Digging did continue at a lower level up to about 1863. In
1865, the State legislature passed a Ginseng Law to preserve
and protect the growth of Ginseng in order to assure dealers
a quality product and to prevent the plant from dying out.
The law provided that Ginseng could not be harvested between
May 1 and August 1. Ginseng digging went out of style, but
it did its part to get many Minnesotans through the hard
times around 1857.
For the second year in a row, the winter was
exceptionally
cold. At Fort Ripley, temperatures were recorded at minus 50
degrees in February. And it continued – that April was the
coldest April ever in the Twin Cities.
On February 26, Congress passed the Minnesota Enabling Act
that began the process of statehood. The state legislature
passed a bill to make St. Peter the state capital, but the
bill was stolen before it was filed with the territorial
secretary of state, so that didn’t happen. The
constitutional convention held on July 13 ended up with open
warfare between Democrats and Republicans, which each passed
their own constitutions. It took till October 3 to come to
an agreement and elect officers.
The
Minnesota Territory had a pre-statehood population of 150,037.
The US Supreme Court handed down the Dred Scott decision,
ruling that even though Scott had lived as a free man in the
North, he was still considered an escaped slave.
1858
Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858. Henry H.
Sibley, a Democrat from Michigan, was named the first
Governor. Iowa had become a state in 1846 and Wisconsin in
1848. North and South Dakota didn’t become states until
1889.
The State of Minnesota adopted a Sabbath law forbidding all
work and public sales on Sunday except for work of necessity
and charity.
The Board of County Commissioners established Richfield
Township on April 10, 1858.
Present-day Park was located within this very large area.
Bloomington and Eden Prairie were also established as
townships on that day.
Lumbering was the primary industry of Minneapolis from 1851
to 1858, but from 1858 on, when the first shipments of flour
were made, milling has been the main industry. 1858 was also
the year that reapers replaced cradles in harvesting grain,
adding to production. The price of wheat increased
significantly during the Civil War, allowing farmers to pay
off the cost of their land and taxes.
On February 24, Minnesota was nicknamed “The Gopher State,”
and it wasn’t meant as a compliment.
1859
The one-room Pratt/Prattville School was built in the fall.
In 1859, Jonathan T. Grimes and William Rheen bought Waterville Mill and 160 surrounding acres. They built a new dam and operated the mill for 10 years. During the Civil War, they supplied the troops at Fort Snelling with grain from the mill. The diagonal Pleasant [Wooddale] Avenue was cut through the woods by Grimes as a path to Pratt School on Excelsior Blvd.
Alexander Ramsey was elected Governor on October 11, 1859.
Abolitionist John Brown raided Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, in the hopes of starting a race war.
Minnesota made its first shipment of spring wheat.
The first Minnesota State Fair was held.
1860
On May 16, 1860, Albert Harrison Baston and wife Elizabeth bought 80 acres west of the Pratt farm. When Albert died, Elizabeth gave 20 acres to each of her children.
Son Charles married Ora Z. Baston. In 1935, Charles and Ora’s
original house at 3805 Wooddale was moved or razed for the
building of Highway 100. From 1935 to 1947, the family lived
at 5220 Excelsior Blvd. (later the site of
Ruth’s Toggery).
It was across from the sand pit, in front of the water
tower. This house may have been moved. From 1949 to 1961,
Ora and daughter Ethel lived at 4111 Brookside.
Martin Van Buren
Pratt was born in Clinton, Maine on
November 10, 1833. In 1860, he and wife Harriet settled on
210 acres in Section 6, with a farmhouse on Excelsior Road.
An 1881 directory also lists an R.L. Pratt with 40 acres in
Section 17 (by the Creosote Plant) and Stephen Pratt, also
in Section 17 but with no acreage. David Spearin Pratt
obtained 120 acres from the U.S. Land Office on November 7,
1854. Although it appears that Pratt conveyed the land to
H.B. and Sarah Wright on June 28, 1858 for $3,000, when
Pratt died in 1864, the land went into probate and was sold
to
Christopher Hanke.
The County started keeping tax records in 1860, although
they do not indicate whether the taxpayer lived on the land.
The average life expectancy was 42 years.
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) was elected President.
South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20.
Governor Alexander Ramsey promised President Lincoln 1,000
volunteers; Minnesota was the first state to offer such
troops.
Telegraph service first reached St. Paul.
1861
For his health, author Henry David Thoreau took a
cross-country trip to Minnesota. His stops included Lake
Harriet, Edina Mills, and Lake Minnetonka. There is no
record of a traverse over St. Louis Park, but he did visit
Edina’s
Jonathan Grimes, just south of Park’s border, in the
summer of 1862.
The siege of Fort Sumter on April 12 began the Civil War,
and Minnesota was the first state to offer troops when
Governor Alexander Ramsey offered President Lincoln 1,000
men on April 14. They left Fort Snelling on June 22. 21,982
men from Minnesota eventually served in the Union Army,
including Park residents Job Pratt, Thomas Gaffney, Peter
Hannan, Mark Berry, William Calahan, George Williams, and future
Park resident Charles Rye. Walt “Grampa” Rice lost his leg
in the war and spent part of it in Andersonville Prison.
Martin Pratt served in Brackett’s Battalion. Colonel
Joel
Barber Clough was an engineer in charge of building military
roads in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
1862
The Sioux Uprising began on August 18 and lasted 37 days. The trouble
started when five young Dakota men murdered a white family on
a dare. Knowing that trouble was coming, and angry over a
delay in their annuity and the refusal of the BIA to
distribute food until the annuity arrived, Dakota leaders
declared war. Panic set in, and many St. Louis Park residents fled to the
city or Fort Snelling for safety. Battles were fought in
Litchfield, New Ulm, the Redwood Agency, Fort Ridgeley, and
Birch Coulee. In the end, 1,400 whites
and Indians were dead. 38 Dakota were hanged at Mankato on
December 26, 1862; the largest mass execution in American
history. The 1851 treaties were revoked, and the
Dakota were banished from the state altogether, first to
Nebraska and then to South Dakota. To this day, it is
technically illegal for a Dakota to live in Minnesota.
Joel Barber Clough, from Massachusetts, bought a claim in
section 17 (approximately by the Creosote Plant).
The first train arrived in Minneapolis in July 1862.
The Minnesota regiment was heroic during the first day of
the Battle of Shiloh, April 5-6. They took massive
casualties as they were in the middle of the attacked Union
line known as the “Hornet’s Nest.”
The Homestead Act made free land available to settlers.
The first train in Minnesota ran from St. Paul to St.
Anthony.
1863
Lazurus A. Tilleny (b. 1831, Plymouth, England) and his
wife Lydia Stanton established his 115-acre farm on Sections
6 and 7, between those of Baston and Hanke. He bred Norman
and Clyde horses from imported stock. By 1889 his land had
apparently been sold to E.D. Smith.
At Gettysburg, the First Minnesota regiment withstood the
Confederate charge, turning the tide of the battle.
1864
One of the most important families in the history of
eastern Excelsior Blvd. were the
Hankes. Christopher and
Frederika Hanke were born in Germany. They bought and farmed
205 acres west of Lake Calhoun/south of Bass Lake in 1864.
An 1889 map shows that he owned a 115-acre parcel on either
side of present-day Excelsior Blvd. from Joppa to France
Avenue. The original farmhouse was located south of Bass
Lake, on Excelsior Road [Blvd.]. It was a two story
Victorian with an old fashioned porch in front. It is
unclear where this house was located. The famous Hanke barn
was built in 1876. It measured 88 x 36 ft., was four stories
high, and was considered the second-best in the country. It
is also unclear where this structure was located, although
one picture indicates that it was on France Avenue.
Bass Lake, which bordered the Hanke land, was located just
west of France Avenue, half a mile from Lake Calhoun, and
south of the Milwaukee tracks. In the 19th Century it had an
area of about 80 acres, reaching as far north as Minnetonka
Blvd. Its waters flowed southeasterly through nine active
springs in the bottom. At one time there had been a Libby’s
Bass Lake resort located at the end of France Ave. Many
remember swimming and skating on the lake.
Col. Stephen Miller was inaugurated Governor.
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) was reelected President.
1865
The Hennepin County
Poor Farm (located in Hopkins) was
opened on January 4, 1865.
William Wallace Cargill established the Cargill Elevator Co.
in Conover, Iowa in 1865. In 1869 the company moved to
Albert Lea, and then to Minneapolis in 1890. It is now
headquartered in Minnetonka, and is the world’s largest
privately held company.
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery.
Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14 and died on April 15;
Andrew Johnson (Republican) became President.
The Civil War ended with 25,000 Minnesotans serving in the
Union Army.
The population of Minnesota was about 175,000.
1866
On February 13, “Minnesota’s Great Blizzard” struck,
raging for three days. Severe cold, as low at 30 below,
followed. The storm struck at night when people were safe at
home, limiting casualties. The word Blizzard hadn’t actually
been coined yet.
Cadwaller C. Washburn opened his first flour mill at St.
Anthony Falls, starting the company that would become
General Mills. In 1880, Washburn Crosby introduced its Gold
Medal Flour after it won the gold, silver, and bronze medals
at the Millers’ International Exhibition.
Col. William R. Marshall was inaugurated Governor on January
8.
1867
The city of Minneapolis was chartered in February: the
second coldest city in the United States (or, as one booster
put it, “extremes in all climactic features, a changeable
weather that is stimulating and invigorating.”).
The State Legislature first gave the name of Brighton to the
area outside the Minneapolis city limits, but in response to
objections, the name Minneapolis Township was restored on
March 7, 1867. Also on March 7, the two northern tiers of
Richfield Township, which included the future St. Louis
Park, were added to Minneapolis Township.
The State legislature created the State Board of Immigration
to encourage immigration to Minnesota.
1868
Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868, as
commanded by General Order Number 11, by General John A.
Logan, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Its purpose was to “strew flowers or otherwise decorate the
graves of comrades who died in the defense of their country
during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in
almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the
land…”
Governor Marshall was elected to a second term.
U.S. Grant (Republican) was elected President.
1869
The University of Minnesota opened for college courses;
William Watts Folwell (known by students as “Uncle Billy”)
was inaugurated as the first President on December 22, and
also taught math. About 300 students, including those as
young as age 13, were enrolled. Tuition was $4 per quarter,
with dorm space in Old Main (which burned down in 1904)
going for $3 per term. Classes were coed, but not held on
Mondays, for fear students would do homework on the Sabbath.
Charles A. Pillsbury bought a minority interest in a
run-down mill at St. Anthony Falls, starting the road to the
company that bears his name. His Best XXXX Flour began
production in 1872. By 1988, the company had been purchased
by Grand Metropolitan Pic for $5.8 billion.
On January 1, 1869,
black residents of Minnesota held a
convention at Ingersoll Hall in St. Paul to “celebrate the
Emancipation of 4,000,000 slaves, and to express… gratitude
for the bestowal of the elective franchise to the colored
people of this State.” Locally there were 16 black families
that lived in Edina from the end of the Civil War until the
late 30s, when they moved to Minneapolis.
1870
St. Louis Park began to keep birth and death records. Not
sure if we still have them.
On March 14-16, 1870
blizzard hit Iowa and Minnesota,
dumping up to 16 inches of snow. The term blizzard was
reportedly coined by a newspaperman in Esterville, Iowa. It
was a boxing term, meaning a volley of punches. Others claim
it was derived from the German word “blitz.” The term gained
official acceptance on December 8, 1876, when it was used in
the Weather Bureau publication “Monthly Weather Review.”
Horace Austin was inaugurated as Governor.
1871
Hopkins Station, named after H.H. Hopkins, a prominent
local farmer and postmaster, was established on the
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway. The post office, located
at the depot, was established in 1873. As of 1881, there
were “no stores or public buildings.” The town did not take
off until 1887 when
Minneapolis Moline Threshing Machine
Company built a factory and the West Minneapolis Land
Company built tenement housing for the workers.
The first parcel of land that would become
Lakewood Cemetery
was purchased in 1871, and the first burial took place in
1872.
1872
Minneapolis, west of the river, and St. Anthony, east of
the river, were merged into the City of Minneapolis in 1872.
Horace Austin entered his second term as Governor in January.
The C.A. Pillsbury & Co. flour milling firm was established.
Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) was reelected President.
Yellowstone was established as the first national park. The
National Park Service was founded in 1916. Minnehaha Park
was established as Minnesota’s first State Park in 1885, but
the designation was removed shortly afterward.
1873
A great
blizzard immobilized the area on January 8. The
day started out bright and sunny, but they say the
temperature dropped almost 40 degrees in one minute, and by
4 pm it was 14 below zero. The wind blew in gales, and the
snow fell for 52 hours. The Mail newspaper reported that
although 70 people died around the state (some of whom were
not discovered until spring), nobody was hurt in the Park.
The Panic of 1873 was precipitated in Europe as a result of
the Franco-Prussian War. Other causes were Civil War
inflation and speculation and over-expansion of the
railroads. Although the nationwide depression lasted until
1879, it had a minimal effect on the self-sufficient St.
Louis Park farmers, except that the area was “overrun with
tramps.” When a tax was levied by the state to pay interest
on $5 million in bonds, which were given to railroad
promoters such as Jay Cooke, taxpayers protested when few
railroads were completed.
The Minnehaha
Grange #398 was organized on December 23,
1872, with members coming from Edina Mills, Richfield Mills,
St. Louis Park, and Hopkins. The Minnehaha Grange Hall was
built in 1879, on the corner of 50th and Wooddale on land
donated by Bull. The first Grange meeting held in the new
building was on February 27, 1879.
Joseph Hamilton of St.
Louis Park was elected secretary.
The National Order of Patrons of Husbandry had been started
in 1866 by Oliver Hudson Kelly of Elk River, Minnesota. Soon
called the Grange Society, it was the center of social and
civic activity for farmers, taking on issues such as
railroad prices, serving as a fraternal organization, and
providing education for member farmers. From 1888 to 1942,
the Grange building also served as the Edina Village Hall.
Grange Hall has been restored and in 1970 it was moved to
Frank Tupa Park at Eden Avenue and Highway 100.
A Grasshopper Plague invaded Midwestern farmland,
particularly in southwestern Minnesota. From 1873 to 1877,
swarms of grasshoppers (aka Rocky Mountain locusts) landed,
destroyed crops, and laid eggs for next year. Finally, in
1877, after yet another crop was devastated, the
newly-hatched young did not move on as usual but swarmed in
the air for weeks until one day they just flew away. Many
ascribed it to the official day of prayer held on April 26,
1877.
Hennepin County suffered slight grasshopper damage only in the year
1874; southwestern Minn. crops were destroyed in 1875. In
two of the grasshopper years, they came alarming close to
the City, but there doesn’t seem to have been any reports of
grasshoppers in St. Louis Park, which may be because local farmers
specialized in truck farming, which wasn’t as vulnerable as
grains and cereals.
In a biography of T.B. Walker, it is said that after he made
a personal inspection of the area, he speculated that a late
crop of turnips and buckwheat would be possible. He
purchased all the seed he could find in the Twin Cities and
Chicago and “personally distributed” it to the farmers. The
crop was successful and helped alleviate the suffering of
the people and animals. Although farmers had pleaded with
Governor Pillsbury for monetary relief, he refused, calling
the phenomenon an act of God and unwilling to set a
precedent. (the “Pillsbury no-dough boy?”) For the complete
story of the grasshopper plague, see Harvest of Grief,
by Annette Atkins, 1984.
1874
William P. Day and son Horatio N. Day, who had come to
Minnesota in 1849, built the Globe Mill on
Minnehaha Creek.
Ten acres on the west bank of the creek were purchased from
Johnston Mealey on March 24, 1894 for $1,000. A two-acre
tract on the east side was purchased from
Calvin Goodrich
for $150 and used for Day’s residence. The mill and pond
were on a naturally occurring oxbow on the creek next to the
Excelsior Road, but not where Excelsior crosses the Creek.
The Creek itself was moved into a straight ditch at some
point, and the old creed bed in the swamp on Excelsior Blvd.
across from the golf course.
The frame structure had “four runs of stones and a capacity
of 125 barrels a day.” When waterpower was not enough, a
steam engine was used. A side track of the Mpls. and St.
Louis Railroad served the mill. After several changes of
ownership, in 1882 the entire site belonged to Peter
Schussler. (Schussler was elected Justice of the Peace in
1886.) In about 1890 a bridge and dam further upstream
reduced the water flow, and Schussler installed a steam
engine for power. Finally, the dam built at Gray’s Bay in
1895 made all Creek mills infeasible. The mill was sold to
Joseph Tyczynski through foreclosure in 1896 and dismantled
in 1898.
The oldest house still standing in St. Louis Park was built
at
8550 Minnetonka Blvd. in 1874. One of its major past
lives was as the Belmont Tavern and Riding Stables –
purportedly a speakeasy during prohibition.
Cushman K. Davis was inaugurated Governor on January 9,
1874.
Young Laura Ingalls settled near Walnut Creek, Minnesota.
In 1937, she wrote a book about her experiences, On the
Banks of Plum Creek.
1875
The Cities experienced their coldest
winter ever, with
the temperature below zero for 68 days from November to
March.
Oswald’s Summer Garden, located on Cedar Lake Road west of
the Minneapolis City Limits, was established. A report from
1881 describes it:
With its attractive drives, walks, and rustic
decorations, it makes a pleasant place of resort.
Connected with it is a green-house, 12 x 32 feet,
containing four thousand plants.
Construction of the Minneapolis streetcar system began in
1875.
1876
The Hastings and Dakota railroad line made a contract
with the Minneapolis and St. Louis to use its lines from
Hopkins into Minneapolis and began to run trains through the
Park. The line began in 1857 as the Hastings, Minnesota
River, and Red River of the North, renamed in March 1867 the
Hastings and Dakota Railway Co. By 1872 it had built the
line from Hastings to Glencoe. In June 1872 the line was
sold to the Minneapolis and St. Paul Railway Company. After
it had built the western end of the line to Ortonville, the
railway decided to build its own tracks and no longer use
the Minneapolis and St. Louis tracks. In January 1880 the
line was sold to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway
Company, aka the Milwaukee Road. The Milwaukee depot was
located at Bass Lake, opposite the grain elevators.
The Younger Brothers camped with their horses in a ravine
that was west-to-northwest of Lake Harriet. From there the
7-8 men went on to rob the Northfield Bank – September 7,
1876.
The Jesse James gang failed to rob the First National Bank
in Northfield, Minn. Jesse and Frank James escaped,
and the others were either captured or killed.
John S. Pillsbury was inaugurated Governor on January 7,
1876. He died in the whooping cough epidemic in 1899.
Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) was elected President.
1877
Nathan (“Nate”) Shepard (b. 1823, Bedford, VT) arrived in
the area in the fall with his wife Lydia Newcomb. In 1878 he
started the “North Star Fruit and Vegetable Garden,”
specializing in Wilson and Albany strawberries, Philadelphia
and Turner raspberries, and Brittania blackberries. He also
grew a great variety of vegetables, especially asparagus. His
land eventually became the site of Lilac Lanes on Excelsior
Blvd., and at one
time the land that would become Miracle Mile belonged to the Shepards. The couple had one son and three daughters.
The Minnesota chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance
Union was formed on September 6, 1877.
The Washburn-Crosby milling company was formed by two
prominent flour milling families.
1878
On May 2, Minneapolis’s Washburn A Mill, which was the
largest flour mill in the country, erupted. It would come to be called “the great mill
explosion.” The entire roof of the mill was raised some 500
ft., and fire was everywhere. Seven other mills were
destroyed. 18 men died, and the tragedy
made international news. As a result, mills were fitted with
devices that controlled dust.
The Red Wing Stoneware Co. was founded.
Governor Pillsbury entered his second term.
The City of Minneapolis comprised 12.75 acres.
1879
Oliver Keese (O.K.)
Earle (1857-1932) married Emma Tyler Laycock on January 2, 1879, at the Centenary Methodist
Episcopal Church. Earle (b. Worcester, Mass.) came to
Minneapolis in 1877 to visit relative Henry F. Brown, and
stayed to raise Shorthorn and Jersey cattle, sheep, and hogs
on his 89 acres in Section 16. Earle was a major instigator
in incorporating St. Louis Park as a village, served on the
Village Council and the Board of Education. He was also
appointed the first Postmaster, although Joseph Hamilton was
the first to do permanent service. He was an incorporator of
the St. Louis Park Land and Improvement Company, established in 1886.
The Earles had six children.
The Washburn Crosby “A” Mill was built at 701 S. 1st Street,
and operated until 1965. It was damaged by fire in 1991, but
is being restored as a milling museum by the Minnesota
Historical Society.
THE BOOMING 1880s AND EARLY 1890s
After reorganization efforts, the railroads got back on
their feet, and in the 1800s, over 73,000 miles of track
were laid. Railroad and industrial magnates got rich in
these days before income taxes, maximum hours, minimum
wages, and other protections for workers.
Drawn by posters and literature distributed in Europe by
railroads looking for passenger and freight business,
millions of immigrants, particularly from Scandinavia,
arrived in America and settled in the Midwest. Also spurred
by the tremendous expansion of the railroads, many new towns
sprung up – the Panics of 1873 and 1893 explain why so many
of the existing buildings in present-day small towns were
built in the 1880s, and not before or after.
1879-81
The St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba single-track rail
route was constructed east-west through town. It originated
as the Minnesota and Pacific Road, chartered on May 22, 1857
to provide service from the Midwest to the Pacific
Northwest. It went bankrupt during the panic of 1857 after
62 miles were built and was taken over by the St. Paul and
Pacific in 1866. In 1873 it was taken over by receiver Jesse
Farley, who represented Dutch bankers. In May 1879 James J.
Hill and a syndicate of St. Paul and Canadians formed the
St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba. The new owners relocated
the line, which originally ran south of Cedar Lake, to pass
north of the lake. The southern rails were removed and the
land returned to farms. By 1889 it was known as the Great
Northern.
In the 20s, the tracks made it difficult for people to
travel north/south. The few crossings were a wooden bridge
close to France Ave.; at another wooden bridge at Falvey
Ave. [Louisiana]; and in a narrow underpass at about
Virginia Ave.
In 1970 the Great Northern became the Burlington
Northern, and is now the BNSF, the SF standing for Santa Fe.
The so-called Hutchinson Branch, turning southwest at
Virginia Avenue, has since been abandoned. In 1978 the
Burlington Northern receiving yard between Highway 100 and
France Ave. was removed and made available for development.
1880
Not one graveled road existed in the Village.
Charles Rye and family moved to Park from Iowa. His sister,
Mary Ann Rye, had been one of the very first pioneers in the
area that would become Park. Charles Rye’s farm was near
28th and Joppa. Rye signed the original petition for the
formation of the Village of St. Louis Park in 1886.
James A. Garfield (Republican) was elected President; he was
assassinated on July 2, 1881 and succeeded by Chester A.
Arthur.
Thomas Edison announced that he had developed the electric
light.
1881
A directory published in 1881 lists the following
residents of Section 21, which encompasses the Brookside
neighborhood:
J.R. Bowman, dairyman, 2 acres Catharine Byrnes, farmer D.
H. Coats, farmer, 70 acres
The Pillsbury “A” Mill was the world’s largest and most
advanced flour mill, located at 301 SE Main St. By the next
year, Minneapolis was the nation’s milling leader, and
stayed that way until yielding to Buffalo in 1930. The A
Mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1966.
The nation’s first hydroelectric station, powered by St.
Anthony Falls, began operation.
President James A. Garfield was shot on July 2 and died on
September 19.
1883
The
Union Congregational Church was formally organized on
March 14 [15], 1883, with 17 charter members, including the Bastons, Craiks, and Hankes.
The western border of Minneapolis reached France Ave.
Incorporation of the Village in 1886 would prevent
Minneapolis from moving further west.
James J. Hill built the Stone Arch Bridge, providing trains with a
route over the Mississippi river.
1884
Tax records indicate that Charles Hank’es house at
4131 Excelsior
Blvd. was built in 1884 It was sold out of the family in
1920.
Minneapolis General Hospital built the notorious “Pest
House” (more formally known as the Minneapolis Small Pox
Quarantine Hospital) within the St. Louis Park Village
limits. This facility and the adjacent “Potters Field”
(at least in one place referenced as Bass Lake Cemetery) had a
colorful history.
The Hinckley Fire swept into town from the nearby tinder-dry
forest on September 1, 1884, killing 413 people. A train
loaded with 276 passengers crossed a bridge out of town five
minutes before the bridge collapsed.
Grover Cleveland (Democrat) was elected President.
The first shipment of iron ore left the Vermillion Range.
1885
North (Side) School was built near the northern boundary
of the township in the “Falvey District” at present-day 6800
S. Cedar Lake Road. This school burned down in 1926; legend
has it that a janitor fell asleep and his newspaper caught
fire. When it was rebuilt it was renamed Eliot. 20 more
classrooms were added to the building in 1952, but in 1977
the school was closed.
The Minnesota State Fair opened at its present location for
the first time on September 7, 1885.
Labor Day was first celebrated in Minnesota by 3,000 people
gathered for a picnic in White Bear Lake.
Owatonna State Public School was established in 1885 and
served as the State’s orphanage until 1945.
1886
The St. Louis Park Land and Improvement Co. was
incorporated in 1886. An advertisement listed
C.G. Goodrich
as President, with offices at 360 Temple Court.
Incorporation papers list five men from Minneapolis and
O.K.
Earle and Joseph
Hamilton from
what was then part of Minneapolis Township.
They envisioned heavy industry, and worked for incorporation
of the Village. (In 1933, the President was E.A. Hurlbutt.)
The ad read:
The finest suburban residences place in the vicinity
of Minneapolis. New depot completed facing both the
M&St. L. and M & St.P. Railways; Church, School House
and many fine homes there. The Lake Attractions of
Cedar, Calhoun and Harriet are near by, and Lake
Minnetonka also only thirty minutes’ drive to the west.
A subsequent ad in the Minneapolis Evening Journal
(November 9, 1886) promised that buyers could have five
years to build a house. Interest rates were 7 percent, with
a discount if the buyer would build in 1887. (Only
Hamilton’s house still stands from 1887.) These terms were
for the land only – buyers would have to find their own
financing to build their houses, which could be difficult in
the days before Federally insured mortgages.
ST. LOUIS PARK BECOMES A VILLAGE
The movement to incorporate the village began in 1886 when
Oliver K. Earle, Joseph Hamilton, and George E. Goodrich
conducted a census in August and found a population of 350
persons in 45 families. 31 residents signed their petition
to the Hennepin County Commissioners to incorporate, first
as the Village of St. Louis, later changed to St. Louis Park
to reduce confusion with St. Louis, Missouri.
The election was held at
Pratt School on October 4, and the
majority of the 66 voters opted for the incorporation of the
village. On November 19, the County Commissioners registered
the petition for incorporation, officially making St. Louis
Park a Village. Originally, four sections (6,746 acres) were
incorporated, and the eastern boundary was established at
France Avenue. Incorporation prevented Minneapolis from
expanding westward. More land would eventually be annexed
over the years. St. Louis Park is at 45 degrees north
latitude, 93 degrees west longitude, with an elevation at
the MSP Airport of 830 feet above sea level.
An election of Village Council members was held on December
6th, with officers formally inducted on December 10 in the
Minneapolis and St. Louis depot. Joseph Hamilton was elected President,
a position he held until 1893. Trustees were H.C. Butler,
O.K. Earle, George E. Goodrich; Treasurer was J.J. Baston.
The Village of Golden Valley was also incorporated in
December 1886. Hopkins wouldn’t become incorporated until 1893,
and at first it was called West Minneapolis.
On January 25, 1886, a six-day bicycle race was held at the
Washington Avenue Rink in Minneapolis. These races were a
big fad at the time. Contestants rode their high wheel
bicycles around the track. The winner, a chap from Chicago,
won a medal and an “elegant suit of clothes, which will be
presented by Oscar the Tailor.”
The very first St. Paul Winter Carnival opened on February
1. 1886. The celebration was intended to prove to the world
that winter did not slow down Minnesotans. A huge gothic ice
palace was built out of 100 tons of ice by 200 men.
1887
The plat of Wildwood, dated May 24, 1887 and filed on
June 8, 1887, was comprised of Lots 6 and 7 south of
Excelsior Blvd. in Township 117, Range 21, Block 21.
This 100 acres was between present-day Highway 100 and
approximately Dakota, and south to the village border with
Edina. The Minneapolis Journal reported that
H.H. Miller, realty dealer, purchased the land from G.H.
Perkins on February 23, 1887. Miller’s plans to
subdivide apparently didn’t work out, and the plat was
vacated on October 15, 1892 (although the vacation wasn’t
filed until October 21, 1902 for some reason). The
land went to Calvin G. Goodrich. It would be
re-platted as Brookside in 1907.
The very first ordinance was passed by the Village
Council on April 6, 1887. It addressed breach of the peace
and disorderly conduct. Curiously, the Council’s second
ordinance defined and prohibited disorderly houses, houses
of ill fame, and common prostitutes. Remember, this is a
village of 350 people, mostly farmers!
Central
mail service was established at what was called the
Elmwood Post Office on October 20. The Village itself, which
had incorporated the year before, had never been known as
Elmwood. In March 1889, the Village Council passed a
resolution requesting the U.S. Postal Department to change
the name of the Post Office from Elmwood to St. Louis Park.
St. Paul grocer P.J. Towle mixed maple syrup and cane sugar
to create Log Cabin Syrup, which came in a tin log cabin.
The City of Minneapolis extended a road from Lake Calhoun to
connect with Excelsior Blvd.
1888
On January 12-13, the “Blizzard of ‘88” hit the Great
Plains. It struck during the day, and many of the 200 dead
were children on their way home from school. Subzero
temperatures followed, recorded at 37 below in St. Paul.
Edina Mills, with a population of 485, incorporated as a
Village on December 12 and changed its name to Edina. The
only settlement at the time was at the crossing of Minnehaha
Creek, where a post office, store, and the Edina Mill were
located. A contemporary account describes the Village’s
“numerous farms [as] well cultivated, and… occupied by
intelligent people, who appreciate education, and surround
themselves with the accessories of a highly refined
society.”
St. Louis Park’s Independent School District was organized with two
schools (Pratt and North).
Joseph Hamilton established the village’s first General
Store, about a mile from his farm. Although his prices were
higher than those at the Great Northern Market downtown,
Hamilton delivered groceries to homes and provided weekly
credit.
Donaldson’s Glass Block, at 6th and Nicollet, was the
first modern department store in the Northwest. It was
established by Lawrence S. Donaldson.
Benjamin Harrison (Republican) was elected President.
1889
Lincoln School was built at a cost of $8,500 on three
lots donated by the SLP Land and Development Company: 5925
W. 37th Street at the corner of Alabama. The school opened
January 6, 1890, with James T. Davis as Principal. The
school district and the village council split the cost of
the building, and the Village Council held its meetings on
the second floor. In 1938 the building was sold for $1 to
the village and was used as the Village/City Hall until
1963. An article from 1961 describes the building as a fire
hazard that sways in a hard wind, with a floor that ripples
like waves on the ocean. In 1966 the building was sold to
Minnesota Rubber and then demolished.
Frank Scott owned the land east of present day 100. South of
Scott was the farm of Henry F. Brown, who also rented
additional land. The map shows no sign of present-day Vernon
Ave. Instead, at the Edina line, the beginnings of a road
came up north parallel to the Creek, but then went around
the bend of the creek up Vermont, meeting up with Brookside
up to the boundary of the Center at 39th Street. The main
crossroads of the area was the intersection of Excelsior
Avenue and Wooddale to the south and Pleasant Avenue [now
also Wooddale] to the north, which went through all the way
to Dakota. Homes indicated on the map congregate along
Excelsior Blvd.
Nate A. Shepard owned the wedge of land that would become
the Lilac Way Shopping Center. Ellen Poole owned the land
that would become Miracle Mile, although it may have been
sold to Shepard first. Other farmers along the northern
section of Excelsior were William Gould, Ora Z. Baston,
Sarah E. Waddell, and Emily Rixon. The
land that would become Aldersgate Methodist Church was also
Baston property. The land on either side of Excelsior
between Quentin and about Joppa was owned by Martin V. Pratt
and E.D. Smith. The next 12-acre narrow piece of property
belonged to D. H. Tilany. And Christopher Hanke owned the
land on either side of Excelsior between about Joppa and the
France line.
Dr. William Mayo and his two physician sons establish the
Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
The Nelson Act broke Ojibwe reservations into
“allotments,” in an attempt at tribal dispossession.
Only Red Lake reservation remained unallotted.
1890
The Minneapolis Box Lumber Co. (incorporated August 31,
1889), purchased 7 acres in Section 6 from
OK and Emma
Earle. The company was insolvent by January 1892.
The population of St. Louis Park was 499, although another
statistic is that there were over 600 industrial jobs.
The Merritt brothers discovered iron ore on the Mesabi Range
St. Paul and Minneapolis were connected by electric
streetcar lines along University Ave.
T.B. WALKER’S FAILED DREAM
Although Brookside was not involved, the story of T.B. Walker
and his plans for the Village is crucial to understanding
the history of the City. The following is a brief summary of
this important episode in the life of the Park.
Thomas Barlow (T.B.) Walker was born in Xenia, Ohio in 1840;
his parents had traveled west from New York, and soon
afterwards his father died of cholera while preparing to
join a wagon train west. Thomas finished college at age 19,
and after hearing a glowing description of Minneapolis, he
proceeded there in 1862. Within an hour of arriving he was
hired as a deputy surveyor of pine lands in the north. As a
result he knew the location of good timber close to water
transportation, and in 1868 he went into the lumber
business. He formed the Red River Lumber Company and made a
vast fortune logging the timber.
Back in 1863 in Ohio he had married his college classmate
and boss’s daughter, Harriet G. Hulet, and despite the time
he spent up north while she made their home in Minneapolis,
the couple had eight children. He returned to Minneapolis
around 1881, determined to build up his adopted city.
Walker’s first strategy was to build up the industrial base
in St. Paul. Said Walker, “St. Paul had the wholesale trade,
the retail trade, the railroads and the banks. We tried five
years to arrange an amicable interest in building up the
industries of both cities.” They had a false start when the
Minneapolis men tried to work with their counterparts in St.
Paul to lure a factory from the east to merge with a
Minneapolis plant, but were double crossed when St. Paul
ended up with both the eastern and the Minneapolis
factories. Another story is that the Minneapolis contingent
put considerable funds into the Midway area, only to have it
annexed by arch rival St. Paul.
It was at that point that the Businessman’s Union was
formed, on March 31, 1883. Walker was its President for all
15 years of its existence. The group chose the area west of
Minneapolis for their industrial site, in order to prevent
any possibility of annexation by St. Paul. The area’s
borders were Minnetonka Road on the north and Excelsior Road
on the south. Walker said that “some of the men in the union
who liked changes made a social club of it, in the Guaranty
Loan Building. This practically closed out the Business
Union.”
In 1886, a smaller group formed the Minneapolis Land and
Investment Company, again with T.B. Walker as President.
Others included local landowners Henry F. Brown and Calvin
G. Goodrich, “gentlemen whose energy and influence have been
felt in the growth of Minneapolis.” The company bought up
1700 acres of land in the center of town from farmers, an
area so large that it took two years to replat the land.
In 1888, the Minneapolis Land and Investment Company filed a
plat of 12,000 lots on their 1700 acres. An advertising map
from the time shows a completely zoned and platted town: the
Industrial Circle was “in the marsh,” the commercial area
centered on Main Street and Broadway [Dakota and Walker],
and the rest was residential.
The Industrial Circle was a tilted oblong between the tracks
and Walker Street, Monitor and Taft Avenues. The Industrial
Circle remains today; the top of the circle is the curve in
Walker Street. The intersection of Highway 7 and Louisiana
is at the center of the site, with South Oak Pond a reminder
that it was indeed “in the marsh.” Residential lots were as
small as 22 feet; supposedly builders would build houses on
every other lot and leave room for gardens. Village
Roadmaster Daniel J. Falvey graded the roads.
To house his workforce, Walker built about 100 so-called
Walker Houses west of the industrial circle in Oak Hill from
1888 to 1900. Renting for $9-$14/month, the houses were
identical, narrow, two-story affairs with two rooms up and
two rooms down. They were heated by parlor stoves, and had
no indoor plumbing. In the 1930s, the E.H. Shursen Agency
sold the last of them. They were built so close together on
Walker’s 25 ft. lots than when a fire took one house, an
entire block could be destroyed. As of 1999 there were about
50 of them left, a few in near-original condition, and some
modernized so thoroughly that they are unrecognizable as
Walker Houses. Although the greatest concentration is on
Edgewood and North Streets, many have been moved from their
original locations. The house at 3551 Pennsylvania appears
to be made up of three Walker Houses stuccoed together.
Walker’s activities during 1891 and 1892 were prodigious. He
built
factories
that occupied the Industrial Circle, a
streetcar line
that ran from the center of the Village to Minneapolis,
the Walker/Syndicate Building/Brick Block commercial building, his Methodist Church, and the hotels he built for
workers and builders of the factories.
But before Walker’s plan could come to full fruition, came
the economic Depression of 1893. Businesses failed, lots
owned by the Minneapolis Land and Investment Company went
unbought, and the partners bailed out by assigning their
interests to Walker. Walker could be seen giving out food
during the depression, but people shied away from him and
even despised him.
By 1913 Walker owned about 600-700 of his 2,000 acres, which put
him in a spot: the land was worth less than what he had paid
for it, not to mention the money he had put out to build the
factories, and he was obligated to pay taxes on it as well.
In 1926, the map shows that he owned 40 acres that
constituted the north half of the
Creosote Plant (between
Pa. and La., 32nd and 34th). Walker moved on to the Pacific
coast to continue his lumbering business, and he was forced
to use proceeds of that endeavor to pay off the costs of his
unsold land. He made a settlement with the Village Council
to forfeit 27 acres in exchange for the retention of a much
smaller area. Erling Shurson, offices in the Brick Block,
handled the last of the sales.
Thus, in the space of about 12 years, Walker’s dreams of an
industrial town evaporated, and it would be another 50 years
until the Park would approximate the industrial and
residential magnet he had envisioned so many years ago.
Walker formed the T.B. Walker Foundation, which provided
funds for the Walker Art Institute, the repository of his
own fine art collection. The main building of the
Walker Art
Center opened on May 21, 1927. Walker died in 1928.
BOOM AND BUST
1891
In May, T.B. Walker received permission from the village
council to build the
St. Louis Park Streetcar that ran from 29th
Street, followed the Lake Calhoun shoreline, down Minnetonka
Blvd. and then down Lake Street to Walker Street, where it
turned around. Fares were five cents, and a maximum speed
was set at 25 miles per hour. The line became operational in
the spring of 1892.
Walker sold the line to the Twin City Rapid Transit Company
in 1905/6, which made it a part of the Minneapolis and St.
Paul Suburban Company. Even after the advent of private
cars, the streetcar was well used until it ended its run on
August 28, 1938, to be replaced by buses.
The St. Louis Park Historical Society has a Map of the
Rearrangement of St. Louis Park, as filed by the Minneapolis
Land and Investment co. The (unsigned) copy was presented by
James E. Egan, Surveyor. Two introductory pages give the
legal descriptions of the land replatted. They also retain
the right to install water or gas mains or conduits;
telegraph and telephone poles; and horse car, cable,
electric, or other forms of public transportation.
1891 brought an influx of new industry into Walker’s
Industrial Circle. See
Early Park Businesses.
In 1891 and 1892, Henry H. Collins purchased several parcels
in Section 6. On July 14, 1892, he and his wife Edith E.
Collins platted the Collins Addition. The plat had a
whopping 380 lots on 16 blocks. The plat was vacated on
January 5, 1918. The land became the site of the
Belt Line
Industrial Park. Collins also platted Collins 2nd Addition,
west of Highway 100, now the site of
Burlington Coat
Factory.
1892
The 1892 map boasts that St. Louis Park is:
The great manufacturing and residence suburb of
Minneapolis, adjoining the city and connected by FOUR
RAILROADS, and an ELECTRIC LINE (to be completed early
in 1892). This young and busy city already contains FIVE
LARGE MANUFACTURING PLANTS, with negotiations in
progress for several more. An ELECTRIC POWER HOUSE is
under way to supply power for the electric line,
manufacturing and lighting the new city. Hundreds of
houses, besides HOTELS and STORES will be built this
coming season, and the development of this great
enterprise is engaging the CAREFUL ATTENTION and
UNLIMITED EXPENDITURE of the Minneapolis Land and
Investment Company.
An ad the same year promised that men would get rich by
buying lots at $150 to $500 each and holding them as an
investment until the population reached 50,000, which, given
the prosperous times, would happen in only a few years.
Little did they know that the economy would crash the next
year, and Walker couldn’t give away his land. But for now,
industries were starting and the economy was hot.
St. Louis Park Lodge # 202 of the International Order of
Odd
Fellows was organized in 1892. Associated organizations were
the Park Rebekah Lodge #110 (women’s auxiliary) and
Woodman’s Circle. For many years the organizations met in
the
Hamilton Building. Recently, as Odd Fellows lodges have
closed nationwide, workmen have been discovering wooden
boxes containing skeletons hidden in closets, drawers,
attics, and crawl spaces. It turns out that skeletons,
symbols of mortality, were used in initiation rites. It
seems likely that, if there was a local Mr. Bones, he
probably perished when the Hamilton Building burned down in
1958.
An ordinance pertaining to peddlers, hucksters, or those who
peddle goods in packs or wagons was passed on September 2,
1892. Those found without a license were subject to a $5 to
$100 fine or up to 90 days in jail.
Grover Cleveland (Democrat) was elected President. The
Republican National Convention was held in the West Hotel in
Minneapolis.
Joseph Hamilton built the red brick, two-story
Hamilton
Building on Broadway [6509 Walker Street] in 1892. The first
floor of the building had four sections, and businesses
moved in and out frequently. In the early 1900’s Hamilton’s
son Charlie bought out Mr. Trinkle’s grocery store and took
over all four sections of the building and ran his General
Store. On the second floor were the lodge halls for the Odd
Fellows (Chesley and Charlie Hamilton were members), and the
Masons
met there as well when that group formed in 1923. In the
teens, the building burned to the ground and the Walker
Building had extensive damage in a spectacular fire made
worse by below zero temperatures and high snow. The building
was rebuilt. When Charlie died, his son Willard took over
the store until 1943, when the Masons bought the building.
It
burned to the ground for good on December 25, 1958, and
in its place the Masons built the current one-story Masonic
Lodge in 1960.
T.B. Walker built his yellow brick
Walker Building across
the street from the Hamilton Building at 6516 Walker Street
in 1898. The Walker Building was also known as the Syndicate
Building and later the Manufacturer’s Agents Building.
Together the Walker and Hamilton Buildings were known as the
Brick Block. Like the Hamilton building, businesses came and
went, and moved from one building to the other frequently.
Storefronts in the 30s housed Doc Brown’s barber shop and
pool hall, Swenson and Redeen Grocery Store, the St. Louis
Park Drug Store run by the Yeager family, and E.H. Shurson
Insurance and Real Estate. The
American Legion met on the
second floor of the Walker Building until its own building
was built on Excelsior Blvd. The Walker Building still
stands today at the end of Walker Street.
The building boom of 1892 brought the construction of Park’s
first
hotels, occupied mostly by employees of the
Monitor
Drill and other factory workers, as well as the men building
the new factories. The hotels were all in the same general
area of town.
1893
Boosters published a catalogue of St. Louis Park public
schools, and at least one preacher must have been on the
committee, considering the following:
Parents seeking a beautiful place for a home, and an
excellent place for educating their children, free from
those environments that allure them into temptation and
sin, would do well to consider St. Louis Park.
But it all came crashing down when the
Panic of 1893 lead
to a national economic depression that was felt the worst in
1894 and lasted until 1897. Triggered by the bankruptcy of
the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in February, banks
began calling in loans and denying credit. The booming
1880s had resulted in inflated real estate values and
overproduction in factories. The result was wage cuts,
strikes, unemployment, and the ruin of many local
businesses. The Monitor Works closed for a year, and the
Minneapolis Esterly Harvester Company went under, leaving
600 employees out of work.
Despite the panic, there were some businesses that started
up during this first depression year: The Minneapolis Chair
Company, which employed 100 men, and the Minneapolis
Specialty Manufacturing Company, which manufactured iron and
wood products and employed 50 men. Although the Village
Council voted against allowing saloons several years in a
row, drinks could be had in one of the hotels if one had a
pass key – and nearly everyone in town had a pass key.
Another early violator was one A.S. Banks: by allowing beer
drinking and card playing in his barbershop, he earned a
talking-to by Mayor Joseph Hamilton.
Justus Lumber, a mainstay on Excelsior Blvd. in Hopkins, was
established.
Sears, Roebuck & Company was formed in Chicago. It
originated in a company started by Richard Sears in Redwood
Falls.
The State Flag was officially adopted on April 15. It was
designed by Amelia Hyde Center of Minneapolis, who won a
contest and given $15. It featured a type of Lady’s Slipper
that doesn’t grow in Minnesota, but was not corrected until
1957.
1894
On December 3, the lifeless body of one Miss Catherine
“Kitty” Ging was discovered just outside the village limits
near Lake Calhoun. For the gory details, see
Police and
Crime.
Massive forest fires destroy Hinkley, killing more than 400
people.
“Kitten Ball,” later called softball, was created by
Minneapolis fireman Louis Rober.
1896
William McKinley (Republican) defeated William Jennings
Bryan for President.
1897
The Minnesota
Beet Sugar Manufacturing Company was
incorporated on May 10, 1897. In 1898 it took over the
36-acre site of the Minneapolis
Esterly Harvester Company
and changed its name to the Minnesota Sugar Company. (This
site later became the locale of the Creosote Plant.)
Como Zoo began when someone donated three deer to the City
of St. Paul.
1898
Congress declared war on Spain on April 21, 1898, beginning the
10-week Spanish-American War. Marked by incompetence on both
sides, the U.S. wrested control of Cuba and Puerto Rico from
Spain, in part in retribution for the explosion of the
American battleship Maine in Havana harbor. The press
(Hearst especially) adopted
“Remember the Maine” as its battle cry, although the source
of the explosion was never established. In the first days,
Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila
without losing a man. Teddy Roosevelt’s taking of San Juan
Hill in itself was not decisive, but Spanish Admiral Cervera
saw the writing on the wall and steamed out of Santiago
Harbor to meet his doom, ending the fighting in Cuba. On
August 13, 1898, the Spanish lost Manila to American troops,
including troops from Stearns County, Minnesota. Cuba
became independent, Guam and Puerto Rico were ceded to the
U.S. Instead of leaving Manila, however, American
troops stayed, with no clear indication of what their role
was. Relations with the Filipinos deteriorated,
especially when the U.S. purchased the islands from Spain
for $20 million. On February 4, 1899, all-out war
broke out between Filipino “insurgents” who wanted
self-rule, and troops found themselves in a different war
altogether. Hostilities continued until July 1902.
Whereas only 379 Americans were killed in battle, another
5,083 were lost to malaria, typhoid, and yellow fever.
The Minikahda Club was established in 1898, just over the
line in Minneapolis. Judge M.B. Koon served as the first
president. Although the Club’s website indicates that the
club opened in 1906, there is a 64-page history of the club
that was written on the occasion of its 25th anniversary in
1923, taking it back to 1898. This club hosted the U.S. Open
in 1916 and the winner was Charles Evans, Jr.
1899
Grain merchant Frank H. Peavey commissioned architect
Charles Haglin to build the Peavey-Haglin Experimental
Concrete
Grain Elevator at the intersection of now-Highways 100
and 7.
On October 12, President William McKinley visited the Twin
Cities and got a guided tour from Tom Lowrey in his private
streetcar. While there he reviewed the troops of the
Minnesota 13th Regiment who were returning from the Spanish
American War. Troops passed under a gigantic arch
erected on Nicollet Avenue, and were feted with a huge
parade down Nicollet (still a street). The 13th
Regiment then disbanded.
1900
The Minneapolis Journal reported that the
St.
Louis Park Band made its debut at the Memorial Day Parade on
May 31, 1900.
On September 8, 1900, a
hurricane of historic proportions
hit Galveston, Texas, killing as many as 6,000 people and
destroying the city. But the storm wasn’t finished; it and
proceeded northward, and as it entered Iowa it merged with a
cold front to produce a hybrid low pressure system, creating
torrential rains. St. Paul was in it path, and 6.65 inches
of rain fell in three days. The storm then headed east to
Milwaukee, Chicago, and Newfoundland, finally dying out over
Iceland, three weeks after it was first detected over the
Atlantic on August 27.
St Louis Park Population: 1,325.
The 1890 census became a bitter competition for numbers
between Minneapolis and St. Paul: counted were several dead
citizens, and men who lived in barber shops, depots, and
dime museums. Minneapolis came out ahead.
William McKinley (Republican) was elected President.
1901
President McKinley was shot on September 6 by an
anarchist and died on September 14. He was succeeded by
Theodore Roosevelt.
There was a short-lived financial crisis in 1901 that
bankrupted half of the New York brokerage houses.
1902
The transition of the Village from rural to town was
evident in an ordinance that prohibited cattle, horses,
swine, or poultry from running at large inside Village
limits.
Albert Alonzo Ames, five-time Mayor of Minneapolis, brought
corruption to a new high with his protection racket and
bribery schemes. In April he took the night train out of the
city to avoid charges of running the city’s crime syndicate.
The level of corruption brought national attention as
Lincoln Steffens published an article “The Shame of
Minneapolis” in the January 1903 edition of McClure’s
Magazine. Although Ames was brought back and tried, he was
not convicted.
The Daniels Linseed Co. was founded in Minneapolis. It
became Archer-Daniels Linseed Co., and in 1923 merged with
the Midland Linseed Products Co. to become Archer Daniels
Midland.
Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, 3M, was founded in Two
Harbors.
1903
Louise
Hanke chose land over money when her father died
in 1903, and she and her husband, Dr. John Watson, built
their house at 3800 France Avenue (the City says 1931). When
their daughter Marie married Harald Hoidahl in 1958, they
continued to live at the France Avenue house. When Marie
died in 1987, the house was sold out of the family for the
first time.
Excelsior Blvd. was graded by Village Roadmaster Dan
Falvey.
In July, railroad speeds were limited to 6 mph, but in
August that was amended to 12 mph.
Dayton’s Department Store opened in 1903, when George Draper
Dayton bought out the other partners of the year-old
Goodfellow’s Dry Goods at 7th and Nicollet, at the former
site of Westminster Presbyterian Church.
The Minnesota Valley Canning Co. was founded in Le Sueur,
and started canning peas in 1907. The Jolly Green Giant
debuted in 1928, originally a “scowling white ogre.” The
brand Green Giant was started by Walt Cosgrove in 1925. By
1928 the giant had turned green, and by 1946 he became a
smiling giant, thanks to Chicago adman Leo Burnett. The
company changed its name to Green Giant in 1950. The Giant
didn’t Ho Ho Ho until the late 50s, and Sprout didn’t
sprout until 1973.
The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra made its debut on
November 5. Formation of the group was due to the efforts of
German immigrant Emil Oberhoffer. It would become the
Minnesota Orchestra.
1904
On August 20, a
tornado of historic proportions that
started in South Dakota killed 14 people, including three in
Glencoe and three more in St. Louis Park.
Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) was elected President.
1905
Park Hill School was built at Minnetonka Blvd. and Ottawa
Avenue.
The Twin City Rapid Transit Company established the
Como-Harriet Line, extending along Motor Street [44th] to
Excelsior. It had local stops at Browndale, Mackey, and the
Brookside Station.
The Jonathan T. Grimes family subdivided part of their
property, which was adjacent to the new streetcar line, to
form the subdivision of Morningside in 1905. Residents were
white-collar workers who used the new line to get to their
jobs in Minneapolis. Originally part of Edina, Morningside
seceded in 1920 when the southern, more rural areas of Edina
would not agree to authorize roads, street lights, sidewalks
and other improvements that their northern, Morningside
residents demanded. Morningside rejoined Edina in 1966.
Is it true that the City Manager of Morningside and the
Manager of Edina were married, precipitating the marriage of
the two jurisdictions?
Wonderland Amusement Park, was built by H.A. Donnelly at
Lake Street and 31st, today’s Uptown Minneapolis. The park,
which only lasted until 1912, featured a roller coaster,
miniature train, a floating theater, and the “House of
Nonsense.” The most popular attraction was an exhibition of
premature babies in incubators, a common curiosity of the
times. For pictures, go to
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/search.cfm and type in Wonderland as the Keyword.
Another popular park, which lasted from 1906 to 1911, was
Big Island Park. This 65-acre park was situated on Big
Island on Lake Minnetonka and was operated by the
Minneapolis and Suburban Railroad Co., a subsidiary of the
Twin Cities Rapid Transit Co. Park-goers would take the new
electric streetcar, which ran just south of St. Louis Park
on 44th Street, to the Excelsior Dock, where passengers
would take ferry boats (named Minneapolis, St. Paul, and
Minnetonka) to the park. The official opening was on August
5, 1906, and patrons were met with such amusements as the
“Happy Hooligan Slide,” a “Figure-8 Toboggan,” and a
miniature train. The price was only 25 cents, including the
streetcar ride, and it became clear that it was not a
profitable operation, especially after the TCRT also bought
the Tonka Bay Hotel. Both the park and the hotel closed at
the end of the 1911 season. After sitting abandoned for a
few years, the park was disassembled in 1918, its iron going
to scrap iron for the (WWI) war effort. Excelsior Amusement
Park would open in 1925. For pictures, go to
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/search.cfm
and type in Big Island Park as the Keywords.
This 1905 newspaper society item includes the Craik and
Millam families from the Edina mill, and a Docken – the same
family that ran Docken’s Store at 44th and Brookside?
Thanks to Daniel Grobani for finding this!
A parcel shower was given at Edina Wednesday
afternoon by Miss M. Blanche Craik for Miss Mabel Millam,
an August bride. Ferns and golden glow decorated the
rooms. Supper was served and covers were placed for
twenty. The bride’s place was marked with a large
cluster of flowers. A feature of the supper was the
cutting of the cake, which contained a ring, a thimble
and a piece of money. Miss Joy found the money, Miss
Docken the ring, and Miss Boberts the thimble. Misses
Boberts, McNeills and Larson assisted the hostess. Other
guests were Misses Box, Docken, Joy, Hall, Lane, Evans,
Edna and Daisy Millam, Mrs. W. E. Cooper and Mrs. W. M.
Cooper.
In 1905 the average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47
years. Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a
bathtub. The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used
borax or egg yolks for shampoo. 18 percent of households in
the U.S. had at least one full-time maid or other servant.
Marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and morphine were all available over
the counter at the drug store. One pharmacist said, “Heroin
clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates
the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian
of health.”
1906
Dan Patch (the horse) ran a mile in one minute 55¼
seconds at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on September 8,
1906, breaking the world’s record for the first of 14 times.
This amazing harness-racing horse had been purchased in
December 1902 by Marion Willis Savage of Minneapolis, owner
of the International Stock Food Company in Minneapolis. Dan
Patch lived like a king, in a barn called the Taj Mahal. Dan
Patch died on July 11, 1916, and they say Savage died of a
broken heart the next day.
Dan Patch had two connections to St. Louis Park. Some
remember a racetrack in the vicinity of Webster/Xenwood.
Mrs. Ora Baston remembers Dan Patch being trained at a track
“in the heart of the Park.”
The second connection has to do with the
railroad
Savage
built from Minneapolis to his town of Savage. The 1,700
acres of land he owned outside of St. Paul had been called
Hamilton, but he renamed it Savage in 1904. The line, which
came through St. Louis Park in 1914, was called the Dan
Patch, after his beloved horse.
THE BEGINNINGS OF BROOKSIDE
1907
With the extension of the
Como-Harriet Street Car Line
down Motor Street [44th] two years earlier, the southeastern section of Brookside
was ripe for development, since residents had access to
downtown. On August 5, 1907, the Suburban Homes Company was
incorporated. They had bought 182 acres from
Calvin Goodrich
in 1898, and platted the Brookside Addition on August 30,
1907. Suburban Homes was the owner, and the Minneapolis
Trust Company was the financial backer. Minneapolis Trust
placed brochures in Minneapolis papers advertising “Brookside
The Beautiful – the Ideal Suburb.” Half-acre lots were
advertised at $250; $25 down and $5 per month. These were
merely the lots, of course – the owner was still required to
find other financing if he wanted to build a house. Many
early owners built small houses by hand.
Around the same time, the Tingdale Brothers advertised
lots in “Tingdale Bros. Brookside:”
If you can save 33 cents a day, you can buy a lot in
Tingdale Bros. Brookside – 113 Extra Large, Sightly
Lots, Restricted to Select Homes. Prices $175 to $595, a
Few Higher. Terms $25 cash, $10 monthly.
The accompanying map provides no clues as to where these
particular 113 lots were, since it encompasses a wide area
from Lake Calhoun to Interlachen, but it was indeed located
in present-day Edina. (Note that an 1898 map appears to show
Brookside Ave. as Main Ave.) The ad also features a woman
picking apples from one of the “600 apple trees in this
addition.”
Another ad of the time calls Brookside “The Ideal
Suburb.” Some of the first parcels to be sold were the lots
in the Brookside Drug area. The ad urged you to:
Build a country home within 30 minutes of the
business district, in this picturesque, and healthful
suburb, where there is plenty of fresh air, room to have
a garden, keep poultry and enjoy life generally when
your strenuous day’s labors are ended. Life is worth
living at Brookside.
Walter Beach was said to have built the first house in Brookside in 1907. No address, but it overlooked Minnehaha
Creek and what would become
Meadowbrook Golf Club.
The first houses on Aurora Avenue [Vernon] were built. The
mailing address of these homes was RR 2, Minneapolis.
Despite the isolation of these first homes, the mail did go
through.
4360 Vernon was the first house built north of the Edina
line, once the home of Police Chief
Clyde Sorenson.
4350 Vernon was a cottage built by a man from Minneapolis.
His youngest son tore it down and built the current house in
1919.
4330 Vernon was a house that Josephine Faherty described as
a “shack,” built by her parents, the Culvers, a young couple
from SE Minneapolis. They moved in on May 10, 1908, and
Josephine was born later that year. Lester Culver advertised
as an electrician in 1934. Although it has been greatly
expanded and improved over the years, the original portion
of house is still standing at the northern property line.
4230 Vernon was probably another “shack,” but the 1915
newspaper reports that the owner Ray Chase sold his house to a dentist
named Backus and moved to Minneapolis. Backus got a permit
to build a new house, and tax records indicate that the
present large Victorian was built in 1915. One of the names
proposed for Brookside School in 1921 was Backus. By 1934
the house was owned by Frank Merrill, plumber, and his wife
Mary. Son Raymond and daughter Iva also lived with them.
[The 1933 directory lists neither Backus nor Merrill.] In
1947 the house was purchased by Palmer Anderson, a
maintenance man who seemingly went through many wives. When
Palmer died in 1972 the house was a wreck and the City
recommended removal. City permit records indicate that after two years of trying to contact
the person who inherited the house, it was forfeited to the
City. [Heir Jim Anhorn says that the house was left solely
to him and that he got a real estate agent to sell it to the
City for $7,000.] In 1974 it was sold to James Fix, who, true to his
name, renovated the lovely Victorian home. It was sold again
in 1992 and 2001.
The Panic of 1907 that fall resulted from the failure of New
York trust companies to corner the market on copper. A run
on the banks forced them to call in loans and refuse credit.
J.P. Morgan reportedly called a meeting of the heads of the
major banks. He locked the door of the library in his
mansion and none could leave until they promised to stop
speculative practices. The effects were short-lived, but outrage at the
concentration of financial power that precipitated the Panic
led to the Federal Reserve Act in 1913.
The
Blake School for Boys was established
in 1907 just over the
western border in Hopkins. This “Country Day School” was
located at the Blake station on the Hopkins Trolley Line –
through the marsh past the Brookside station on the 44th
Street line. On Excelsior Blvd. at Mendelssohn Road
(presumably Blake Road now), photos from 1923 show it in the
middle of absolutely nowhere – hardly a building between it
and Minneapolis. Students all took the same trolley at 8:15
each morning from downtown Minneapolis.
St. Louis Park Population: 1,743.
William H. Taft (Republican) was elected President.
1908
On April 19, the Minneapolis Morning Tribune
announced “Brisk Demand Reported for Lots at Brookside.”
A.C. Danenbaum of the Minneapolis Trust Co. said that tracts
ranging from 1/2 to 5 acres were especially sought after.
The article bears quoting:
Brookside, the beautiful new residence suburb on the
Como-Hopkins line, just beyond the city limits, is
attracting much attention, and the lots are being
purchased by home-builders, not speculators.
One house has already been completed, others are
under construction and plans are in architects’ hands
for several more.
The warmth and sunshine of last Sunday made every one
feel like getting out into the country, and a great many
people took advantage of the day to enjoy the beauties
of Brookside. Some brought cameras and found an
afternoon’s occupation in taking views along Minnehaha
creek, which is especially picturesque at this point,
and view of the park like vista sin the wooded tract.
A number of sales were made in the past week, all to
people intending to build.
The realignment of Brookside Block 4 was platted on July
6, 1908, creating Sidney Street, which would become Wood
Lane in 1933.
On September 5, 1908, two important tracts were platted:
Brookside Second Division, and Suburban Homes Company
Addition.
1909
Frank J. and Florence Mackey filed the plat of Browndale
Park on October 28.
Says here it was illegal to sell, barter or give away
cigarettes in Minnesota from 1909 to 1913, a law that was
grudgingly signed by a cigarette-smoking Governor.
St. Louis Park fielded a
baseball team. The village graded a
diamond for the team in 1914; by 1915 there were several
teams competing in local games.
1910
4090 Brookside Ave., also known as
Upland View, was built
by Father Walter Thomas.
Brookside Subdivision No. 2 was platted on October 21, 1910.
Wooden sidewalks began to be replaced by concrete.
1911
On September 21, 1911 the Minneapolis Journal reported on the
Village
Harvest Festival and band carnival. The celebration “brought
the entire population of the village to Odd Fellow Hall,
where the band, bedecked in gay uniforms, played… and the
citizens made speeches congratulatory of the achievement of
having completed the stringing of electric lights along the
main streets…” A dance closed the evening’s festivities
and lasted “well into the night.”
Brookside Subdivision No. 3 was platted on October 21, 1911.
In April 1911, Dr. John Watson and Charles Hamilton,
representing the “Tax Payer’s League,” petitioned the
Village Council to lower assessments by 20 percent.
On November 6, 1911, the Board of Education passed a resolution
recognizing the harmfulness and injury to the physical,
mental, and moral development of the child wrought by the
use of tobacco in any form. In response to the proliferation
of tobacco use among students, on October 2, 1916, the Board
passed an additional resolution, that a diploma or
certificate of graduation will not be conferred on any pupil
known to be a user of tobacco.
Park residents began having
telephones installed.
The death penalty was abolished in Minnesota.
In March, the Village Council awarded a franchise to the
Minneapolis General Electric Company to install
light poles
in the neighborhoods. Residents would often come in front of
the Village Council to request that their street be lit. One
such request was made by Dr. G.M. Wade on March 6, 1913,
asking that lights be erected in the “restricted district”
of Brookside.
1912
The Minneapolis Trust Company announced that it had sold
all but 35 out of 511 lots in Brookside. The company
had purchased 200 acres in 1910. It expected that the
entire length of the Como-Hopkins streetcar line would be
flanked with homes before long. (April 7, 1912,
Minneapolis Morning Tribune)
By 1912, Brookside already had enough of a population to
field a baseball team. Tellingly, the Minneapolis
Morning Tribune reported that the Brookside team was
scheduled to play the St. Louis Park team. Although
Brookside has always been in St. Louis Park, it wasn’t part
of T.B. Walker’s master plan, and like other neighborhoods
in the Park, was fairly isolated. We found several
obituaries that listed the place of birth as Brookside,
Minnesota; a look at census records reveals that these
people lived in the Brookside neighborhood of St. Louis Park
(vs. along Brookside Ave. in Edina). Maps show that
there was a lot of farmland between Brookside and Elmwood,
with few roads. See 1915 below for further evidence
that Brookside was a thriving neighborhood with its own
strong identity
The November 2 edition of the Minneapolis Journal real
estate section was devoted entirely to the great
opportunities available in the Village of St. Louis Park.
Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) was elected President.
The Titanic sank on April 12, killing 1,517.
1913
At the request of Dr. G.M. Wade and the Brookside
Improvement Association in July, $75 was appropriated to fix
Finley Street (42nd) after a particularly hard rain.
In 1913 the new craze of dancing swept the country. That
summer, people who hadn’t danced for years suddenly got the
itch, and dance floors were created in restaurants to
accommodate people doing the tango, one-step, hesitation
waltz, Boston, and turkey trot.
The Dan Patch Electric Railway, started in 1907 by Col. M.W.
“Will” Savage, came to the Park.
A Minneapolis Journal article dated November 1, 1913
reported that the 80-acre Lenox subdivision had been platted
into 500 lots and put on the market by Charles I. Fuller. It
had been the property of
George E. Goodrich and known as
“The Goodrich Home.” Goodrich had purchased the heavily
wooded tract in 1864 for $10 per acre when he came from
Anoka by ox team. The property faces Minnetonka Boulevard,
“a main artery of travel, which is to be made a concrete
highway, if present plans are carried out.”
A Fireman’s carnival was held at the Bandstand in August 1913 to raise funds for the new library. About $1,000 was raised. This became an annual event until 1962. Food was supplied by the various churches. Band concerts were also held at the Bandstand each Friday night during the summer. See Park Celebrations.
The 16th Amendment to the Constitution authorized Congress to enact an income tax. The first tax was 1 percent of a person’s salary.
1914
Streets in Brookside were still in flux. One request was
to open Lowell Street from Brookside to Zarthan. Lowell
Street may have been a western extension of Zarthan where
the reservoir and pumping station are today. Also, Annie E.
Morse requested that 41st Street be closed between Brookside
and Zarthan – an important through street today. When her
request was denied,
Dan Patch had to be instructed not to
take any more dirt from 41st.
In an early form of welfare, the Council considered the
needs of Mrs. M.T. Schreiner of Brookside, and voted to
provide her with coal and groceries.
The road grade was established on Vermont St. between
Yosemite and Webster.
Citizen Mike Mortensen suffered from rheumatism, and the
Village Council paid for a two week cure at the Mudcura
Sanitarium.
By 1914, the Minneapolis General Electric Company
was actively seeking homeowners to wire their houses. Often the homes were lit by a single drop cord in each room with a bare bulb. See Power and Light.
A so-called “hurricane” hit the Park on June 23, 1914 and killed 17-year old Esther Munson. A photo shows damage to buildings at Cambridge and Yosemite.
The wooden bandstand at Central/Fireman’s/Jorvig Park (37th
and Brunswick) was completed on July 4, 1914, in time for
the Park’s “big jubilee celebration.” The Minneapolis Daily News described it:
St. Louis Park’s big jubilee celebration will be the biggest
charitable, fun-making and booster day in the history of the
suburb which loyal citizens maintain will some day make her
big sister Minnie famous. In the past, celebrations at St.
Louis Park have been under the auspices of local musical or
fraternal organizations. This year the newly organized
Commercial Club, the strongest loudest hardest-working bunch
of citizens any live town ever had, is back of the jubilee
and every one of them is working his head off to make it a
success.
Proceeds of the celebration were to go to Esther Monson’s
father and others who suffered from the tornado.
A 1914 map shows that Excelsior Road, Cedar Lake Road, and
Superior Road [Highway 12] are extant. Aurora Avenue
[Vernon] stopped at Excelsior Road, and Pleasant Avenue
(extended from Wooddale) continued to the northwest. There
was no clear north-south route.
A 1914 ad announced Westmoreland Park, offered by the Enger
Nord Realty Co. The property was “just west of the Minikahda
Club grounds, close to Excelsior Blvd. and Highland Ave.
[36th Street], the new main road to St. Louis Park..” Lots
were available for $85, $135, to $225, with payments of $5
per month. The subdivision by that name that exists today is
wholly owned by the City, and encompasses the Rec Center.
May 2 was the date of the first women’s suffrage rallies in
Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Minneapolis march drew 2,000
people.
The June 9, 1914 issue of the Minneapolis Journal
reported an automobile-streetcar crash that killed three
people. Charles and Otto Hendrickson of Brookside and
John Specht of Glencoe were killed when their car was hurled
into the Brookside Waiting Station at 44th Street.
The trolly was going full speed and witnesses differed as to
whether the crossing bells were ringing. Brookside
resident Joseph Lutzi, who was waiting for an outgoing
streetcar, was injured in the wreck. The curtains of
the auto were down because of rain, which was believed to
have prevented the driver from seeing the streetcar.
Coroner Gilbert Seashore ordered an inquest as the witnesses
had conflicting accounts. The jury declared that no
one could be blamed for the accident.
On June 28, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary
and his wife were murdered in Sarajevo, marking the
beginning of World War I.
The Greyhound Bus Co. was chartered in Hibbing.
In a memoir, Mrs. Langlie remembered Gypsies traveling
through town, engendering the then-common fear of baby
snatching. (No such incidents seem to have been reported.)
The Hennepin County Enterprise told of an incident in 1934
in Mountain Lake, whereas a “gypsie who asked Reinhart
Shriock for a penny to tell his fortune managed to extract
$15 from his pocket….He discovered his loss in time to
catch her and get his money back, after which the gypsie
hurried away in a car.” Golden Valley reports that a band of
gypsies camped each spring on what is now Highway 55 and
Theodore Wirth Parkway.
1915
An article in the Minneapolis Journal dated
November 2, 1913, indicated that when
T.B. Walker’s electric
streetcar was sold to the Twin City Rapid Transit Company in
1905/06, there was the expectation that there would be a 5
cent fare into the city, and when that happened, the village
would develop as a manufacturing suburb and residence
district. The article also mentioned the
Dan Patch line,
then under construction, which would carry freight as well
as passengers. “Until such time it was felt that it would be
at least a drawback against bringing in settlements and
improvements. Under these circumstances, the Park has lain
dormant until the present time.”
This assessment is borne out in a couple of ways. Although
there are still over 60 houses still standing that were
built from 1890 to 1900, there are only 24 houses dating
from 1901 to 1909. That number jumps to 91 houses built in
the teens that are still standing, an indication that few
homes were built in the first decade of the 20th century.
More telling is the spate of activity in the Park in 1915.
In that one year, there appeared the short-lived bank and
newspaper, as well as the more enduring
Brookside Drug building,
Brookside Church, and Thompson’s
Grocery Store. The activity was short-lived, however,
perhaps cut short by the collapse of the farm economy.
Future construction would not continue until another spurt
of activity around 1926.
The
St. Louis Park State Bank
was built in June, 1915. Although designated as the
official depository for the Village, it closed in late
1918/early 1919 and officially went bankrupt in 1922, with
the Village losing $20.07. Another local bank would not be
established in the Park until 1951.
The
St. Louis Park Herald
operated for a few months in 1915. Brookside news of 1915
included the meetings of the Brookside Ladies Aid, Brookside
Domestic Science Club, Brookside Literary Club, and
Brookside Improvement Association.
The building that would be known for decades as
Brookside Drug was built in 1915 at
6001 Excelsior Blvd (For
an idea of how it may have looked, see the abandoned antique
shop on Brookside Ave.) The building started out as a
restaurant and dance hall before becoming a drug store in
1937. It was operated as Brookside Drug from 1939 to 1988.
For a memoir by Nancy Hunsaker Hanke, whose father ran the
drug store in the 1940s, see
Something in the Water.
In a separate brick building attached to Brookside Drug, was
the
Brookside Cash Grocery (vintage unknown), at 6007
Excelsior Blvd. A 1928 Lutheran church program advertises V.G. Lindahl, Quality Grocer, at Excelsior and Brookside.
(In the same program, there is a Hagen’s Bakery advertised,
but the location is just given as Brookside.) By 1933
Earnest O. Tusch (a Brookside neighbor) was the proprietor
of the Brookside Cash Grocery. The store was advertised as
“A new deal in food merchandising for St. Louis Park.” From
1938 to ’45 it was the Brookside Market, run by George Hartmann.
Brookside Community Church (Methodist Episcopal) was built
at 4241 Brookside Avenue in 1915. Members had first met in a
cottage and opened a Sunday school in 1913. The 24′ by 40′
building was enlarged in 1927 and 1934. In 1928, Dr. Frank
Edward Day became pastor, and built the church membership
from 32 to 200. He retired in 1935.
And further down Brookside, around the bend by the railroad
tracks, was Thompson’s Store (also known as Brookside
Grocery),
4348 Brookside Ave. Dana M.
Thompson, proprietor, and his bride Ann honeymooned at their
cottage on the Creek behind the store, noted the 1915 paper.
Thompson was an active participant in local affairs, serving
as a member of the school board and the Village Council. The
tale is told that he hired a sleigh to ensure that voters
got to the polls for an important vote regarding Brookside
School. Thompson was also known for his ever-present bow
tie. The hill behind the store was known as Thompson’s Hill,
the best place for sliding in the winter, and the kids would
go into the store to warm up.
On January 5, 1915, the Village Council adopted the
“Australian Ballot” method of elections.
On July 15, 1915, the Minneapolis Morning Tribune
reported that Raymond L. Gillette “had a remarkable escape
from death” as he ran his automobile into the last railroad
car of a Dan Patch train at the Excelsior Blvd. crossing.
The unconscious man was taken aboard the train to the Dan
Patch depot at 54th and Nicollet and from there to Asbury
Hospital. The location was given as “about half a mile
this side of Brookside, Minn.”
W.A. Fox, and R.E. and Bertha Smith petitioned the Village
to construct a sidewalk on Vermont Street. They may have had
the only two residences there.
As early as 1874, a map appears to show a road that ran
along present-day Vermont, up present-day Brookside Avenue
to Excelsior Blvd.
Walter Thomas requested a
sidewalk on the west side of Brookside Ave. from Lowell
(approx. Brook Lane) to Excelsior Blvd.
The “Alabama Triangle” on Excelsior Blvd. across from Brookside Drug was donated to the Village as a park by the
Union Realty Co. It would later become the site of a gas
station, and is now a municipal parking lot.
The Brookside Improvement Association came before the
Council in November complaining about the poor condition of
the bridge on Brookside Ave. over Minnehaha Creek. The
bridge was ordered replaced immediately. Apparently nothing
– or not enough – was done, because in 1920, Police Officer
Wetzel reported that the bridge was in poor condition.
In October, a chicken house in the alley of Mr. A. Johnson
was ordered removed. Also Mr. M. Dworsky was ordered by the
Fire Marshall to remove a 2-story building on his property.
The Wildrose Addition was platted in an area roughly behind
Miracle Mile. Older homes include 4022 Salem (built 1905),
4051 Wooddale (built 1926), and 4032 Salem (built 1926).
1916
At least three cottages, owned by Mrs. Martha Goodspeed,
were located at 4324-44-46 Brookside Ave. on Minnehaha Creek
across from Wood Lane. Mrs. Goodspeed was born Martha Phelps
in Vermont in 1854 and died on December 23, 1944. She lived
in one of the cabins and rented the others out for weekend
parties, which were especially popular during prohibition.
She was known to yell at the kids who walked along her
creekside property, and in August 1916 she even complained
to the Village Council about the actions of certain bathers
in the Creek.
By 1943, Mrs. Goodspeed’s three remaining cabins were in rough shape.
They had been rented to families with lots of kids, but the
buildings had no running water. The Brookside Garden Club
(signed by Mrs. Hobart, Ludwig, and Albinson) wrote to the
Village Council, complaining of the deteriorated condition
and lack of sanitation in the buildings. They proposed that
the land be turned into a park. The Village was already on
the case, and soon condemned the place. An S.S. Hovde
purchased the property and managed to stave off demolition
by connecting the property to the Village water main. One of
the cottages was moved across the street to 4347 Yosemite
and turned into a garage in about 1939 – it had been
demolished by 1948. Another was purchased from Orin H. Flynn
by Gerald Hines in 1948 and continues as his home at 4344
Yosemite. The third cottage was occupied by Marshall
Williams and his wife from at least 1949. When he died in
about 1988, Hines bought the property and demolished the old
wreck of a house in 1989.
Incidentally, that stretch of road was originally called
Brookside Ave. In 1945 the name was officially changed to
Yosemite, but it took decades for the street to get new
signs and for all of the residents to buy off on the change.
Many improvements and services were happening in the
neighborhood. In October 1916, Northwestern
Telephone
erected a pole on the east side of Yosemite between 41st and
42nd Streets. In December, Tri State erected a telephone
pole on Vernon, although the next March a delegation from
the neighborhood, including I.H. Hind, Herman Bolmgren, and
eight others, protested the placement of Tri State poles on
the west side of Aurora. They wanted them set on the back
line of the lots, not in front.
Herman Bolmgren requested a wood crosswalk from Vermont to
Yosemite. The job required seven 3” x 17” x 16’ planks. In
Suburban Homes, Phil A. Lawrence petitioned the Council for
cement sidewalks. Henry Woerner and Dr. Wade requested a
cement sidewalk on Excelsior Ave., and Woerner and W.H.
Brummont, who lived “on the boulevard,” requested a sidewalk
on Excelsior between Brunswick and Brookside.
In June, the Recorder was instructed to ask the Minneapolis
General Electric Co. to move the
light pole at Excelsior and
Alabama to Excelsior and Brookside.
St. Louis Park went dry by a vote of 197-192, anticipating
Prohibition by four years. Through the years, Park seemed to
go by the motto “Vote Dry, Drink Wet.” There were at least
two saloons that operated before Prohibition: the one at
36th and Brunswick Avenue by the railroad tracks later
became the fire station. The other was the George Warner
Saloon on Brownlow Avenue, just in back of Reiss’s Waiting
Station. Across the street from Warner’s Saloon was
T.B.
Walker’s Methodist Church (back in the days before zoning).
Bob Reiss tells the story of the night in 1911 when the
church caught fire and the volunteer firemen arrived and
found it engulfed in flames. They knew they couldn’t save
the church, so they went across the street to try and save
the saloon. The minister saw the firemen go over to save the
saloon and he cried out “They’re letting God’s house burn
and saving that Devil Establishment over there!” Or so the
story goes.
The first edition of the Park High School newspaper The
Echo was published in October 1916. Miss Winifred Fox
was the first editor.
Mr. Wayne Martin published a street directory, but none
have turned up so far.
Edwin H. Renner began the
E.H. Renner Well Company. Each
home needed its own well and outhouse/septic system, since
there was no central water or sewer system.
On October 19-20, a
blizzard dumped as much as 15 inches of
snow on the area.
On January 1, 1916,
Glen Lake Sanitarium in neighboring
Hopkins opened as a three-cottage unit of 50 beds. By 1938
it had grown to a 160-acre facility with beds for 750
patients, and had cared for more than 8,000 patients. The
Citizens Aid Society of Minneapolis had paid for a
Children’s building and vocational wing. In 1923, the
Minneapolis Journal paid for the provision of a radio at
each bedside.
Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) was reelected President.
1917
Henry Woerner of Brookside requested permission of the
Village Council to put a gasoline filling station under the
sidewalk in front of his place on Excelsior Ave. Not sure
where this was, unless it was the
Standard station on Brookside and Excelsior. Woerner also asked the Council for
other improvements to Brookside Ave. Similarly,
Herman Bolmgren requested “turnpiking some of the streets of
Brookside.” Not sure what that means.
Samuel B. Rees built a
house at 5611 Vermont and in May he asked that the dirt that
was washed away on Vermont between Webster and Yosemite be
replaced. H.C. Rompey and ten others requested a street
light at the corner of Vermont and Vernon.
Northwest
Telephone put up a pole at Excelsior and Brookside.
Nearby, road grading in Hanke’s Minikahda Terrace was
completed on September 1.
Mr. King reported that Browndale Ave. had been opened for
traffic between 44th St. and Wooddale.
Republic Creosoting Company took over the old
Sugar Beet
Plant in 1917, starting a history of 60 years of
controversy.
U.S. declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, entering
World War I. Over 114 men from St. Louis Park served.
Minnesota contributed 123,325 men, and 1,430 of them died.
On July 18, 1917, the Village Council saw cause to pass an
ordinance labeling as vagrants “those who advocate teaching,
crime, or violence as a means of accomplishing industrial or
political ends.” It was illegal to “advocate, advise, or
teach violation or disregard of duty or obligation imposed
by the State or the United States.” Also to “write, speak,
advocate, teach, or advise citizens not to aid or assist the
U.S. in prosecuting or carrying on war with the public
enemies of the U.S.”
Only seven scattered retail stores operated in St. Louis
Park.
Teddy Roosevelt made a trip to the Twin Cities in 1917.
1918
Frank Hazzard at 58 others petitioned the Council to
install cement sidewalks on Brookside Ave. Thomas E. Reed,
4120 Yosemite, and 11 others requested the reconstruction of
the cement sidewalk on Yosemite.
The two-room
Oak Hill School was built at Walker Street and
Quebec Ave.
Fireworks and firearms ordinances were enacted.
On October 12, forest fires raced through Pine and Carlton
Counties, burning 1500 square miles of forest and the towns
of Moose Lake, Brookston, and the major sawmill town of
Cloquet, outside of Duluth. The fatalities were estimated at
453 but there were perhaps as many as 1,000. The medical
personnel sent to deal with the disaster left the Cities
short when the flu hit.
The
Spanish Flu pandemic killed
nearly 12,000 Minnesotans and millions of others around the globe.
Be sure to follow this link for this fascinating and tragic
story.
World War I ended on November 11, and young people from the
Park took the streetcar downtown to celebrate in the
streets.
1919
The first
Girl Scout troop in St. Louis Park was formed in
about 1919 or 1920, under the leadership of Margaret
Fletcher. They met at the Fletcher home, which at that time
sat in the middle of a prairie near what is now Miracle
Mile.
J.E. Seeliger (4054 Yosemite) and 45 others requested that
street lights be installed in various places in Brookside.
Joseph Peterson and 9 others requested a cement sidewalk on
the west side of Brookside Ave.
The Village posted notice of impending purchases of a “Hi
Way Patrol” and two road drays in the Village’s most public
places: Lake Street and Broadway (Walker) Excelsior and Brookside Lake and Glouchester (Glenhurst)
The 18th Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture or sale of
liquor, wine, or beer with more than .5 of 1% alcohol, was
ratified on January 16, 1919, to be put in force on January
16, 1920. Congress passed the Volstead Act to enforce the
Amendment on October 28, 1919. After
a nightmare of murder, corruption, and alcoholism, the law
was repealed in December 1933 by the 21st Amendment.
1920
The building at
5916 Excelsior Blvd. was built. Added on
to over the years, it has housed a string of fine
nightspots, from El Patio to Duggan’s to Culbertson’s, to
Bunny’s.
Al’s Bar was built in 1920 at 3912 Excelsior Blvd. Whether
it be famous or infamous, it certainly is a historic
landmark, soon to be demolished.
Dr. Backus (4230 Vernon) complained that the street lights
were not lit during the early morning hours.
Despite all the cement sidewalks being requested, cinder
paths were still being laid on Excelsior Blvd. Cinders came
from the Creosote plant.
In response to a rising tide of peddlers – with packs, with
horses, with cars – the Village Council passed an “Ordinance
Regulating licenses for peddlers, hucksters, circuses, or
traveling shows” on December 2, 1920.
National Prohibition went into effect on January 16, 1920. St.
Louis Park had gone dry back in 1916.
Ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution on
August 18, 1920 established Women’s Suffrage. The National
League of Women Voters was established.
Contributing to the effort locally was Minnesota’s
Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association. An article
about the Association, written by Anna Marie Peterson, can
be found in the Winter 2011-2012 issue of Minnesota
History. Minneapolis physician Martha Ripley (1843-1912)
was an early proponent of Women’s Suffrage, serving six
years as president of the Minnesota Suffrage Association.
Bathrooms were routinely constructed in new houses.
St. Louis Park Population: 2,281.
Warren G. Harding (Republican) was elected President.
1921
Brookside School was built as a four-room building. For
the history of Brookside School, including interesting
programs held by the PTA, see
Schools.
The subject of chicken shacks was a sore one for the
Brookside neighborhood. On June 16, Mr. Hanke and Mr.
Schroeder appeared before the Village Council and complained
of the chicken shack at the intersection of Excelsior and
Highland [38th] as being a nuisance and requested the
adoption of an ordinance for the regulation of these
so-called chicken shacks. As a result, the Village passed
the so-called Chicken Shack Ordinance on January 5, 1922.
This, however, did not stop the Village Council from
granting permits to run said chicken shacks, and certainly
not along Excelsior Blvd., which was probably chicken shack
central. In short succession, permits were granted to
Dressler and Ferrys, Mr. Hines, Mr. Johnson, F.P. Clarks,
and Tony Rosi.
A.A. Yeates and six others petitioned to have Webster
between Excelsior and 42nd graveled.
The Marx Brothers played the Hennepin Orpheum Theater in
Minneapolis on October 16.
Betty Crocker was born at Minneapolis’s General Mills. Her
last name was that of outgoing director William C. Crocker.
She first appeared on the radio in 1924. Her portrait was
painted by Neysa Moran McMein in 1936, with features modeled
after several General Mills home economists.
Land O’Lakes started out as the Minnesota Cooperative
Creameries Association, a federation of Meeker County
creameries. It became the Land O’Lakes Creameries
Association in 1926.
1922
The
St. Louis Park Bank went into bankruptcy on February
11, and the Village lost $20.07.
The
Hedberg-Friedheim Company was incorporated on March 28,
1922.
Minnesota’s first
radio station, which was destined to
become WCCO, went on the air on September.
Ralph Samuelson invented water skiing on Lake Pepin, towed
by brother Ben.
1923
President Harding died in office in a “stroke of
apoplexy” on August 2 and Calvin Coolidge became President.
The St. Louis Park Farmers’ Club was a going concern in
1923. This was an era of organizations, which included the
Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, Acacia, Woodmen Circle, the
Sterceson Club, and the Men’s Social Club, not to mention
the various groups related to the churches.
The Ku Klux Klan made its presence known through the
newspaper Voice of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,
published only twice in February and April 1923. Copies are
at the Minnesota Historical Society. Their target was
primarily Catholics.
In 1923, the Milky Way Bar was invented by St. Paul candy
maker Frank C. Mars, who later moved his company to Chicago.
1924
In 1924 there was quite a fight by Brookside and other
neighborhoods to
secede from the Park.
In May, students began banking at Farmers and Mechanics Bank
through their schools. In the 1960s, kids were encouraged
to save a dime each week. Farmers and Mechanics opened in
October 1874.
On August 7, the Village Council accepted John Bassford’s
Bassford Addition, which was located around Excelsior
Blvd/Joppa/Kipling. E.J. and Florence Shaw owned most of the
properties.
The first
Boy Scout Troop in St. Louis Park, Troop #47,
started in about 1924.
Sam S. Thorpe, Sr. (Thorpe Bros. Realty, est. 1885)
purchased 300 acres of the Henry F. Brown and George Baird
farms in 1922 and platted the Country Club District of
Edina, a subdivision based on a similar subdivision in
Kansas City and from the first meant for the higher classes.
In the spring of 1924, Thorpe put 550 lots on the market.
The first house, sold in June 1924, was located on Browndale
Avenue in the heart of the development. By 1927, 200 houses
and a golf course had been built, despite the depression.
The clubhouse, located on 50th Street, burned down in
November 1929 as a result of a late fire in the fireplace
after a Halloween party. It was quickly rebuilt, demolished
in 1956, and replaced with a new clubhouse on Wooddale.
Thorpe’s sales pitch:
Do it for the kiddies. Get them out into open spaces,
into the sunshine and fresh air where they can romp and
know the beauties of nature.
Homebuyers faced many restrictions as to the cost of the
houses they built, the kinds of trees they could plant, the
animals they could keep, etc. Most notably, occupants were
strictly restricted to the “white or Caucasian race.” All
restrictions were to expire on or before January 1, 1964
except the one regarding race, which was to remain in force
forever. However, all such race-specific real estate
covenants were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in
1948. Such attitudes contributed to the movement of the
Settle, Lucas, and Yancey families, black families that had
lived in Edina for generations, to move to Minneapolis.
The
First English Lutheran Church was organized on October
7, 1924 in the home of Gilbert A. Larson. (The “English” in
the name merely meant that services were given in English
and not Swedish.) The church was incorporated the next week,
at the home of Ludwig Jensen with 85 original members. The
church basement was built in November of that year, at 29th
and Xenwood. The congregation met there until the building
was completed in 1928. Reverend J. Lyle Halvorson began at
the church in the 20’s, and served until 1952-58. The
building was enlarged, with a notice in 1937 offering
seating for 400. Its current address is 5801 Minnetonka
Blvd.
Calvin Coolidge (Republican) was elected President.
1925
Excelsior Amusement Park, the site of many a Brookside
School picnic and provider of Free Rides for Good Grades,
opened on May 30, 1925, the brainchild of Fred W. Pearce,
Sr., of Detroit. The streetcar that ran down 44th Street
just south of Brookside took passengers from Minneapolis to
the park until 1932, when it was replaced by a bus from
Hopkins. In 1933, you could see Capt. Jack Payne leap
backward from a 100-foot ladder into a tank of blazing fire
– THRILLING – DARING – DEATH DEFYING! You could also see
Smith’s diving ponies leap from a tower 55 feet into a
shallow tank of water. Still in the Pearce family, the park
closed the weekend after Labor Day, 1973. The carousel was
sold to Valleyfair, which opened on May 25, 1976. That
rickety wooden rollercoaster was demolished. For pictures,
go to
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/search.cfm
and type in Excelsior Amusement Park as the
Keywords.
Across the street from Excelsior Park was the Danceland
Ballroom, the former casino of the Tonka Bay Hotel. It was
acquired by Excelsior Park in 1928, closed in 1968, and
burned to the ground on July 8, 1973. For more about the
goings-on and local music, see
Twin Cities Music Highlights.
On January 7, H.R. Cambell requested cement steps and
sidewalks to connect the private and public walks, since the
previous walks and steps were removed due to the change in
grade on Pomona [Yosemite] Avenue. Two sets of stairs go up
the hill to this historic house at 4262 Yosemite – perhaps
the same cement is still there.
On June 25, 1925, a
tornado wiped out “recreation district”
and blew in the front of the post office building. An equal
opportunity twister, it did major damage to T.B. Walker’s
Methodist church and George Warner’s saloon on Lake and
Brownlow.
For the first time, restaurant owners needed a license, in
accordance with an ordinance passed on June 18, 1925.
Brookview Park Addition was platted on December 7, 1925.
Its boundaries are Excelsior Blvd., Jackson (Alabama), Grant
(Brunswick), and Calhoun (Colorado).
Jewell’s Brookside was platted on November 16, 1925. Its
boundaries are Excelsior Blvd. and Oak Grove (Colorado).
Meadowbrook Golf Course opened in 1925.
The Hennepin County Review, primarily a Hopkins paper, began
publication. St. Louis Park would not get its own paper
until 1941. See
Newspaper Milestones.
In 1925,
Carl and Anna Reiss purchased the Waiting
Station, located 6900 Lake Street at the end of the Lake
Street Streetcar Line. It is unknown just how old the
building is, although it could date as far back as 1892,
when T.B. Walker first put in the Lake Street line.
A foreshadowing of the Crash of 1929 occurred when the land
speculation activities associated with the Florida Land Boom
went south and hundreds of people lost money they had put
down on worthless land. By 1926 the newly-developed
land was an abandoned swamp.
The International Exposition of Decorative and Modern
Industrial Arts was held in Paris, ushering in the age of
Art Deco.
The first Burma Shave signs were posted between Minneapolis
and Albert Lea, and from St. Paul to Red Wing.
1926
The Brookside Barber Shop, located at
4046 Brookside
Ave., was built. It would become a landmark, known as Al’s
Barber Shop. Al Loe presided over the clippers from
1935-1969.
On August 9, the far-reaching Ordinance A-16 was passed,
rewriting Village laws. See the chapter on
Police and Crime.
The first services of
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
were held on September 19, 1926. See
St.
Luke’s Lutheran Church.
Trunk Highway 169/Aurora Avenue [Vernon/Highway 100] was
paved by the State from the Edina line up to Excelsior
Blvd./Wooddale (1.77 miles), where the road stopped. One
could continue north by a circuitous route as far as Cedar
Street [26th Street], but there was no need to go any
farther, since your objective was probably downtown
Minneapolis via Excelsior Blvd. or Minnetonka Blvd./Lake
Street. The initial cement road was three lanes and was
known at one time as the Mankato Highway.
Park’s first Catholic Church,
Holy Family, was started in
1926. The Holy Family Parish extended to the entire City
until Most Holy Trinity was formed in 1942. The City bought
Holy Family’s first building in 1950 for use as a community
center.
Eliot School was built at present-day 6800 S. Cedar Lake
Road.
The Meadowbrook subdivision was platted.
The Edina “Wooddale” School was built, designed by architect
and Brookside resident Edward R. Ludwig. The Ludwigs lived
at 4321 Brook Lane in St. Louis Park from at least 1933 to at least 1957. He
was an architect for Sund and Dunham. The school, located at
50th and Wooddale, was demolished in 1985.
Docken’s Store was located on the northwest corner of
Brookside and 44th from at least 1926. It was a General
Store, with sewing materials, tools, hardware, toys, candy,
and groceries. The owners also owned all of the land behind
it, and would charge a fee to let people picnic on the site
and wade in the creek. They also had horses that grazed on
the land. The store (which had gone out of business by then)
and several houses were demolished in the mid 1960s to make
way for the Brookside Court Condominiums.
In September, Gene Tunney won the heavyweight championship
over Frank Dempsey in Philadelphia. People listened to the
fight from loudspeaker radios mounted on trucks.
The first pop-up toaster was invented by Minneapolis’s
Waters-Genter Co.
1927
In August, the transmitter for radio station
WDGY was
moved from owner George Young’s house in North Minneapolis
to Superior Blvd. and Falvey Cross Road [Wayzata Blvd. and
Louisiana]. See
Twin
Cities Radio Highlights.
The Village bought its first snowplow.
Sears opened on Lake Street, creating jobs for many
residents of St. Louis Park. Richard Warren Sears and Alvah
C. Roebuck first sold watches. After selling that business
and moving to Minnesota, they started a mail-order company.
They moved on to Chicago and began producing their catalog.
Roebuck sold out in 1895. The Minneapolis store was part of
a national expansion effort. Major additions to the complex
were made in 1964 and 1979. Sears discontinued the catalog
in 1993 and the Lake Street retail store on December
24,1994, rendering the huge building a relic until its
recent renovation.
1928
Lydia Hobart and 11 others petitioned the Village Council
to change the name of their street from Summit Avenue to
Brook Lane. Although the request was granted, the group had
to remind the Village elders several times before new signs
were provided.
Brookside Avenue had to be straightened in order to
connect with Jackson Street [Alabama Avenue].
The Sunset Gables subdivision, perhaps the home of the notorious Kid Cann, was platted and sold by Rossman Realty.
The four room
Lenox Elementary School was built at
Minnetonka Blvd. and Georgia Avenue.
On July 7, 1928, the Village of West Minneapolis changed its
name to Hopkins in honor of Harley H. Hopkins, a Village
pioneer and its first postmaster.
The Kellogg-Briand or Renunciation of War pact was signed by
15 countries on August 27, 1928. As a reaction to the
carnage of WWI, the pact outlawed war as a means to resolve
differences. The movement for peace was strong: on October
26, 1931, a disarmament mass meeting was held at Municipal
Auditorium in Minneapolis. Although wars went on, the pact
helped to characterize them less like duels between two
willing parties and more like an attack of one party on the
other.
A 1928 Business Directory yields some interesting clues
about the times. Entries include:
- The Wigwam Dance Hall at Highway 12 and Turner’s
Crossroads
- The Mpls. office of the International Workers of the
World at 115 Nicollet Ave.
- A huge section on Chinese Laundries
- The Anti-Saloon League of Minnesota at 401
Northwestern Bldg.
- The Hennepin County Good Roads Association at 508
Thorpe Bldg.
- The Yellowstone Trail Association at 403 Evanston
Bldg.
- “Automobile Laundries”
Thanks to Rick Sewall for finding these tidbits from the
Hennepin County Review:
13 Sep 1928 p 2. “Hagen’s Bakery have opened a complete
modern bakery in the new Peck-Pontaine building on Excelsior
Ave, which will prove a great convenience to the Brookside
residents and all the park, for deliveries will be made to
all sections. There are also other changes taking place on
Excelsior:
Hogan’s Barbershop is moving across the avenue, next to
the new bakery, and
Vern Lindahl’s Grocery will occupy the whole of the
Woerner stores.” We have no idea where the Peck-Pontaine
building may have been. Hogan’s Barbershop was the
precursor to Al’s, on Brookside next to
Brookside Drug. The grocery store became the west
side of Brookside Drug. The Woerner family lived in
the Brookside area in 1915 and 1921, but does not appear in
the 1933 directory (the first one published).
18 Oct 1928 p 2. “Excelsior Ave was a popular thoroughfare
last Wednesday night when the Colonial Inn went up in smoke.
Many have been the conjectures as to what was going to
become of this landmark, because each day its chances of
slipping into the sandpit seemed better, but fire was a
quicker destroyer, much as we hated to see all that good
lumber go to waste. It is not known how the fire caught but
it did not take long to dispose of the big frame, and now
the many travellors on the boulevard can’t talk about that
anymore. What will be the next favorite topic?”
The Washburn Crosby Co. merged with 26 regional flour
millers to become General Mills.
On February 19, 1928, a cloud of dust descended from the
west, creating darkness at noon.
Herbert Hoover (Republican) was elected President. Mrs.
Ida Blanchard remembered a campaign stop Hoover made to St.
Louis Park, delivering a campaign address at Park High.
1920s
Jimmy’s Driving Tees was located at 6200 Excelsior Blvd.
Jimmy Lentz was a PGA golfer.
Local boys swam (sometimes without benefit of trunks) at
“Mosquito Point,” a spot where Minnehaha Creek ran through
the swamp West of the MN&Southern tracks. Between the two
bridges the creek made a right angle turn and formed a
rather large pond area, with water 5 or 6 ft. deep. The
creek has since been straightened out and Mosquito Point is
no more. Older kids swam at a place known as the Mud Hole,
although if the girls were swimming at one place, the boys
would go to another.
Another area of town was “Skunk Hollow,” beyond the MN&S
tracks on Cambridge Avenue. In the old days they say that
skunks got into the two double houses there. The area is now
the site of commercial and industrial businesses, but at one
time the owner of the swamp offered it for sale (and was
refused) for $100. In 1959, Allan Garrison owned much of the
area, and donated nearly half a mile of right of way to the
City for a “projected industrial highway… The crossroads
would be comprised of the proposed Oxford Street Extended
and its intersection with the proposed southern extension of
Louisiana Avenue.”
1929
On April 5, 1929, a
tornado tracked from Lake Minnetonka,
across Minneapolis and Fridley to Chisago County, killing
six people.
From August 30 to September 1, lavish celebrations were held
to dedicate the
Foshay Tower. John Phillip Sousa wrote “The Foshay Tower Washington Memorial March” for the occasion,
which reflected the inspiration for the design of the
beautiful deco building. Wilbur B. Foshay made his money in
public utilities, and was able to enjoy his 447 ft. tall
building for two months before the stock market crashed and
a conviction of mail fraud ended his career. Foshay and his
partner were pardoned by FDR in 1937. Wilbur was spotted in
Colorado and Arizona before he returned to Minnesota. He
died at age 76 on the 28th anniversary of the dedication of
the Foshay Tower, August 30, 1957. The Foshay Tower remained
the tallest building in Minneapolis until the IDS tower was
built in 1974.
Wooddale Evangelical Lutheran Church was born in a three
room house on Utica.
Rodgers Hydraulic, Inc. was founded by brothers John L.
Rodgers, Sr. and George A. Rodgers in 1929. The company
started by making parts for construction tractors.
The Browndale Park Association petitioned the Village
Council to dismiss
Marshall Earl A. Sewall for pocketing
fines, protecting lawbreakers, and general incompetence. The
Council held a hearing and found no truth to the rumors of a
lack of harmony and cooperation between the Marshall,
Constables, and Justice of the Peace Will L. Scism.
Edina passed a comprehensive zoning ordinance, the first of
any village in Minnesota.
The stock market crashed on October 29, precipitating the
Great Depression.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
1930
Oldtimers remember an establishment at
4315 Excelsior
Blvd. (at Joppa) further west of Bunnys called Wade’s BBQ.
By 1933 it had become a beer tavern called Roach’s, run by
J.W. Roach, who, inevitably, was known as “Cocky Roach.”
Somewhere close to Roach’s was Hinkle’s Tavern.
In May 1930, the
Pastime Arena [Indoor Riding Academy] was
opened at 5622 West Lake Street (between Webster and Xenwood).
Owned by Herbert B. Allen of Middlebrook Virginia,
constructed by Pete Pearson, and backed by many prominent
Minneapolis businessmen, it was designed to seat 2,000
people for horse shows. Through the years the building went
from horseback riding to tennis to roller skating.
1930 St. Louis Park Population: 4,710.
Early in the year, there came an L.V. Dowing before the
Village Council to protest against the erection and
operation of a Tourist Camp on Excelsior and Highland [36th]
and Fern [Lynn]. Whether there actually was such a tourist
camp is an intriguing question. Meanwhile, an R.E. Hyer had
a permit to operate two gas pumps at Excelsior and 36th.
The 1930 Echowan says that the
Campfire Girls were
started as an outgrowth of the Girls Reserves Club. Margaret
Fletcher, who was a teacher and librarian at the new high
school, had organized a “tribe” back in the teens.
Another girls’ organization noted in the Echowan was the
Reinchen Club, which was organized in 1929 by girls who
“wished to acquire a better understanding of correct social
conduct.”
Hennepin County reported 4,476 marriages, 7.5 per 1,000.
The divorce rate was 1.11.
In 1930, 3M lab assistant Richard G. Drew invented Scotch tape. He
had invented masking tape in 1925, and supposedly a customer
was not pleased. He told Drew to “take this tape back to
your stingy Scotch bosses and tell them to put more adhesive
on it.” Despite the ethnic slur, the name sticks today.
Scotch Magic invisible tape was invented in 1961.
The Bank of the United States closed down on December 11,
1930 after customers withdrew $20 million in four days.
1931
The Frank Lundberg
American Legion Post #282 was first
formed in 1919 (same as the national organization), named
after a Park soldier who died in France during WWI. One of
its goals was to “offset radicalism,” which was quite in
step with the times in 1919. The Lundberg Post soon
foundered, but was reorganized in about 1931.
Brookside resident Arthur Hager was appointed to the police
force on May 6, 1931. For more on Hager’s police career, see
Police and Crime.
On February 25, a Mr. C.A. Smith was instructed to move from
the Village if he remained indigent. The Village Council
ordered Smith and his family to remove themselves to
Minneapolis. Several similar orders were made, and other
cases were referred to the
Poor House in Hopkins.
On September 16, the “School Police” was established, i.e.,
the student safety patrol program. The first patrol captain
at Brookside School was
Tommy Bates. Bates was a
bombardier-navigator who was killed in action over Germany
in 1944. Each patrol captain had the honor of wearing Bates’
original leather belt, and no matter how old and tattered it
got, it was a big honor to wear it.
On November 4, 1931, the Village Council approved the
request of the Mayor of Wayzata to change the name of
Superior Blvd. to
Wayzata Blvd.
Hennepin County had 3,579 marriages (down almost 900), but
there were fewer divorces, too.
1932
On September 2, a special session of the Village Council was
held to discuss charges that Treasurer
Herbert Carleton
slandered Earl Ainsworth in an article in the Journal. The
Council demanded Carleton’s resignation, ordered an audit,
and wouldn’t let him pay any bills. The audit turned out
okay, Carleton did not resign, and was re-elected that
December. Carleton was apparently a colorful character who
sometimes had too much to say; two years later, Council
minutes show that he is accused of lying and slandering C.C.
Wolford.
As parents learned more about the new
Highway 7
that was being built (at the time referred to as Highway
12), they became concerned for the safety of their children
who had to cross it to get to school. On October 19, 1932, the PTA appealed to the Village Council
to build a tunnel that would go under the highway. The
resulting tunnel quickly became a dirty, disgusting pigsty,
where more kids went to relieve themselves than to relieve
their parents. The tunnel was declared unfit for human
perambulation and was filled in.
Almost 1,000 Bonus Marchers converge in Minneapolis, and
thousands more set up an encampment in Washington, DC. These
were WWI veterans who were promised a bonus in a number of
years, but demanded that Congress release it now.
Unemployment stood at 12 million, and the marchers had
nothing to lose. They were routed by General Douglas
MacArthur in DC.
Minnesota-born Callum L. deVillier set the world’s record
for marathon dancing. Incredibly, he danced for five months,
from December 28, 1932 to June 3, 1933: 3,780 hours or 157
days. The marathon dancing craze lasted from about 1925-1935
and was a way to win prizes but also to win by betting on
yourself. When the movie “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”
came out, the record was attributed to others, but Callum
set the record straight and won the respect of the folks at
Guiness Book of World Records. Read about a local
“walkathon” in 1934.
1933
The Depression grew: national unemployment went from @ 3
percent before the Crash to 16.3 Percent by 1933. That
translated to 14 million people, or one fourth of the
national workforce. There were up to 6,000 apple peddlers in
New York City alone. In Minnesota, unemployment was 29
percent; in St. Louis Park, as many as 600 people were
unemployed in a year. Farm prices had fallen as early as
1918, and poverty in rural areas was already endemic.
By 1933, hobo jungles appeared in Skunk Hollow. In St. Louis
Park, men would jump off the Village’s many trains and look
for food, often supplied by sympathetic housewives and
grocers.
The St. Louis Park Welfare Board, chaired by N.H. McKay,
featured a clothing chairman in 1933. Mrs. Edwin Renner
served as the Village Federal Relief Worker.
The Community Fund Work Program was run by Mrs. Renner. A
donor would pay $4 and receive a day’s work. In exchange,
the worker would receive $4 worth of commodities. In 1939, a
similar program was run by the SLP Labor Council, which set
up an employment bureau in the Recorder’s office. The
Recorder wrote in the 1933-34 Directory, “We now have a
large registration of those who want work, and if any one
needs help of any kind, whether of the skilled labor or odd
job kind, the thing to do is to call up our office and we
will send some one out.”
One local relief program involved truck farmers who donated
land for the unemployed to farm. The Village paid the
workers, and the food went to the needy. Local efforts were
quickly overwhelmed, however, and such programs were turned
over to the county in about 1933. A similar operation
started in the summer of 1933, where needy families would be
given garden seed from welfare funds and a plot of land to
garden.
For a memoir of the Depression in the Park by Tom Renner,
see Something in the Water.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March and
instituted the New Deal, as the Depression started to
deplete savings and hit home. Families in large houses began
to divide them into duplexes or take in boarders to make
ends meet. Young girls were taken in, and ironically, many
families had maids during the Depression.
Governor Floyd B. Olson declared a farm emergency, stopping
farm foreclosures until prices rose.
One of the legendary bars in the Park opened in 1933. Henry
J. Aretz established
Bunnys at 4730 Excelsior Blvd. (at
Natchez). The story goes that the place was intended to be
named Aretz’s Place, but Henry got a good deal on the sign
that the signmaker had messed up. Which is understandable
given the grammatically impossible word Bunnys. Not Bunny’s.
Not Bunnies. Bunnys. Wife Lottie and the kids lived in the
back of/in the upstairs of the building for a time, but by
1935 they lived at 3305 Huntington. In 1988, Gary and
Sherman Rackner bought the bar and added a kitchen. Sherman
passed away in 1997, and Gary moved the bar to
5916
Excelsior in 1998 to make way for Park Commons.
In 1933, L. Norwood and Clara W. Smith took over the
building at 4301 Excelsior Blvd. and started the legendary
Colonial Inn.
In May 1933 the numbers of all state highways changed,
creating present-day confusion about Highways 7 and 3.
Excelsior Blvd. through Hopkins had been known as Highway
12, and was changed to Highway 7. (Is this present-day 7 or
Excelsior Blvd.?). Wayzata Blvd., formerly known as Highway
10, was changed to Highway 12. Highway 5, the Edina section
of present day 100, was changed to 169. Nearly 40,000 signs
were changed in less than a day. See
Automotive Milestones.
On August 16, 1933, the Village Council passed an ordinance
changing the
street names to conform to Minneapolis’s
numbering, eliminate the confusion of streets with several
names, (and several streets with the same name) and
alphabetize streets to make them easier to find. Many home
addresses
were also re-numbered. A committee made up of Carroll Hurd,
Edward Ludwig, and Mayor Kleve J. Flakne (assisted by Lydia
Rogers), came up with new names for existing streets. The
first alphabet, starting at France Avenue, was generally in
place. The second alphabet was named after state and
Canadian province names. The third alphabet had to be
historic or patriotic. Very short streets (such as Vermont
and Goodrich) or streets that had portions that ran into
adjoining jurisdictions (such as Mackey, Brook, and
Coolidge) were not changed. Later streets could be named by
the developers, as long as they conformed to the established
guidelines. The change was effective on August 24.
The first St. Louis Park
Directory and Street Guide was
published (1933-34), with each address given with the old
and new street names. Street addresses were first proposed
in 1926, but many had to be changed in order to accommodate
infill development. In this first edition, an overwhelming
majority of the businesses advertised were in Minneapolis.
Later editions featured many businesses in Hopkins, but
rarely, if ever mentioned Golden Valley or Edina.
From the start, the local directories were produced by
Lydia
Rogers and her husband Bishop McClure Rogers, who drew the
first city map that appeared in a directory. The project
started when FDR wanted a list of the unemployed in
preparation for the WPA. The Village chose the Rogers to
take the census, and they went door-to-door gathering the
information. They reportedly netted only $10 from their
first Directory. Lydia continued to publish the directory
until 1959.
Although the Depression was well underway, an air of
optimism was reflected in the introduction to the 1933
Directory:
It is our belief that with the return of normal
conditions of which we are now assured, St. Louis Park
is destined to a large growth, the two new proposed
highways [7 and 100], when completed, will make this
village the most accessible of any suburb to the city:
the Park is magnificently located and has sites platted
for manufacturing fully as or more desirable than the
Minneapolis Northwestern Terminal, many square miles of
beautiful platted and unplatted property for residential
purposes, city water and gas in our streets and a
strictly modern fire department.
The directory also gave a status report of the various
activities of the Village:
- The Street Department reported that there were 300
miles of roads.
- The Water Department reported that there were 329
water meters installed. Water was still obtained from
Minneapolis.
- The Hennepin County Nursing Service reported on home
visits made in regard to finances, food, and fuel. All
children were offered immunizations against diphtheria
and smallpox for one dollar.
Larson’s Greenhouse, owned by Charlie F. Larson, was
located at 4159 Webster. Larson specialized in perennials
and annuals. He rented the land from Art Hager.
4601 Excelsior Blvd. (at Natchez) was the site of the
Minnesota Tree Service from about 1933-58. Big oak trees
graced the front, and at Christmas time, blue lights were
strung outside. It was run by Byron F. Bell, who had been in
the Park since 1924. He died in 1957 age age 52.
The Canfield-Dietrick Lumber Company was established at
5825
Excelsior Blvd. (at Yosemite, east of Brookside Avenue), the
site of an abandoned car repair shop. Perry Canfield, a
purported millionaire, took on Russell Dietrick to establish
a cash and carry lumberyard. Despite the city’s initial
refusal to grant a building permit, resulting in the
dramatic arrest of Dietrick, he prevailed in court (Village
Council minutes note on March 2, 1932, the Canfield-Dietrick
litigation was settled). Canfield withdrew in 1946 and it
became the Dietrick Lumber Company, which continued until
1954.
Oscar Johnson’s Fairway Store was located at
5508 Excelsior
Blvd., on the NW corner of Excelsior and Vernon. The
building dates back to at least 1930 when Johnson got
connected to the water main. The Johnsons lived in the back
of the store in a small apartment. In 1938 one remembers a
park with a pond behind the store – this may be the
Excelsior Blvd./Highway 100
Roadside Park. The building also
supported a huge billboard adorned with cows. In 1940, it
was called the New Park Food Market, managed by C.C. Amundson. The grocery store was later run by Grossman and
Flynn. Starting in about 1946, the building became a
storefront for a variety of businesses, although it appears
that the Johnsons and then his widow continued to live in
the building for a time.
One prominent tenant was Park Lane Carpet (1952-58) run by
H. Vance Rorbach, Jr. (Charles Stuck, carpet counselor). The
business got started on August 1, 1947 at Highway 7 and
Wooddale. In 1961, Park Lane moved to 6401 Wayzata Blvd. –
Open House was November 24-25. The store specialized in
Mohawk Carpets. Rorbach died in 1999.
On August 30, thanks to tips from neighbors, Federal Postal
Inspectors arrested five men at a house near Natchez and
Minnetonka Blvd. for the robbery of the St. Louis Park Post
Office. For details, see
Police and Crime.
The summer of 1933 was the warmest in Minneapolis history,
until 1988. The first of the “Dust Bowl” dust storms made
its way to southwestern Minnesota on November 11-12, and
continued to blow dust as far as New England.
1933 marked the inauguration of the famous Northwestern
National Bank Weatherball, which stood on top of the bank’s
headquarters in Minneapolis. The rules were: “When the
Weatherball is red, warmer weather is ahead. When the
Weatherball is white, colder weather is in sight. When the
Weatherball is green, no change in weather is foreseen. If
the colors blink by night or day, precipitation’s on the
way.” This Minneapolis icon endured until the building
burned down in 1982.
Minnesotans on the newly-formed Civilian Conservation Corps
planted trees, fought forest fires, and erected park
buildings.
1934
On March 6, the most spectacular event ever to take place
in Brookside occurred when new resident
Theodore Kidder was
mowed down by a machine gun by gangsters driving a car that
had been rented by Baby Face Nelson. Be sure to click on
this link!
With the passage of the new liquor ordinance,
liquor
licenses were approved for James A. Roach, Al Lovass, Walter
G. Poirer, Bunny’s, El Patio, and the Belmont Tavern, among
others. Arthur and John N. Schultz proposed a restaurant at
5504 Excelsior Blvd. – a location long since lost to the
highway. H.L. Hamilton sold root beer at the SE corner of
Excelsior and Utica.
Chester E. Styff had a restaurant and beer place at 3925
Excelsior, which was the Minikahda Gardens. This place
seemed to change hands quite a bit in the 1930’s; owners
included Mrs. A. Johnson and her daughter Effie. Fire took
the building in 1962 and it was demolished the next year. In
1978, an office building was erected on the site. No beer.
One notable early entry into the beer business was Axel’s
Place, also known as
Axel’s Tuck’d Away Inn. Axel Anderson
was born in 1888 in Sweden, and came to the U.S. in 1912. He
and his wife Matilda married in 1917 and came to the Park in
1924. The former carpenter built his house, which was
variously known as 4005 Vernon and 4008 Utica, that same
year.
South of 4005 Vernon is the office/apartment building at
4012/4016 Utica, which was built by Dr. Walter Johnson, a
dentist who lived at 4171 Webster. The architect was Wallace
B. Kenneth, Inc. Builders obtained a variance from the City
Council on March 18, 1958. 4012 was the address of the 12
apartments, and 4016 was the address of the 16 offices. Half
of the north side of the office building was occupied by
Sandvig and Sandvig until 1984. In 1973 the property was
owned by siblings William, Anton, and Ann Krebes. The Krebes
refused to allow the City to inspect the property, declaring
that inspections were unconstitutional. They also refused to
renew their license to run an apartment building. In 1978
the building was purchased by Howard Y. and Merna Smith, who
named it the H & M Apartments. Some offices were converted
into apartments.
By 1934, Excelsior Blvd. had about six or seven (or 14?)
beer joints that were open 24 hours, and the noise made it
impossible for nearby residents to sleep. One such resident
was
Morton Arneson (1893-1982), who had bought three acres
on Excelsior Blvd. and Quentin Avenue and established his
nursery business, the first of five such nurseries on the
Boulevard, at 4951 Excelsior Blvd. in May 1929. Arneson
later wrote “The Real History of St. Louis Park,” which was
widely circulated; we know because numerous copies have
shown up.
In his memoir, Arneson told of one particularly hot night
when the racket was worse than ever; the band in the
speakeasy across the street (probably Walt’s Canteen, across
Quentin) played three pieces on the banjo, one after
another, and when they were through they started all over
again. Finally, the family departed to a friend’s house way
out of town to get some sleep. He suspected the
Kid Cann
gang and the police (and possibly Mayor James H. Brown) of
being in cahoots. Regardless, although the law that required
establishments to close at midnight, it was not enforced,
and those who complained were told to go back to Minneapolis
if they didn’t like it.
Jenning’s Tavern
was established at 4630 Excelsior Blvd. in 1934.
A stable was proposed to the Village Council at the present
4185 Zarthan.
There were about 600 unemployed persons living in the Park.
One response to the Depression was the U.S. Housing Act of
1934. Ben F. Eckers, a builder located at 2900 Alabama Ave.,
capitalized on this new law by advertising in the 1934-35
Directory:
Modernize your home! Take advantage of the
Government’s Easy Credit Facilities – the Act is
designed to stimulate $1,500,000,000 in New Home
Construction, Modernization and Repairing.
Also in the 1934-35 Directory, a plea was made to make
Halloween “safe and sane.” A committee was formed to
organize a village-wide party. “The plan is an agreement
with the children to exchange entertainment, etc., on a
large scale, for their promise to refrain from rowdyism and
damage to property.” The members of the committee were Jack
Webster, Wallace Brown, Albert Lundberg, Clarence Lewis, and
Mayor Kleve J. Flakne.
Found: Brookside School PTA History 1934-35.
After the usual account of parties and events, this
wonderful discourse:
In submitting these chronicles of the year 1934-35
and looking farter into its past and reviewing the
bright pages of its history something very significant
seems to stand forth, one which should command the
attention of any observing historian.
The outstanding character of its people, the
superiority of its teachers, and the altogether happy
atmosphere of the community commands the attention and
is provocative of an answer.
The unique geography of the locality would be the
first answer to this question. Adjoining
Minneapolis on the east, yet completely cut off and
bounded by the waters of Calhoun, Minnehaha Creek with
its historical beauty winding its way through the
southern borders, while on the west again another lake
and a large reserve of land shuttering us from our
western neighbors and arterial highway on the north to
complete the fencing of Brookside. These
boundaries serve to give us a “Kingdom unto ourselves.”
The people feel at once the pride of possession and the
independence thus imparted shows forth in civic pride
and strong neighborly spirit. The marked
friendliness of her people is immediately noticeably to
the stranger.
The second cause would be its proximity to the city
and the speedy access made by a highway which offers an
almost non-stop ride to within a few blocks of the
business center. No smoky factory sites nor sordid
slums through which communities of otherwise desirable
suburbs so often have to pass, mar the view of this
scenic highway, which is a panorama of green lawns,
landscaped parks, fine residences and lakeshore vistas
of unsurpassed beauty.
This highway brings to her door all the advantages of
art and music which Minneapolis as a cultural center has
to offer, and these broadening influences overcome the
tendency to narrow mindedness so often found in more
isolated districts.
Surely one enthusiastic citizen may be pardoned for
boastfully calling it the “Queen of Suburbs.”
To such a place as this probably one common cause
brought each family here. Namely to give their
children an ideal place to grow up in, fields to roam in
near woodland to explore and nature to study at close
range. It is then to be wondered at that the one
school in the community where their children come to
study and to play together should have become a common
center of interest. With such surroundings, such
motives, it is any wonder that a PTA has developed into
such a force; that its programs should have been of such
high and unusual qualities.
Surely with such foundation stones laid and such
brilliant antecedents we as an organization should feel
inspired to not only follow in their footsteps but with
the unwritten word of Progress as our guide to keep ever
moving forward.
The 1934-35 Directory brought greetings from the Superintendent
of Schools, N.H. McKay, who described the system of tracking
that has since been eliminated from American schools:
The high school courses consist of three, as follows:
Academic, Commercial and General. The Academic source
provides the required subjects for University or college
entrance. The Commercial subjects offered are Business
Organization, Bookkeeping, both beginning and advanced
Shorthand and Typing and Commercial Geography. The
General Course which leads to High School Graduation
only permits the selection of subjects from any of the
subject fields offered.
A curious final word:
“The work of instruction in the school is directed
toward the teaching or training children to do better
those desirable things which they are going to do
anyway.”
State Highway 7 was completed and opened on November 4,
1934. Like Highway 100, it was constructed with WPA-funded
labor, with as much work done by hand as possible. There was
also a movement to use horses as much as possible on rural
jobs. Construction equipment included three mule teams and
“belly dump wagons” to move the dirt. Wood from downed trees
(formerly the Williams Homestead) was provided to poor
families for fuel. Part of the route was built on a
streetcar right of way. An article in the Minneapolis Journal described
the section through St. Louis Park as “a landscaped
boulevard… paralleled on each side by service roads, which
are 22 feet in width and designed to give easy access to and
from the highway by residents living along or near it.”
Builders encountered black peat in the swamp. Engineer Gene
Neville described it: “I remember we loaded the black peat
swamps with about a 15 foot lift of good dirt and then
drilled down and set dynamite charges. We loaded and blasted
the peat swamp – as much as five times. The black peat which
had originally been as much as 12 feet in dept was now about
the consistency of anthracite coal, possible three and a
half feet in depth and as hard as a black rock.”
The Mitchel Battery Co., owned by H.E. Mitchel, ceased
operations September 10, 1934. Where it was and when it
began operations are questions yet to be answered.
The 1934-35 Directory included the Villages of Morningside
and Interlachen Park for the first time.
Neighboring Hopkins instituted its famous Raspberry
Festival, although there were some accusations that those
first raspberries had to be obtained from “over the border.”
The
Dunne Brothers organized a truck drivers’ strike in
Minneapolis that shut down commerce for five months and
featured violent confrontations. Two strikers and two police
officers were killed. Brothers Vincent, Miles
(“Mickey”), Grant, and Fenton Dunne were Trotskyites during
the time that Trotsky had split from Stalin after the death
of Lenin. Minnesota labor leaders credit the Dunnes with
making Minneapolis a union town.
Indian religions were first legalized by the State.
On May 9-10, a huge
dust storm hit the Cities. The dust was
two miles deep, and rode gale-force winds behind a cold
front. Airplane and automobile traffic was at a standstill,
roads were blocked, trees downed, and the sun was blotted
out. A heat wave that started in May led to the worst crop
in the state’s history.
1935
The SLP Better Government League was organized in 1935,
with
Morton Arneson serving as Chairman. The group met
monthly at the home of local attorney Milo Clark. The group
set about promoting a reform candidate for Mayor, and
succeeded in getting Roy O. Sewell elected, despite
harassment and threats. Although the Better Government League was unable to find
a candidate for Mayor in the next election, they did succeed
in helping to elect Torval Jorvig and
Joe Justad to the
Council, two men who tried to keep the liquor licenses at
bay.
The Civic and Commerce Association of St. Louis Park was formed in
1935, perhaps as another response to a corrupt local
government.
Edwin H. Renner was President of the
newly-formed group, and the other officers were H.J. Bolmgren, E.H. Shursen, and J.E. Pockrandt. In a letter
dated October 16, 1935, Renner indicated that the group
strove to be:
a medium through which meritorious civic projects may
be initiated and constructive ideas be given the benefit
of a public hearing and discussion. Our citizens need us
as a vehicle through which they may move to accomplish
the things to be done in providing the best in planning,
transportation, utilities, schools, form of government
and opportunities for livelihood.
The 1935-36 Directory included Morningside, Interlachen
Park, and now Hopkins. A curious entry was for the Workers
Protective Association; officers were Carl Fagerstom, Victor
Anderson, Frank Hoppe, and Alfred Miller. No purpose is
given for this organization.
Lydia Roger’s personal survey revealed a population of
5,267.
DeMuth Kennels was located at 5254 Excelsior Blvd., run by
John A. and Hazel DeMuth. Not much is known about the
DeMuths except that John was from Lyons, Minnesota. In 1953,
DeMuth ran the Merry Hill Kennels, at 9920 Wayzata Blvd. See
Veterinarians and Dog Catchers.
House numbers changed once and sometimes twice during the
30s, perhaps to accommodate the infill housing expected to
come. A note in the 1935 Directory admonished citizens to
determine their correct house numbers: “Perhaps yours is an
old one just guessed at. Look it up now as it is sure to
cause trouble sooner or later.” Brookside’s house numbers
were changed to align with the angle of Excelsior Blvd.;
where a longer block at the bottom of the angle would start
at 4001, the first house on a shorter block at the top of
the angle would start at 4056.
The Village Council conducted a one hour discussion of
taverns on Excelsior Blvd. Nearby residents wanted a closing
time of 1am, midnight on Saturday. Not hardly likely.
The first cash and carry chain grocery store in St. Louis
Park was
Piggly Wiggly Store #25, located in a new building generally
known as
4000 Minnetonka Blvd. The first Piggly Wiggly store
opened in 1916 in Memphis. It was the first self-service
grocery store in the country, introducing the concepts of
checkout stands, shopping baskets, and self-service, instead
of relying on clerks to fill orders. Skeptics abounded, but
the first stores were so successful that tickets were needed
to get in. As for the name, founder Clarence Saunders saw
some pigs wiggle under a fence once (or so the story goes),
and decided on the name then.
The WPA was created to provide work for unemployed workers,
artists, etc. Much of the manual labor involved with the
building of Highway 100 was provided by unemployed men, many
of whom came from the ranks of the homeless population at
the Gateway district of Minneapolis. About 600,000
Minnesotans participated in the WPA during the program’s
life, which lasted until 1943. By then, thanks to wartime
industry, unemployment was down to 1.9 percent, nationwide.
For information about the role of the WPA in the
construction of Highway 100, see
Highway 100
and
Highway
100’s Roadside Parks.
Dust storms blew from late February to April, and a record
15 tornadoes hit the state. A heat wave brought temperatures
of 100 degrees or more for 13 straight days. Minnesotans
took to sleeping outside to beat the heat.
1936
Demonstrating the still-rural aspect of the North Side,
on March 2 the property at 2610 Utica received a permit to
house at least 1,000 chicks. Presumably for later
consumption at the dreaded chicken shacks.
FDR was elected to his second term as President.
1937
The new
High School, later to become Central Jr. High,
was built at a cost of $300,000.
J. Linn Nash established The Spectator, which was
published until 1946. See
Newspaper Milestones.
The Village Park Board was created by the Village Council on
March 19, 1937. The three members were Harry V. Shuster, R.B.
Connery, and Harvey Kruse. “It will be the aim of the Board
to interest itself in playgrounds and a park system for the
Village.” Park Board members also issued permits to
residents who wished to plant trees on their boulevards. See
City Parks.
The Brookside
Garden Club was organized in October 1937 by
Mrs. James P. von Lorenz, who became the first president.
Ann Thompson was the first Secretary/Treasurer, and there
were 13 original members. “The object of the club is to
develop an interest in gardens in Brookside.” An elm tree
was presented to the Brookside School on Arbor Day, 1939.
The 1937 Suburban Directory included Hopkins for the last
time.
The Depression wasn’t going away. On April 5, the “People’s
Lobby” took over part of the Minnesota State capitol in a bid to get the
legislature to pass a relief bill. 200 protesters heckled
legislators and spent the night in the Senate chamber.
The Social Security Act, which had been passed in 1935, was
enacted on January 1, 1937.
Hormel invented Spam.
1938
The
Lincoln School building was decommissioned as a school
and became Village Hall. Prior to that time, Village records
were stored at the homes of various officials. Other tenants
of the building were the Hennepin County Historical Society
(1938 – 1944), Rural Hennepin County Nursing Society, and
again an elementary school from 1944 – 1947. A police and
fire barn was built next to the building.
The Hennepin County Historical Society was established on
April 16, 1938, with the purpose of collecting “specimens of
pioneer days in Hennepin County now, mainly on account of
the fact that our pioneers are rapidly passing away.”
Artifacts included sermons by Gideon Pond (see Exploration
above), a melodeon (the exact replica of which is in
Washington’s home in Mt. Vernon) which was owned by an
unnamed pioneer in St. Louis Park, and the first coffee pot
used in the Hotel McGrath in Excelsior in 1853, showing the
teeth marks of wolves. From 1938 to 1958 the Society was
located on Harmon Place. In 1958 they moved to their current
address on Third Avenue in Minneapolis.
T.B. Walker’s streetcar ended its run on August 28, 1938, to
be replaced by buses. See
Mass Transit Highlights.
Calhoun Realty advertised the new subdivision of
Knollwood, “a restricted, architecturally controlled
subdivision of beautiful picturesque homes.” The term
“restricted” probably meant no Jews and no Blacks – the Supreme Court
outlawed such restrictions in 1948.
Curtis LeRoy Carson, who sold soap for Proctor and Gamble,
started up Gold Bond Trading Stamps with a loan of $50.
Stamps could be redeemed for prizes, usually kitchen
appliances, although one enterprising town bought a pair of
gorillas for their zoo. S&H Green Stamps were first issued
by the (Thomas A.) Sperry and (Shelly B.) Hutchinson
Company. The idea of trading stamps exchanged for goods was
started in a department store in Milwaukee in 1891. S&H was
the only national stamp plan, but there were many regional
plans such as Gold Bond. Stamps thrived through the 1960’s,
but the economy of the early ‘70’s doomed the practice.
Harold Stassen, age 31, became Governor of Minnesota.
Orson Welles’s October 30 “War of the Worlds” radio program
about an invasion from Mars prompted thousands of panicked
phone calls to WCCO, which was airing the program.
The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed, setting a minimum
wage of 25 cents/hour. The law set maximum hours of work,
and set the legal age to work at 16.
1939
Starting in 1939, a significant building boom of homes
took place in the Brookside area on lots that were
owned by Suburban Homes Co. and sold by Calhoun Realty. The
National Housing Act of 1934 had created the Federal Housing
Administration (FHA), in which the Federal government
insured private long-term mortgages, making it “possible for
men of ordinary means to build homes on the easy payment
plan.”
Prior to this time, mortgage terms were usually between five
and ten years, and borrowers were required to put 50 percent
down. When the Depression hit, approximately half of all
such mortgages were in default, foreclosures went through
the roof, and new mortgages were difficult to obtain. Union
troubles also plagued homebuilders – there are stories of
union painters throwing sand on nonunion paint jobs.
The FHA brought order, at least to the mortgage process, and
enabled banks to make loans that people could afford by
insuring them in the event of foreclosure. A Thorpe Brothers
ad of 1939 offers 90 percent FHA construction loans on a
“pay like rent” plan, running 20 to 25 years.
Records show that 1,941 homes were built throughout the
Village in 1939. Most of the houses built in the Brookside
area were story-and-a-half bungalows, well suited to a
family of 5 at the time, but considered small starter homes
today, contributing to the reduction in population as
families moved to larger homes (with more than one bathroom)
in the outer suburbs.
One thing the houses did not generally have was a garage.
One observer guessed there was only one car per block during
this time anyway, since everyone took the streetcar
downtown. Building permits indicated that many people built
garages a year or so after the house was built.
In an ad placed in the Minneapolis Tribune on March
10, 1940, it is averred that St. Louis Park “Offers you
freedom of the country and conveniences of the City.” It
boasts that $2.5 million in construction has taken place in
the past four years. It also stated that “a municipally
operated artesian water system with 150 miles of water mains
provides the village with pure, unadulterated water.”
Construction came to an abrupt halt as soon as the war
started. Workers went into the service, building materials
were scarce, and families retrenched. In some cases, people
merely topped off their basements and lived underground
until they could resume construction after the war. In 1952
there were still some 44 basement homes, and the Village
began to crack down on them. In 1955 there were still 15,
including one at 42nd and Webster. Another
spate of infill houses were built from 1947 – 1947, but by
the ‘50s, new houses in Brookside were few and far between,
in comparison to the tremendous numbers built just before
the war.
The President of the Brookside Mothers Club was Mrs. John L.
Malmstedt, and the President of the Brookside PTA was Harry
O. Nelson.
The Park Theater, a bona fide movie palace, opened on
Minnetonka Blvd.
The
St. Louis Park Business Men’s Association appeared to be
a nascent Chamber of Commerce.
Lydia Rogers served as
Secretary and Treasurer. In the 1942 Directory, its purpose
was stated as “advancing the commercial, industrial and
general interest of the community,” and its slogan was
“Build your Home and Business in St. Louis Park Where the
Highways Meet.” In December 1941 we see notice of the
Business Men’s Dinner, held at the Legion Hall, “when
everyone in the Park from [the mayor] on down forgets his
dignity and puts aside his worries to really have a good
time.” 150 people carried on in a “carnival atmosphere of
complete abandon.” If Lydia Rogers was the only woman in the
club, how much fun could it have been?
Dr. H.W. Darby served as the
Village Health Officer, and in
the 1939 Directory published a piece on Communicable Disease
Control, which discussed the symptoms of such diseases as
Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever, Whooping Cough, and Infantile
Paralysis.
Charles Swahn owned the Swan Café from 1939 to 1947 at
4637/4649 Excelsior Blvd. In 1949 an addition was built and
it became a grocery store variously known as the Big Ten,
Town and Country, One Stop, Buy Rite, etc.
The Hlavac family built the Family Fruit Store at
4409
Excelsior Blvd. Under the same roof was the Family Meat
Store, operated by John Harasyn.
Little League Baseball began in Williamsport, Penn., when an
oil company clerk named Carl Stotz started a three-team
league with the help of his neighbors, George and Bert
Bebble. Many civic organizations and businesses in the Park
sponsored Little League Teams.
Martha Ostenso, a renowned writer, lived at 4300 Brook Lane.
In June a
tornado touched down in northern Hennepin County,
then destroyed 250 homes and the Armory in Anoka. Nine people
were killed. The tornado divided the Mississippi River as it
crossed, reminding those who saw it of the parting of the
Red Sea.
World War II began in Europe on September 1. Over 45
million people died before it was over. Locally, Mrs. Mell
Hobart hosted a meeting to promote pacifism in her Brookside
home. Also that year, a ROTC program was proposed at the
high school, but there were objections of militarism by
parents, and no money was provided.
1940
Fine brick buildings were built at the corner of
Excelsior Blvd. and Joppa in 1940.
The Minneapolis Aquatennial was inaugurated on July 20,
1940. According to a Chamber of Commerce book, the
celebration was designed to change the city’s reputation as
the city of strikes and gang killings and focus more on its
lakes and parks. It was scheduled for the third full week of
July, as that was determined to be the driest and warmest
week of the year. Guests included Gene Autrey (broadcasting
his “Melody Ranch” program from WCCO Radio), and
92-year-old Chief One Bull, “last of the great Dakota
warriors and famous for his defeat of General Custer.”
(St. Louis Park’s own Bert Baston was a Grand Marshall in
1948 or ’49.) The
Torchlight Parade was initiated in 1940, first called the
“Illuminated Evening Parade.”
Miss Charlotte Furber, class of 1939, was crowned the first
Miss St.
Louis Park.
St. Louis Park was still a Village with only a part-time
village council, and it found itself ill-equipped to address
the issues of zoning, planning, infrastructure, and public
facilities necessary for a booming residential community.
Home rule would allow Park to become a full-fledged city and
hire a city manager to handle administrative affairs. In
June 1938, a group led by Morton Arneson had petitioned the
Hennepin County District court to appoint a Charter
Commission, which drafted this first version of the City
Charter, which called for a council-manager type government.
An election was held on September 10, 1940, but the charter
was rejected by the electorate. The next attempt to pass a
charter occurred in 1949. A charter would not be adopted
until 1955.
Billman’s Park Funeral Home came into being in 1940 when Joe
Billman bought the old Parsonage at
3954 Wooddale. A new
building was built in 1953, and in 1957, Joe turned the old
building into the Wooddale Professional Building, which
stood until it was demolished in 1988. John Billman took
over what became Park Funeral Home, and both he and the
building were prominently featured on the city’s phone
directories.
In 1940 the
National Lead Company operated a secondary lead smelting facility on the site of the former Monitor Drill. The smelter operated from 1940 to 1979. A successor company, Taracorp, operated the smelting operation from 1979 to 1981.
An illustration of just how small the Village was in
comparison to its post-war boom years is the statistic that
in 1940 there were only 2,220 dwellings in the city; all but
394 of them had been built since 1920. Of the 7,737 people
living in the Park, 3,118 were in the labor force.
McCarthy’s Cafe was built at Highway 100 and Wayzata Blvd. sometime in the 1940s
Around this time, an “International Pageant of Peace” was
held at the high school field. Committee members were Rex L.
Pickett (chair), Mrs. George Andrus, Sam Pegars, Mrs. Frank
Keyt, Mrs. L.S. Davis, Frank Sullivan, Earl Ames, George
Reed, Ted Gardner, R.B. Connery, V.S. Formo and Carl A.
Johnson. No other information at hand. The US was not yet in
World War II, and wanted to stay that way, until Pearl
Harbor sealed the commitment to fight.
The Old Log Theater opened as a summer stock company in a
log stable in Excelsior. Its current facility was built in
1960, when it became a year-round operation.
1940 population of St. Louis Park: 7,676.
Minneapolis: 489,971
Edina: 5,830
Golden Valley: 2,056
Hopkins: 4,104
FDR was elected to his third term as President.
1941
The St. Louis Park Dispatch, edited by Barney
Gross from 1941-54, began publication on November 7. The
publisher was J.L. Markham, who also published several other
local newspapers. The Dispatch was the first in the
succession of papers that reported solely on St. Louis Park,
and through several iterations along the way, exists as the
St. Louis Park Sun Sailor today. See
Newspaper
Milestones.
Minnesota Rubber began as the Wilson Packing and Rubber
Company, whose 12 employees made rubber parts for military
equipment.
The 30,000 square foot
Lilac Way Shopping Center, the first
shopping center in the state, was built on the site of Nate
Shepherd’s farm. Much of Shepard’s land had been taken for
the construction of Highway 100. Unlike Miracle Mile, which
was built across the street 10 years later, Lilac Way was
not so much of a strip mall but a series of buildings anchored by the
bowling alley, and was much smaller that Miracle Mile’s
154,000 square feet. The Lilac Way/King’s Inn complex was
owned by Nicholas B. Phillips and George Theros. Phillips
had owned the Curtis Hotel coffee shop, and he died in 1958.
George’s Brother Bob and Frank Theros also worked at the
facility. The complex was demolished in 1988.
WORLD WAR II
1941-42
The advent of World War II threw the Park into action.
The St. Louis Park Commodity Allocation Board “For Tires,
Tubes, Autos, Sugar, Etc., Ration Board No. 27-4” was
chaired by S. Earl Ainsworth; the other members were Lydia
Rogers and Willis H. Richardson. Scores of citizens were
saving on rubber by riding bicycles; in July 1942, over 400
bicycle licenses had been issued. Gas rationing started in
December 1942.
The
Lilac Way Dairy Bar reported a rush on butter in March
1943. W.E. Lawyer, proprietor, sold 600 lbs. and broke both
lenses of his glasses in the crush.
Draft Board Local 423 was located in Hopkins, although Park
men registered at registration points in town.
In January 1943, Lydia Rogers was given the task of
recruiting WAACS. No report as to how she did.
The St. Louis Park Red Cross was headed by Production
Chairman Mrs. G. Andrus, and taught surgical dressing
classes at the American Legion Hall.
Shortages and need for materials led to a series of
collections. Everything from old tires, clothes, nylons, and
of course, blood was collected throughout the war. Pleas for
money came for war bonds and Christmas Seals.
A “Junk Rally” was held on September 5, 1942, with garbage
trucks put into service to pick up the donations.
At the
Triangle across from
Brookside Drug, behind the gas
station, was the local scrap metal depository, which also,
for some reason, collected balls of string. Throughout the
Park, 300 tons of scrap were collected during a national
drive. A message from Mayor Martin in October 1942 thanked
everyone who participated in the scrap drive, but added,
It is quite regrettable that one automobile driver had to be
apprehended and made to unload scrap from his car after
taking it from the stock pile. Evidently he misconstrued the
purpose of the drive. Let it be known that anyone tampering
with these stock piles will be properly dealt with.
1941
On November 29, 1941, the St. Louis Park
Methodist
Meeting House, 2940 Salem, began services in a
colonial-style house purchased with a gift from the T.B.
Walker Foundation. In 1946, the congregation voted to merge
with
Brookside Community Church to form
Aldersgate Methodist
Church.
The Brooklawns subdivision was advertised on the map in the
1942 directory as “Big park and creek front sites. New
‘charm’ homes now building – Douglas Rees.” These homes, at
39th and Brunswick, Colorado, and Dakota, were on 60-85 foot
lots, a far cry from the houses with 40-foot lots being
built above Minnetonka Blvd.
Park’s first law firm,
Yngve and Yngve, opened in the
Park
Theater Bldg. with Anton Yngve and his wife Esther.
The Archambo Food Market was advertised at
4215 Excelsior
as
early as 1940, although we don’t know when the building was
built. It later became the site of the famous Foo Chu Café.
The St. Louis Park Studio of Music, at 4121 Wooddale, was
run by Jacob and Alice K. Heiderich.
The
Lilac Garden Club was organized on January 22, and
membership apparently centered around the Brookside School
area, on both sides of the highway.
Miss St. Louis Park was chosen in a ceremony at the Park
Theater on July 10 (who won?) Due to the pressures of war,
Park and Hopkins were the only two villages taking part in
the competition that year. “St. Louis Park Night” featured a
horse show at the
Pastime Riding Academy and music by the
Park Municipal band. That year, the Minneapolis Aquatennial
was proclaimed the Northwest’s greatest summer festival.
Next to the dump was the
Dairy-Mor
at
5060 Excelsior Blvd.
The business was started by a man named Langdon, later run
by E.O. Rodberg. (L.D. Perkins may have been a partner.)
Licensed by the Dairy-Mor Co., the drive-in was known for
its chocolate sodas. This drive-in moved to
3877 Wooddale,
on Highway 100 behind the King’s Inn and north of the
Yngve
building on May 14, 1953. Between 1956 and 1964 it
advertised “Home of Bud’s Big Boy Burgers.” Rodberg was a
big booster of the Miss St. Louis Park contest, and hosted
the candidates at his drive-in for many years.
Mrs. Kaefer’s Pantry Shelf, run by Waldemar and Gladys
Kaefer, was located at 4201 Excelsior Blvd. (at Inglewood).
The
Lions Club was chartered on April 28, 1941, and met
at the Lilac Lanes Restaurant (in 1958 they met at the Park
Terrace.)
The Excelsior Blvd. Booster Club, Dr. L.V. Downing,
President, had as its purpose “community advancement as a
district of fine homes and business establishments.” It is
listed in the 1941 Directory.
The Lilac Way Beauty Salon advertised (in the Echo) “The New
Pompadour Beany – All Colors and Sizes.”
With an estimated population of 9,000, Park had 2,845 homes
in 1941.
On March 15, 1941 a
blizzard caught the State by surprise,
killing 32. Winds at 75 and 85 mph were reported north of
the Cities.
1942
Effective on October 9, the Village Council changed the
name of street that runs from the point where Brookside Ave.
takes a turn at Yosemite and the creek to the city limits
from Brookside to Yosemite. Today that short uphill stretch
of road is labeled both Brookside and Yosemite, reflecting
disagreement among neighbors as to which street it is. It
continues as Brookside once it hits the Edina line.
Rice Sand and Gravel was located at
5000 Excelsior Blvd.,
between 39th and 40th, north of the
Engell Dairy. This site
had started out as a potato field, and later became a dump
and then the
Park Nicollet Medical Center.
The Lithium Corp. of America was located at Cedar Lake Road
and Dakota on the site of the Minnesota Tile and Brick
manufacturing company that had produced bricks for the
Downtown Post Office in the 1930’s. From 1942 to 1960 the
site was used to manufacture lithium carbonate from spodumene ore. Dumping and fuel spills contaminated the soil
and necessitated the demolition of the building in 2003. A
new office building was built that same year.
Don’s Hi Fi and Records Store at Miracle Mile introduced the
first stereophonic Hi-Fi phonograph, priced at a hefty $425.
203 Defense homes were planned for the Park View Addition,
which is just east of the
Creosote Factory. Real estate
agent E.H. Shurson announced the project, which the Dispatch
called “the greatest single building boom within the history
of St. Louis Park.” Plans called for small homes built for
defense workers, under terms of the recently liberalized FHA
loan regulations. By March 1942, ten homes were under
construction, to be sold for $4,500 to $4,700. The homes had
the same floor plan, measuring 24 by 30 ft. Coal furnaces
would heat the homes. Builders included D.O. Swanson and
Perry Duff.
On September 3, 1942, tragedy struck when Patsy Johnson,
age 15, was hit on the head with a golf ball at
Westwood
Hills Golf Course and died of a skull fracture. Patsy’s
father Pat was the manager of the golf course. The accident
happened with a golfer hooked the 13th hole.
In 1942,
civil defense blackouts were staged, and the Village
recruited air raid wardens
On May 9, 1942, a contingent from Hollywood came to the
Minneapolis Auditorium to stage a benefit for army and navy
service groups. The show featured Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and
Cary Grant.
1943
Founding members of
Park Baptist Church met in a tavern
at 4349 Excelsior Blvd. in October 1943, and the
congregation was officially founded in early April 1944. The
building at 4097 Vernon Ave. was dedicated in November 1953,
with Mayor Hurd on hand for the festivities. The building
has changed hands several times over the years.
Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church began its life on May 24,
1943.
In May 1943, Minnesota staged a “semi-surprise” blackout
test. For 30 minutes, somewhere between 9 and 11 pm., every
light in Minnesota was to be extinguished, except those
necessary for war industries. The test was to be initiated
by steady blasts of sirens and whistles and by turning out
the streetlights. Radio stations would announce the “all
clear.” R.W. Hollander, Chairman, Hennepin County
Civilian Defense, warned:
It is a deadly serious test to prepare all civilians
and civil authorities for prompt and efficient action if
and when enemy bombers should appear over this area.
Military authorities recently have stated the Twin
Cities and Detroit areas are more likely to be attacked
than either the East or West coast. It is the duty of
every citizen to be prepared.
The Village Planning Board was reconstituted in 1943, with
Morton Arneson as Chairman. All permits for business,
industry, apartment buildings, and subdivisions had to be
approved by the Board. (The original zoning ordinance had
been passed on January 20, 1932, and a new comprehensive
zoning ordinance was passed in 1959.) In a letter dated May
15, 1945, O.B. Erickson reported that:
Our Planning Board has just completed a comprehensive
zoning map for all St. Louis Park, designating
residential, commercial and industrial factory land use.
This is quite important in order to regulate the
tremendous building of homes and businesses
establishments contemplated after this war.
No doubt due to shortages of materials and the end of the
1939-1941 building boom, a housing shortage emerged during
he war and the village encouraged the building of duplexes.
Half an acre of land to be used as
Brookside Park was
obtained from the State in 1943. The City asked the
Jackleys,
who owned adjoining land, if they minded if some equipment
was placed on their land, and they agreed. (In 1951 the
Jackleys complained about damage to their driveway and
garage by traffic in and out of the park.) Mrs. Jackley sold
some of her land to the city for $150 on September 11, 1957.
When Mrs. Jackley died in 1968, the family house proved
difficult to sell, so the family donated the land to the
City for the park, which was then renamed Jackley Park. The
park featured ball diamonds in summer and two ice rinks for
figure skating and hockey. Parks employee
Elmer C. “Shorty”
Dale presided over the warming house.
Browndale Park, serving the cool kids on the east side of
the highway, was 9.5 acres of land that was both donated and
purchased. The Browndale Association citizens’ group worked
to improve the land.
Mayor Martin suffered a nervous collapse and convalesced at
St. Andrew’s Hospital.
Governor Harold Stassen resigned to join the Navy.
In 1943 a Minnesota farmer paid 100 Italian prisoners of war
for farm work, due to a labor shortage. Prisoner of war
camps were located all across the country, in (almost) every
state. Reportedly the Germans were more productive workers
than the Italians…
1944
Kerwin Oborn had the first go-cart in the Brookside
neighborhood, called a doodle-bug. LeRoy DeBoom describes it
as kind of a stool with wheels.
The Farmer-Labor Party and the State Democratic Party merged
on April 15, to create the DFL.
FDR was elected to his fourth term as President.
1945
Leslie B. Santos built the structure at
4801 (4805)
Excelsior Blvd. (at Princeton) in 1945 for his greenhouse,
the first of many florists and
nurseries on the Boulevard
The building at
4617 Excelsior Blvd. (at Monterey) was also
built in 1945, by Wallace Plantikow. Wally and Dolly
Plantikow operated the St. Louis Park Greenhouse into the
1970’s. In 1968, Plantikow advertised “over 30 years of
experience,” which makes his start 1938. However, in 1954 he
said he came to Park in 1927. Mike Jennings bought the
building in 1982. From at least 1999 to 2004 the building
housed Cynthia Rae/Flower Fair. In the summer of 2004
it became Smirk Photo.
Ralph Hunsaker, proprietor of Brookside Drug, moved to the old Hanke house at 4100 Excelsior Blvd. One year he and Jack Leslie raised chickens in the back yard. Ralph’s daughter Nancy recalls, “We did the great chicken slaughter and
cleaning which was followed by some chicken eating.” Presumably no Chicken Shack resulted from this endeavor.
Helen Rawson, 4235 Yosemite Ave., requested permission from the Village Council to put a hitching post in front of her house. They apparently approved it – was it installed?
“Hail! Minnesota!” was adopted as the State Song. It was written in 1904-05 by two U of M students as the University’s song.
On April 12, 1945, FDR died in office and Harry S Truman became President of the United States.
In April, news came out about the perils of Brookside
resident Vernon Kruse, who had been captured by the Germans.
He escaped from a forced march as the Russians were
advancing. When the Russians came they accidentally shot
some Americans, and Vernon walked 25 or 30 miles with a
piece of metal in his leg. With a group of escapees he
walked clear across Germany. In Poland they were assisted by
the Polish Red Cross, and in Russia they were fed and put on
trains in Odessa. Their ship sailed home from Italy.
VE Day ended the war in Europe, but there was no big
celebration. Schools remained in session, although
businesses closed early. It was said to be the quietest day
in the history of the police department, with not one single
call.
VJ Day ended the war. All told, 6,284 Minnesotans lost their lives in World War II. More than 325,000 had served.
The population was recorded at 13,000. City records show that 3,719 homes were built.
THE POSTWAR BOOM
1946
After the War, and with the help of FHA and the GI Bill,
there was a tremendous need for housing. Fully 60
percent of the City’s housing stock was built in the late
1940s and the 1950s. The majority of these were
built on the heretofore undeveloped north side (of
Minnetonka Blvd.). At the start of the boom there were
3,600 houses in the City. That compares to almost
21,000 today.
Twenty emergency
housing units for veterans were
allotted to the Park in May.
“Direct from New York, Famous Dancing Star
Dorothy Henry
opened her Dancing and Dramatic Studio at the Park Theater
on October 1, 1946. She taught “ballet, tap, acrobatic,
baton, and dramatic art; also health, carriage, and
deportment” at her main studio at 26-1/2 West Lake Street at
Nicollet. In 1958 she opened a new Park branch at the
Jennings Holiday Lodge, 4630 Excelsior Blvd. In the 1960’s
she had various other addresses on Excelsior Blvd., and in
1966 she made a final move to a new home/studio at 4200
Yosemite in Brookside.
Ruth Hovey opened a beauty shop in her home at 4070 Yosemite
Ave., “featuring better cold waves and soft water shampoos.”
Log Cabins Homes built the $3,300 home in 1940. Hovey
operated until at least 1952. In 1954 an addition was built
and a garage was added in 1955. By 1956, it was the Orpha
Elliott Beauty Shop. This operated until at least 1973.
The Delano Dairy, run by Chester Nelson and Elmer Weiland,
began operation at the end of 1946. It was located at 4910
Excelsior Blvd. about where the
Sports and Health Club was.
In 1953, the company announced its expanded service – a
picture can be found in the July 23 edition of the Dispatch.
However, by 1954, it may have become the Baldwin Dairy. From
1960-64, the (Marvin) Graybow and (Leonard A.) Daniels
plumbing supply company was listed at that address.
The Minnesota Missionary District of the
Evangelical Free
Church was granted permission to erect a tent on school
property at Oak Hill School on the Northeast corner of
Walker and Quebec.
Big doings at the
Pastime Arena on July 28, 1946, when
Arthur Eaton held a rodeo, horse show, and musical
entertainment.
Brook Lane was paved in the summer of 1946.
Nordic Ware was founded by brothers Dave and Mark Dahlquist
and friend Donald Nygren in 1946.
For the first and only time, the St. Louis Park Directory
was not published.
The building at
4336 Excelsior was built around this time.
In August 1946 it was Ray and Arnie’s Sandwich Shop. The building was variously owned –
separately and together – by R. Warren Larson and Cortie A.
Underwood, who eventually ran Underwood’s Café until about
1968.
In 1956, Earl Ainsworth gave the City Council framed
pictures of the former
mayors of St. Louis Park, including
an oversized one of
Joseph Hamilton.
The other pictures were approximately 11 x 17 x 20 inches.
Along with the pictures was a plaque, thanking Ainsworth for
obtaining them. The pictures were displayed at City Hall,
before and after the move in 1963. But at some point they
were stored in the City Hall Print Shop until 1971. After
that they seem to have disappeared, all except for Hamilton.
There are Mayors’ pictures mounted in the Council Chamber of
City Hall, and a set at the Historical Society, which may
have been the originals.
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post number 5632 was
chartered on January 20, 1946. The building that would
become their clubhouse was located at 5605 W. 36th Street,
and opened on September 16, 1954. Other Postwar
organizations included:
The War Dads of St. Louis Park met at the Village Hall.
Officers were Herman J. Bolmgren, Jake A. Werner, and Lew
Conley. One of their purposes was to help returning soldiers
get jobs.
The American War Mothers, Donald Johnson Chapter was
chartered on August 23, 1946 with 14 members. The purpose of
the group, the ninth such group in Minnesota, was to
providing aid to Veterans’ Hospitals by making items for the
patients and helping out at the hospital. They also had a
goal of have a war mother present at the peace tables of
WWII. Membership was limited to the “blood mothers of sons
and daughters in service.” President was Mrs. Mary Johnson,
whose son, an AAF tail gunner, died in a B-24 over Dortmund
Germany on January 28th, 1945.
The International Sunshine Society worked “in the Veterans’
Hospital and the University Hospital, made layettes and
remembered patients in hospitals at holiday time and on
birthdays.” President was Mrs. C.H. Dahl.
Fire Chief Joe Williams retired, and was succeeded by his
son, Charles M. “Pete” Williams. See
Fires and Firefighting
and the
Williams Family.
Dorothea Nelson became the Village’s Recreation Director in
1946, a position she held until 1962. She was the first
woman in the Twin Cities area to hold this position. She
served at an important time, overseeing the establishment of
neighborhood parks in a city where citizens had to fight to
have parks established for the ever-growing population. Ms.
Nelson was killed in a car accident in Edina on January 1,
1963.
The Wonderall Factory, owned by Alden Wonderall, started
operations in January 1947 in the garage of Mrs. Alden
Elstrom (hmm.), 3305 Yosemite. Later in the year they moved
to 6512-1/2 Walker St. They manufactured overalls for
children, and were featured in American Magazine.
The
Woman’s Club of St. Louis Park was organized on April 24,
1946.
Polio became an epidemic, and in reaction many events were
cancelled or postponed.
The
Jewish community began moving to St. Louis Park from
Minneapolis at about this time. The Park was not restricted
as were other suburbs, particularly Edina’s Country Club
District.
A 1946 movement to change the St. Louis Park name was
sparked by a Dispatch reporter’s vehement arguments
that the Park had outgrown its name. Nancy Leland’s remarks
provide an interesting view of our village’s reputation:
“Early residents remember the village as the squatter’s and
dumper’s waste land, the deficit side of the railroad in
Hennepin County. To them the name is still synonymous with a
vast, sparse peat bog. In the good old days Park was the
slum backwash, Minneapolis’ wayward relative, the black
sheep in the community.” She also raises the point that
there was no great park, and the St. Louis Railway is not
responsible for the town. Meadowbrook, Glenhurst, Parkwood,
West Gate, and Glenwood were proposed. The movement
died when the Village Attorney, E.T.Montgomery, laid out the
steps that they would have to go through.
In December 1946, there was a proposal by the Rural Hennepin
County League of Towns and Municipalities to establish a
separate county outside of Minneapolis.
In February 1946, the North Star Drama Guild proposed to
build a new theater at the southwest corner of Highway 7 and
Joppa. Backers were Mr. Schlamp, Gideon Seymore, Mr. Ownan,
and Mr. Schmitt. This is a 5 acre industrial site today,
built in 1955.
Dr. Benjamin Spock published Common Sense Book of Baby
and Child Care, said to have massive repercussions among
the baby boomers just now being born.
1947
On the north side of Excelsior Blvd. between Yosemite and
Zarthan there was a gas station on the Yosemite corner and a
Root Beer stand with kiddie rides in the middle of the
block.
The
Rotary Club had its first local meeting at Culbertson’s
on April 1, 1947.
St. George’s Episcopal Church was organized on May 4, 1947.
On July 4, 1947, a perfect 1/6 replica of a Rock Island
streamliner made its debut at an American Legion picnic in
Minnehaha Park. The model was built by Brookside resident
Lawrence “Dusty” Sauter, in his one-car garage behind his
house at 4053 Alabama Avenue. The train was christened with
a bottle of water from Minnehaha Falls by young Sandra
Barnes, who lived across the street at 4072 Alabama. A
picture can be found in the July 4, 1947 Dispatch.
The model is an exact replica of the Twin Star Rocket, an 18
horsepower locomotive. The “World’s Most Perfectly Designed
and Built Model Train” has five stainless steel cars that
accommodate 29 passengers. It was moved to various
locations, including Queen Anne Kiddieland, located at the
southeast corner of what is now 494 and 100. The train was
donated to the Minnesota Transportation Museum at Sauter’s
death in 1995, and is now available for rides at the Jackson
Street Roundhouse.
In 1947, Good Foods, Inc. (later Best Food) built a
Skippy
Peanut Butter plant at 5725 Highway 7. In around 1977, the
building became the home of McGarvey Coffee.
Homer E. Dickinson of Milwaukee bought some land from Santos
and built
4725 Excelsior Blvd. in 1947. From Homer’s Drive
In/dairy store/dairy it evolved into a series of restaurants
until 1962, when it was expanded into the Colonial Office
Building.
In 1947 Burton Myers bought the first Hennepin County
Franchise for
Dairy Queen Milk Bars, and opened his first
store at 5507 Excelsior Blvd., between old Vernon and
Webster, across from the Enga Funeral Home. H.A. “Hap”
Pearson and his partner Roy G. Carlson ran the store until
they quarreled and Pearson built a competing drive-in next
door. Both locations were turned into an on-ramp for the
highway in 1967. A new Dairy Queen operated at
4407
Excelsior from 1960 to 1999, when that building burned down.
The house/office at 4901 Excelsior Blvd. (at Princeton) was
built in 1947 by a V.B Elton at a cost of $7,500. From the
beginning it was meant to be a combination office and
residence, and may have been built for
Lydia Rogers, whose
services included notary public, maps, directories, and
driver’s licenses. In 1992, real estate broker Stan Koch
sold the building to Claudia Corrigan and Elaine McGaughey,
proprietors of Tellers II-My Bank, which had been formerly
located in the Brookside Drug Building in 1989.
Edwin Gaasland opened Brookside Hardware at
5930 Excelsior
Blvd. with Henry (Hank) Bertrand. In 1951 it was billed as
“Park’s oldest hardware store.”
Park Hardware was located at
4304 Excelsior Blvd. (at
Joppa), owned by Harry Wolff.
Who were the Ladds (Adair, Agnes, Audrey, Kathryn, Ruth
Page), listed as “entertainers” in the 1947 directory? Agnes
worked at Honeywell, and the family lived at 2540 Texas
Avenue.
Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen bought the Detroit Gems of the
National Basketball League for $15,000 and they became the
Minneapolis Lakers. The urging of Minneapolis Tribune
reporter
Sid Hartman helped convince the two that the team
would be viable in Minneapolis. The team left in 1960.
Luther Youngdahl was inaugurated Governor in 1947. One of his many
accomplishments was to make slot machines illegal in the
state. Gambling was big business, especially at such places
as the Stage Coach in Savage. There was even a slot
machine at
Bunny’s. The law was changed, though, and Youngdahl called on local law officials to rigorously
enforce it.
Mound Metalcraft was founded, later becoming Tonka Trucks.
Kitty litter was invented by Minnesotan Edward Lowe.
1948
On April 19, 1948, J. Edward Pearson opened Park Studio
(specialists in carpeting and rugs) at
4907 Excelsior Blvd.
At the time it was the first full service home furnishings
store in town. His partners were Dwight Olrey, Bob Orth, and
Paul Pearson.
On January 1, 1948, Hopkins became a city with a
council/city manager structure. It would take St. Louis Park
several more years and much disagreement before it came to
the same conclusion.
The first
television station in Minnesota, KSTP (Channel 5),
signed on the air on April 27, broadcasting from the Prom
Ballroom.
On October 11, 1948, it first became mandatory to have your
house number clearly displayed on your house.
The Minnesota Entertainment Association, Inc. proposed to
build an open air movie theater, possibly as an adjunct to
the Park Theater, but were turned down. In 1952, the Village
Council was vehemently against drive-ins, to the point of
writing to Golden Valley and asking them not to put any on
the border.
In a bit of unfinished business, there was some discussion
about what to do with the Servicemen’s Honor Roll, which had
been displayed at the
American Legion Hall
on Excelsior
Blvd. Those who had served in World War II and returned apparently were
uncomfortable with the reminder of those who lost their
lives. The problem solved itself when a fire destroyed the
display on September 18,
General Dwight D. Eisenhower paid a Labor Day visit to the
Minnesota State Fair on September 1, 1947. He was
heard to say: “This is the first state fair I’ve ever
attended and I hope I have made a good beginning by visiting
the greatest first.”
1948
On April 27, KSTP Channel 5 became the first television
station in Minnesota to broadcast regularly scheduled
programs. Its first transmission was from the Prom
Ballroom.
On July 30, the Village Council ordered the removal of a
large billboard advertising a motel. It had been
erected without permission on Highway 100, north of 36th
Street.
Harry S Truman was elected President.
1949
Businesses and residents went to the Village Council to
request that sidewalks be installed on Excelsior Blvd. from
Brookside Ave. to Highway 100, but were told they had to
wait until 1951.
Minikahda Hardware, located at
4424 Excelsior Blvd., opened
its doors in a 3-day grand opening in April 1949.
Festivities included an appearance by Cedric Adams and a
drawing that drew 2,000 people vying for the $2,500 in
prizes. In fact, the police had to be called for crowd
control. The store was owned by Mayor (1953-57)
Russ Fernstrom. It was described as Park’s first complete
hardware and appliance store. In 1950, Suburban Appliance
merged with the appliance division of Minikahda Hardware to
create Minikahda-Suburban Hardware and Appliance, also
located at 4424 Excelsior Blvd.
Park Nursing Home was built at 4415 36-1/2 Street W in 1949.
Mell and Lydia Hobart quit claimed Hobart Lane to the
Village for a public street.
What appears to have been a white house was built at
4514
Excelsior Blvd. in 1949 – the survey was done for Frank
Seidel. That year, a tenant was Jan Del Homes, Inc. By the
time it was demolished for Excelsior and Grand in 2002, it
was an old stucco house used as an office building.
The VFW held a carnival at the Belt Line and 37th, across
from Lilac Lanes, in May.
Apparently there was a need for a Golf Ordinance, passed May
16, 1949.
4649 Excelsior was the site of a grocery store that had many
names: Jack Pestello’s Big Ten Food Store, Hodroff Big Ten
Food Store, Town and County, and One Stop Food Market.
Despite the use of the word “modern” in the ad, the picture
in the phone directory shows a building that looks pretty
worn out.
The two-story brick apartment building at 6114 Excelsior
Blvd. was built.
A second
Home Rule Charter was rejected in an election held
in March, 1949, in which only 39 percent of the electorate
voted.
After much back-and-forth with the State, a traffic light
was installed at Excelsior Blvd. and Brookside Avenue. This
may have been the first stoplight in the Park.
Dr. Porter’s Dog and Cat Hospital opened on Highway 7, just
east of Highway 100.
Edina High School opened. Before that, students attended
Southwest, St. Louis Park, Hopkins, and perhaps Washburn
High School.
In October, a tremendous
windstorm hit the state, clocking
in at 89 mph in Minneapolis. Some called the unusual storm a
“land hurricane.”
WTCN-TV, the area’s second
television station after KSTP, went on the
air on July 1, 1949. At first WTCN was on Channel 4.
Brothers in Law Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie founded
Medtronic in a northeast Minneaplis garage (now gone).
1950
A traffic light was installed at the intersection of 41st
Street and Highway 100 at Brookside School. This was to be
the last traffic light removed when that stretch of Highway
100 became a freeway in the 60’s.
Between 1950 and 1956, 66 new subdivisions were platted,
accommodating 2,700 new houses. Many of the plats
eschewed the grid of the rest of the City and included cul
de sacs, curved streets, and a hierarchy of street types.
The March 8
blizzard closed schools. Another on December 6-7
dumped 25 inches of snow in the Cities over 72 hours, a
record.
The Highway Hobby House opened on December 27, 1950 –
“Park’s New Hobby Shop.” The store was operated by Howard
Sidener, Jr. and his mother, Myrtle M. Sidener at
5300
Excelsior Blvd. It advertised model boats, cars, planes,
crafts, and motor books.
The Hiawatha Coaches Bus Barn was located on the north side
of Excelsior Blvd., between Quentin and Princeton, in August
1950.
Lots on Excelsior Blvd. were selling for $4,000 to $6,000.
Fred Kaefer was hired to run the Village switchboard “and
any other duties that come up.” His salary was 85
cents/hour.
Citizens State Bank was first located at
5001 Excelsior
Blvd. It opened for business on January 16, 1950. The Open
House was held on January 20, 1950, and featured Corine
Nehrman, “Miss Lucia of the Upper Midwest.” The bank’s first
President was G.S. Evarts, and Vice President was C.T.
Holberg. While Evarts had an extensive banking background,
Holberg had been the successful owner and operator of a
window cleaning company for the last 23 years. He became
President in 1957. In 1973, the bank was moved to a new
building across the street (site of the Rixon home). Holberg
died that same year, they say from the exertion of the move.
The VFW sponsored a fun festival on May 27-30, 1950,
featuring nine rides.
WWII Veterans were receiving their NSLI Dividend checks, and
the Dispatch urged them to spend them wisely.
At the behest of
Mayor O.B. Erickson, 17 men formed the St.
Louis Park
Chamber of Commerce in October of 1950. It became
an official chapter of the national organization on February
1, 1951. Its mission was to “promote the civic, commercial,
and industrial interests of the Park, the promotion of the
general welfare and prosperity of the Village, and the
stimulation of public sentiment to those ends.”
Sheldon-Thomas, future developer of Miracle Mile, presented
plans to build a “510 Groveland type of hotel.” That
building, built in 1927, is now a co-op. The St. Louis Park
building – never happened.
Fern Hill School was built at 2800 Joppa Ave.
A four way stop was instituted at the Wooddale/Lake/Dakota
intersection, as it is today.
Penny Supermarket, at
6322 Minnetonka Blvd., held its Grand
Opening on June 29, 1950.
On May 24 at 4:30 pm,
Cedric Adams gave a “flash signal by
radio” to open two refrigerators at Minikahda Hardware,
located at
4424 Excelsior Blvd. Inside those refrigerators
was food that had been in there for 11 days – one in an
Admiral Dual Temp, one in a bargain brand. Whose food was
fresher?
The population was 22,644, an increase of 192.7 percent over
that of 1940. One third of Park’s population was under the
age of 16. There were 4,502 children in the school system.
It was the peak of the building boom, with 1,582 building
permits issued.
In June 1950, what started as a “police action” became the
Korean War. Many WWII Veterans who had gone into the
reserves – and many officers – were recalled to action.
Park’s first casualty was Pvt. Jess Oborn, who died on
September 1, 1950, 25 days shy of his 18th birthday. The
47th Viking Division of the National Guard left for Korea in
January 1951. At the war’s end in December 1952, 688
Minnesotans had died.
St. Paulite Charles Schulz published the first “Peanuts”
cartoon. “Charlie Brown” was named after a real
Charlie Brown, from St. Louis Park.
1951
The public accounting firm of
Sandvig and Sandvig
was formed in January 1951.
On May 9, 1951 the Dispatch reported that the wife
and family of boxer
Lee Savold were living at 4230 Brookside
Ave. At the time, Lee Savold was the third ranking
heavyweight and held the British heavyweight title. The
article said that he was to meet Joe Louis at the Polo
Grounds in New York on June 13. Louis won and Lee’s career
as a headliner was over.
In January 1951, the Paul Hein Beauty Salon featured a new
hairstyle called the “Gabrieleen Tepidaire – Not a cold
wave, not a hot wave, but a new wave.”
What was advertised as St. Louis Park’s first Circus took
place on July 11, 1951 at the “Civic Center Grounds,” which
was a vacant piece of land east of Village Hall/Lincoln
School. Competing in the circus trade was the
Lions Club,
who brought the Kelly and Morris Circus to Lilac Lanes. BTW,
the first Zurah Shrine Circus came to the Minneapolis Armory
in 1918.
Minnetonka Blvd. opened after being paved – for the first
time? – on October 3, 1951. The event was celebrated with a
bonfire, searchlights, a street dance, and contests. Shortly
afterwards, many businesses opened for the first time.
In October, 1951 the
Lakeland Hotel, located on Lake Street
and Highway 7, was ready to open.
The Spirit of St. Louis Park
newspaper was published from August 29 to October 31,
1951.
Holy Family School opened at the corner of Lake and Zarthan
on September 4, 1951.
In August, the 4100 block of Xenwood held a beauty contest
for 10 and 11-year-olds. Miss Barbara Betland was chosen
Queen of Xenwood. $3.50 was raised at the event for Sister
Kenney. In the fall, George A. Field showed home movies of
the
neighborhood children at his home at 4150 Xenwood.
On January 6, 1951, local dentists urged the Village to add
fluoride to the water.
The general offices and distribution center of the Salkin &
Linoff (S&L) department store chain moved into
7400
Excelsior Blvd. in July 1951.
Minikahda Court Apartments was built in 1951 between France
and Glenhurst (3542 Minikahda Court). It may have been
briefly called Glenhurst Court. At least the initial plan
was to build 12 buildings with 10 units in each, with 45
garage units. Today it has 125 units.
In November, the Penney Supermarket moved from 6312
Minnetonka Blvd. to
8000 Minnetonka after a fire.
On June 13, 1951, Lambin Motors sustained $10,000 in
damage in a two-alarm fire. The garage reopened in
September, advertising new management and a new body shop.
The business was located at
4825 Excelsior Blvd., the site
of the old St. Louis Park Garage. The business was owned by
Eugene Lambin. In January 1953, Lambin expanded into the new
and used car business.
The Village Council ordered an aerial map for $148 and an
Atlas of the Village for $316.
The population of the Park was estimated at 25,000 to
27,000 (Lydia Rogers said 26,219), and there were approximately 7,000 homes.
The race was on to build up the north side, and
Adolph Fine
was in the forefront. Some of his houses were built to the
FHA/Veteran’s Administration’s specifications, intended to
be affordable on a limited salary. The limit was $7,000, but
the Village was pressured to raise it to $7500. Some can be
seen on the 3100 block of Utah and the 1600 blocks of
Alabama and Blackstone. Fine testified that the homes cost
$6,000 to build and sold for $7,700. These houses were
small, though, and soon brought wrath from neighbors who
complained that their own home values were falling. On June
16, 1952, the Village Council changed the zoning ordinance
to increase the minimum size of a house to 720 sq. ft. with
a basement or 840 sq. ft. without a basement.
The famed Dionne Quintuplets, born in Canada and trouped
around to state fairs and such, came to Minnesota in
December 1951 for the St. Paul Winter Carnival. Their
appearance was arranged by Brown & Bigelow, which had had
exclusive use of the quints for calendar illustrations since
their birth 17 years ago.
March saw the passing of the 22nd Amendment to the
Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms. Franklin
Delano Roosevelt had served the better part of four
terms.
July 20 saw the strongest
winds ever recorded in the area:
92 miles per hour.
On July 2, 1951, the
St. Louis Park Medical Center opened
for business, seeing five patients and making $16.
The building two doors east of Miracle Mile,
4995 Excelsior,
was built at the same time as Miracle Mile. The building was
supposedly built by Si Rutherford, and was indeed called the
Rutherford Building, although records seem to indicate that
it was built by Shelden Thomas, the builders of Miracle
Mile. (And today it is owned by the owners of Miracle Mile.)
1951 building permits totalled 1,225.
For excitement that spring, you could go to the Hot Rod
Races at the New Brighton Race Track. Or you could watch
them at 2:30 on Sundays on WTCN, which in those days was
Channel 4.
1952
On January 14, 1952, a horrendous
ice storm made the
headlines in Minneapolis. That spring, the Mississippi and
Minnesota Rivers conspired to cause some of the worst
flooding in Minnesota history.
Henry LeRoy DeBoom, Class of 1952, was offered scholarships
of $7,000 each from Harvard and Yale but was sidetracked by
polio.
Happy Acres Kiddieland operated from June 22 to October 15,
1952 at
37th and the Beltline
(future site of Shoppers’
City, sponsored by the VFW.
Dusty Sauter’s miniature train,
fire engines, and airplanes were featured.
The
Lilac Way Café opened after a bitter debate over the
liquor license. Three churches came in against it, among
others. Nick Phillips countered that he was heavily
mortgaged (Sons of Norway, Lutheran Brotherhood), and more
than hinted that he may have to convert the property to a
manufacturing plant if he couldn’t get the license. He got
the license, but had to wall off the café from the bowling
alley. He also promised no bar (just drinks at tables) and nomusic or dancing.
In 1952, John Louis and Dorothy Stewart ran John O. Louis
and Associates Public Relations Consultants at 5047
Excelsior Blvd. (no such number?) They had a contract for
$6,000 with the Park School Board, which became
controversial as opinion spread that it was a waste of
money. The company generated leaflets for school kids to
take to their parents, and had something to do with a
Citizens Advisory Committee on Public Education, but by
August they were fired.
September 20, 1952 brought the Joppa and Excelsior Gift
Carnival. Prizes included an17-inch Philco TV set.
Participating businesses were Arcade TV and Appliance,
Dick’s ‘66’ Service, Joppa Pharmacy, Brook’s Cities Service,
the Irish Washerwoman, and the Minikahda Dairy Store.
The Village Council voted not to extend rent control on
September 29, 1952. Rent control may have been a wartime
measure.
The building at
3887 Wooddale was one of four owned by Frank Theros, the owner of Lilac Way Shopping Center. It was built
in 1952 at a cost of $18,000. The building was demolished in
June 1984, presumably with the rest of Lilac Way.
Ruth’s Toggery Shop was built in 1952. It was located at
5250 Excelsior Blvd., run by Ruth Commers and her husband
Don. In 1944-48, her shop was at her house at 3259 Zarthan,
but Roy Walbom, a competitor, complained to the Village
Council that she was operating a business in a residential
area. She may have moved in to Lilac Way for a time before
she built her own building. Ads indicate that a second floor
– a $30,000 addition – was added to the building in about
1954-5.
Jiffy Car Wash, located at 3740 Kipling (just off of
Excelsior) opened on December 29, 1952 and promised a
high-tech wash in 3 minutes for $1.50. It was only the
second car wash of its kind in the Twin City area.
Park Knoll School, with 20 classrooms, was built at Texas
Avenue and 36th Street in 1952.
Cliff’s Drive-In operated at Highway 100 and Minnetonka
Blvd (5403 Minnetonka) from 1950 to 1964. It was owned and
operated by Mrs. C.J. Amlon and Rella McComb. It went from a
small drive-in to a restaurant with the capacity for 40.
Cliff’s specialized in takeout and curb service. In 1964, it
became Jack Reed’s Drive In until 1971.
Resop Realtors, led by Ken Born and Milt Brecke, built the
building at
4950 Excelsior Blvd. The 180’ building, built on
land that had been the Engell Dairy, originally had space
for 10 offices. House of Vision opticians were there for
several years. Since 1966 it has been the home of Zip
Printing, where you can see an original Zip the Monkey, used
by the Post Office in 1963 to promote the use of the new zip
codes.
4,500 building permits were issued – building sites were
more in demand in the Park than in any other Twin Cities
suburb.
In September 1952, the
Woodfin Lewis family became the first
black family to move to St. Louis Park, but pressure from
neighbors drove them back to Minneapolis, despite efforts of
politicians and ministers to teach tolerance.
By 1952, the original Brookside church building at 4241
Brookside Ave. was the
First Church of Christ Scientist of
St. Louis Park, and was attended by the
Jackley family,
among others. In 1958, a Christian Science Reading Room was
located at 5407 Excelsior Blvd.
Charles P. Albertson of 4321 Brookside Ave. requested that
Zarthan Ave. be vacated for use as a driveway, garage, and
garden. The Village Council approved the request, with the
proviso that it could be rescinded with 30 days notice.
There were approximately 1,100 St. Louis Park babies born in
1952, but, in the days before
Methodist Hospital, only four
were actually born in the Park.
The world’s first open-heart surgery was performed at the U
of M.
On August 17,
WTCN-TV, Channel 4, changed to WCCO-TV.
A different WTCN would come back in 1953.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican) was elected President.
1953
1953 was the year that Betty Ann McCall started her own
accordion school in July, located at 4321 Excelsior Blvd.
Betty was taught by Anthony Galla-Rini, and hoped to form an
accordion band. This is the address of present-day Koval’s.
St. Louis Park passed a sign ordinance on January 26, 1953,
and soon was inundated with requests to erects signs, many
along Excelsior Blvd. Few were denied.
Nick Phillips planned a 104-unit hotel on 5 acres south of
Lilac Lanes, but it never happened. The $600,000 complex was
to be designed by architects Brandhorst and Leadholm of St.
Louis Park. What did come to pass was the Lilac Lanes
Aquatennial Classic, featuring the nation’s leading bowlers.
This wasn’t the first big plan that failed to come to
fruition; in 1949 Phillips announced a $10,000 2nd story
addition that would house the Lilac Way Medical and Dental
Center. When that deal fell through, the doctors who would
start the
St. Louis Park Medical Center turned to
Morton Arneson and built their first building on his former
nursery.
On November 3rd and 4th, 1953, Roger DeClercq and Jack Alwin
produced the “Negro Classic Play ‘Green Pastures’” at the
high school. “Green Pastures is an attempt to present
certain aspects of a living religion in terms of its
beliefs. The religion is that of thousands of Negroes in the
deep south. With terrific spiritual hunger, these untutored
black Christians have adopted the contents of the Bible to
the consistencies of their everyday lives.” The show
featured a 30-voice choir singing 20 spirituals. See
Race, Creed, and Color.
In 1953,
Morten Arneson built a house at 4709 – West 70th
Street in Edina, on 20 acres they had been using to grow
nursery stock. Against pressure to subdivide, he donated his
property to the City of Edina for use as a park. His wife
passed away in 1972, and he passed away in October 1982.
Their house is now being used for the Edina Historical
Society.
Back in the Park, Arneson continued to develop his land
despite local opposition. He built the National Tea store at
4951 Excelsior, and dedicated 20 ft. adjacent to Quentin
from Excelsior to 40th Street as a public street.
Dr. Glenn D. Braatz set up his chiropractic practice in the
Excel Building in Miracle Mile in September 1953.
Members of the Minneapolis Unit of the
League of Women
Voters living in St. Louis Park met on October 27 to
organize their own chapter in 1953. The SLP League of Women
Voters was chartered on July 10, 1954, with Mrs. William
Bierne as President. Its 134 members met in 11 units. They
immediately focused on a study of the proposed Home Rule
Charter that would make St. Louis Park a city, and they
campaigned vigorously for the passage of the Charter.
Interestingly, members were identified in their own
historical material by their husband’s names until 1970.
The Donovan Construction Company completed
Meadowbrook
Manor, 7000 Excelsior Blvd., consisting of 640 units in 89
buildings, constructed at a cost of $6 million. At the time,
it was the largest apartment housing project in the Midwest.
Perhaps encouraged by Meadowbrook Manor, Liebenberg and
Kaplan, Architects and Engineers informed the Village
Council of their intent to develop an industrial tract
between the S&L Building (7400 Excelsior) and Powell Road
(ostensibly the Hopkins border).
The C & C Building, located at
4021-29 Vernon Avenue, was
built by
Cusack and Carlson, Inc. Realtors in 1953. The
building boasted 70,000 square feet of office space.
Postal statistics recorded 14,870 families and 815 business
firms in the Park. 1,046 building permits were issued.
Assessed property valuations in 1953 were over $15,263,000.
The
Chamber of Commerce requested permission to stage the
Jay Gould Million Dollar Circus on Village property, June
22-23.
Adolph Fine developed
Texa-Tonka Shopping Center around this
time, starting with a drug store and a Penney’s Grocery
Store in 1953. Texa-Tonka Lanes was built in 1958 and Texa-Tonka
Rentals in 1959. He had apparently been in some kind of
business relationship with Harlan Rohr regarding this
development, but Fine disassociated himself from Rohr in
June 1950, according to the Village Council minutes.
Anderson Cadillac opened in 1953, located at
5100 Excelsior
Blvd., across from Miracle Mile. This had been the site of
the Waddel farm, owned in the 1920’s by
C.B. Waddel, a
Hennepin County Commissioner. The dealership, headed by
Victor E. Anderson of St. Paul, was apparently a spinoff of
Warren Cadillac. At the time, it was only the second
Cadillac dealer in Hennepin County. In 1965, Anderson
Cadillac moved to 7400 Wayzata Blvd.; later car dealers were
Riviera Imports, Pentel Pontiac, and Willkins Pontiac and
Fiat. The site was demolished in 1993 to make way for Park
Commons.
Nearby, two display homes were permitted to be placed on
Excelsior Blvd., east of
Zephyr Oil (5050).
Kilmer was annexed from Minnetonka, which could not provide
sewer and water.
Honeywell introduced the T86 Round Thermostat.
On September 1, 1953, WTCN-TV went on the air on Channel 11.
The new studio was located at the Calhoun Beach Hotel.
At first, WTCN shared the frequency with WMIN, but at the
end of April, 1955, the two stations merged.
Minnesota adopted the Norway Pine as its State Tree. This
tree does not grow in Norway, but in a town called Norway,
located in Maine.
1954
The
St. Louis Park Community Center opened for business
in March 1953. It was located at 6212 W. Lake Street in a
building that was formerly the old Holy Family Church. With
the help of donations from the Women’s Club, the American
Legion, and others, a foundation, windows, plumbing, light
and heat were added. A two-story addition was added in
August 1956, and two hockey rinks were also added. By 1963,
the center had become too small and its heating system
inadequate. The old community center was abandoned by
December 1969 and its contents sold in May 1973.
On June 19, 1954, two inches of water fell in a downpour so
severe that the intersection of Highway 100 and Excelsior
Blvd. turned into one big lake and 300 cars were
waterlogged. See
Weather.
School enrollment was 7,383, and the high school was so
crowded that students adhered to a half day schedule. If a
student came only in the morning or only in the afternoon,
he or she was expected to eat lunch at home.
In August, three trained elephants performed at
Miracle Mile
to promote a “White Elephant” sale. The elephants were not
white. And they were not for sale.
The development of the
Belt Line Industrial Park was
announced in 1954, to be built on land owned by Charles Friedheim. The 35 planned sites would be located east of
Highway 100 at 36th Street. The firm was organized in 1956
with Robert Ehrenberg named general manager. An early tenant
was the Westinghouse Electric Corp., located at 3501 State
Highway 100 South.
Westwood Shopping Center, boasting 7 stores, opened on
September 30, 1954. Located at
Cedar Lake Road
and Louisiana
and built by Wallace Bruce, this shopping center was
designed in “California Style” by architects Armstrong and Schlicting. This much needed facility well served the
burgeoning North Side.
The white wooden bandstand at then-Fireman’s Park (now
Jorvig Park) was torn down after 40 years of use.
St. Louis Park’s
Home Rule Charter was approved by the
electorate on December 7, 1954 by a vote of 2,822 to 734. St. Louis Park was officially designated a City effective January 7,
1955.
Russell C. Fernstrom was the City’s first official Mayor –
he had served as President of the Village Council since 1954
and would continue to serve until 1959.
The McBee Building, named after the company it was built
for, was built at 4300 36-1/2 Street at Excelsior Blvd. for
$23,000. McBee moved out soon after, but the name stuck.
The Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) was chartered on
October 5, 1954, meeting in a rented room behind the office
and showroom of Rutherford Garden Machines.
A special census was taken on April 14, and revealed a
population of 35,292 – a 56 percent increase over the last
five years. The Park was the fourth largest
municipality in the State.
From April 12-15, local churches joined together to hold
noon-time Lenten services at
Aldersgate Methodist Church. In
a now outdated violation of the
separation of church and
state, the Village Council moved to assist in promoting
attendance at such services by giving employees time off to
go to church, “as long as it did not cripple the vital
services of the Village.”
180 new businesses were reported by the Village Assessor.
The number of homes as of May was 9,157. 959 building
permits were issued, the highest since 1950.
Shelard Park was annexed from Minnetonka because of the
Park’s ability to provide sewer and water. In 1956, the
remaining 28 square miles of Minnetonka was incorporated as a
village to stop any
further annexations.
That July, the Twin Cities went Hoppy Crazy, when Hopalong
Cassidy (William Boyd) made an appearance. On July 9, a
motorcade took him from Wold-Chamberlain Airport to the
Calhoun Beach Hotel. He made an appearance at the Shriner’s
Hospital for Crippled Children, and held court at the hotel,
where Governor C. Elmer Anderson greeted Hoppy on behalf of
the State’s youngsters. On July 10 he appeared in three
shows at
Excelsior Amusement Park. A
TV Guide cover got two
kids in for free and two rides each on the Tilt-a-Whirl and
the Caterpillar. In addition, the 5 winners of the “Lunch
With Hoppy” contest joined him for a fried chicken dinner
and received a Hopalong Cassidy western outfit. The sponsor
of the TV show and the event was Peters Meat Products, which
provided free Humming Lariats to any kid with a box from
Peter’s Roasted Porkettes. He was also sponsored by the
local Chrysler-Plymouth dealers, who let Hoppy draw the
winner of a new 1954 Chrysler Sedan and “Hoppy Bikes.”
On June 30, the Twin Cities area experienced a total eclipse
of the sun at 5:07 am, 27 minutes after sunrise. Thousands
of local citizens stood on rooftops and bridges to see the
sun disappear for 76 seconds. 50 passengers rode a Northwest
Airlines “Stratocruiser” to view the eclipse from 20,000
feet over Lake Minnetonka. The Tribune called it “The
Day the Sun Died.” The next such eclipse potentially visible
in the Twin Cities is predicted to come on September 14,
2099.
In 1954, the Biltmore Motor Hotel was built at Highway 100
and 50th Street. It was technically in Bloomington,
but most of its 17 acres were in Edina, just outside the SLP
line. Developers included Cedric Adams and Dick Enroth.
Initially there were 40 motel-style rooms, and a heated
swimming pool. By July 1955, 40 more rooms and a
convention hall were added. The structure faltered
with changes in Highway 100 access, and closed in 1984.
Two iconic kids’ shows started in 1954. On May 14,
Roger Awsumb
first assumed his Casey Jones persona on a show called
Noon-Time Express. It had other names, but most
remember it as
“Lunch With
Casey.”
Then on August 12,
“Axel and his
Dog” made its debut on WCCO Channel 4. At first it
was only on on Thursdays at 5, but soon grew to a daily
show.
1955
The Village of St. Louis Park officially became a City on
January 7, 1955. See December 7, 1954, above. The first
City
Manager was Phillip W. Smith, who also kept his job as City
Engineer. The double job was ruining his health, so the
Council relieved him of his City Manager duties – although
he kept the title – until Tom Chenoweth came on board on
July 1. Smith retired in May 1958. Chenoweth was hired at
$13,000 plus moving expenses.
Juvenile Delinquency was on the minds of many parents, as
the teenage culture was born and Elvis and his ilk
frightened many an upright citizen. Such concerns first
surfaced during the war, as children grew up with absentee
soldier fathers, and war working women. Girls were picked up trying to hitchhike to army camps to see their
boyfriends. There was good news in 1951 when a U of M study
found juvenile delinquency was at an “amazingly low level.”
A 1955 ad for National grocery stores took credit for
turning potential JD’s into bag boys and checkout girls –
5,655 of them. A Brookside PTA meeting that year featured a
talk by Mr. Phillip E. Ploumen of the Hennepin County Home
for Boys, entitled “Boys in Difficulty.” Perhaps Mr.
Ploumen’s talk was premature: Brookside in the ’60s had way
more than its share of juvenile delinquents.
Ethel Baston Elementary School was built.
A restaurant called Flameburger was built at
4920 Excelsior
Blvd. in 1955 at a site that had been the house of Reuben
and May Engell of the Engell Dairy.
St. Louis Park Council Number 3949 of the
Knights of
Columbus was founded in January 1955. The Council’s Charter
Grand Knight was Patrick Corcoran, who was also a member of
the local Lion’s Club. Charitable activities include an
annual Tootsie Roll drive to raise money for the mentally
retarded, and a Marathon for Nonpublic Education. The
Knights participate in a long list of activities that
include fundraising for nonprofit organizations and
scholarships, sponsorship of a Little League team, and many
fraternal activities.
The row of storefronts at
5805-5807-5809 Excelsior were
built on the site of a former gas station.
Loehman’s Knollwood Plaza Shopping Center opened on August
17, 1955 at 8337 Highway 7 (at Texas Avenue). G.F. “Cliff”
Loehman had owned the land since 1929, which had previously
been used as a driving range, cornfield, and pasture for the
herd from the Glen Lake School for Boys. Present at the
opening were Governor Orville Freeman, Hubert Humphrey, and
singer Rosemary Clooney. Powers Knollwood also opened in
August, and was the first complete suburban department store
in the Twin Cities. It had two floors and a mezzanine,
“dedicated to family living and keyed to a casual way of
life.”
1955 was the year of the great automat debate, when inventor
Louis Roberge put an automatic food vending machine in a
makeshift store in a garage at Meadowbrook Manor. One of his
12 items was a paper carton of milk, and there was much
skepticism about how he could keep his product fresh and the
premises clean. Many folks saw this one machine as a huge
threat, including the Meatcutter’s Union, Milk Drivers and
Dairy Employees Union, and the Minneapolis Retail Grocers
Association. One man saw this machine as a threat to “the
entire working class.” Another school of criticism was that
“money comes from the East, goes back East.” Another fear
was that cereal could cause rust or mold. Apparently the
biggest opponent was Edward Straus, who got caught by
Roberge opening windows in his place in an attempt to raise
the temperature. This led to fisticuffs, but no one was
seriously injured. Police declined to press charges against
Roberge.
All that notwithstanding, Roberge’s permit was approved on
July 11, 1955. Such machines had previously been installed
in Minneapolis and Richfield and one was on display at 33rd
and Lyndale. Roberge opened his store in July 1955 – sans
milk. His other products were bread, eggs, oleomargarine,
doughnuts, rolls, butter, bacon, wieners, ground round
steak, and coffee. That September, the City Council worked
to pass an ordinance to regulate and license vending
machines. They attracted national attention, as it was the
first of its kind in the nation, according to the
Dispatch.
On June 6, 1955, Mr. Morris Frederick of MLW Amusement
requested permission to operate his mobile “Whip-Go-Round” on
a vacant lot east of
4950 Excelsior. Unanimously denied.
The City purchased a Kodak Verifax Copier for $240.
Fred C. Schnabel of 4820 W. 38th Street billed the Village
for $9.65 for killing his tomato plants when they sprayed for
weeds with DDT.
St. Louis Park was left off the official State map, and the
Village Council was hopping mad. They wrote a letter to the
Governor and the highway commissioner, reminding them that
the Park was the fourth largest municipality in the State.
The Governor responded with a promise of “no recurrence of
this oversight.”
Some development statistics from 1955:
- Businesses saw a net gain of 95, leaving a total of
740. There were 153 new ventures and 58 that went
out of business.
- In May 1955 there were 9,666 homes, up 529 from last
year.
- 823 building permits were issued.
In Bloomington, ground was broken in June for Metropolitan Area Stadium,
completed in 1956. Its capacity was 31,000. It was replaced
by the Metrodome in 1982. It was demolished in December
1994. Implosion could not down the venerable stadium, and
they had to knock it down with big equipment. The site is
now the Mall of America.
Population of St. Louis Park: 38,454.
On January 9, KEYD-TV began broadcasting on
Channel 9.
In 1956 to was renamed KMGM, and in 1958 it became KMSP-TV.
1956
The
St. Louis Park Senior High School, 6425 West 33rd
Street, was built at a cost of $3.5 million.
The City began a program of
mosquito control spraying, the
first of its kind in the area. Experimental spraying
commenced in 1956, and on June 13, 1957, a $14,000 project
was begun to spray the little buggers from a helicopter. The
press made much fun of the proceedings, at the mosquitoes’
expense.
Mrs. C.M. Pratt, President of the
Brookside Garden Club,
appeared before the City Council on August 13 to complain of
“promiscuous dumping at Minnehaha Creek at the foot of
Colorado Ave.”
The mandatory retirement age of 65 imposed on all city
workers in 1954 was repealed when people started to actually
reach the mandatory age.
The old Smokey Point Café at
4725 Excelsior Blvd. gave way
to Lynch Café, also known as Lynch’s Steak House, owned by
George T. Lynch.
Peter T. Kosmas (aka Cosmo) and his brother-in law Anthony
J. Kallas, who had managed Jennings Tavern, built what was
first called the Park House Tavern but soon became known as
Park Terrace Cafe and Bottle Shop at
4700
Excelsior Blvd.
Park Terrace was a fine dining, white tablecloth kind of
establishment, and became known as the Park Terrace Supper
Club. “You’ll love the exciting social whirl… the flair and
glamour of the Park Terrace.” Singer Mary Davies (a/k/a
Carmen the Nurse) opened the club and performed there
frequently. The building was originally stucco construction.
This business lasted until about October 1966.
The building at
4140 Excelsior Blvd. was built in August as
the home of Boulevard Furniture. The 70 ft. by 100 ft.
building was built by Ralph Rutledge. The business, owned by
Max and Barbara Weingarden, started in 1951 at 4813
Excelsior Blvd.
The Lady Lions, auxiliary to the
Lion’s Club, organized on
January 17, 1956. They were an extraordinarily active group,
and lasted until 1993, when the Lion’s Club became co-ed.
The First Federal Savings and Loan building was built at
5501 Excelsior Blvd. in 1955. The bank, first organized in
1926, had been temporarily located in Miracle Mile until the
building could be cleared for construction by the Federal
government. The land had belonged to Isadore V. Gedney in
1933. Larson and McLaren were the architects of the unusual
building that featured a 75 ft. tower and a prominent clock.
The Open House was held on June 4 – 8, 1956.
Coast to Coast Stores built a $3 million, 21 acre warehouse
at 7500 Excelsior Blvd. in 1956. A grand opening was held on
February 8-9, 1957, with special guest Governor Orville
Freeman. 200 people struck the facility in 1961. Coast to
Coast occupied the building until about 1977.
Excelsior Blvd. was paved from Highway 100 to Hopkins, with
four 60 ft. lanes and two parking lanes.
Benilde High School for Catholic Boys was built by the
Christian Brothers. It was named for Blessed Benilde, a
deceased Christian Brother. The 50-acre tract included a
residence for Christian Brothers. The school opened on
September 10, 1956 with 400 students.
With all the new arrivals in St. Louis Park, it was natural
that the Welcome Wagon came to town. Our local hostess was
Mrs. Leland D. Norton, who handed out gifts to newcomers
courtesy of local merchants. The Welcome Wagon was started
in 1928 by Thomas W. Briggs of Memphis.
Excelsior Blvd. comprised one third of all commercial
acreage in the Park. Knollwood came in at 14 percent.
November 14, 1956 marked the debut of the Pomperettes, the
cheerleaders for the University of Minnesota. Several former Parkettes were part of the group, which performed at college
games from 1956 to 1963.
Democratic Presidential candidate Estes Kefauver made a
campaign stop to St. Louis Park on March 7, 1956. The
Tennessee Senator greeted crowds at Knollwood Plaza and
Miracle Mile. At the time it was believed to be the first
such visit to the Park, but apparently Herbert Hoover beat
him to it by 30 years.
Utica resident Ed Swenson and his partner won $720 on the
national TV game show “Two for the Show.”
The new City hired Carl Gardner and Associates of Chicago to
prepare a comprehensive plan for $33,700.
Elvis performed at the St. Paul Auditorium.
Southdale Shopping Center opened on October 8, 1956.
Reserve Mining Co. began the first large-scale taconite
production in Minnesota, dumping taconite tailings into Lake
Superior.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was reelected President, perhaps as a
result of his appearance at the U of M’s Homecoming football
game.
1957
The 27-room
Cedar Manor Elementary School was built at
9400 Cedar Lake Road.
The 27-room
Aquila Elementary School was built at 8500 W.
31st. Street.
Apparently there was a rash of moving houses within St.
Louis Park, as the City Council found it necessary to pass
an ordinance regulating such activity.
In accordance with its population, Park was allowed to issue
15 on-site
liquor licenses. In 1957 there were six such
licenses, all to establishments on Excelsior Blvd.
The famed
Skunk Hollow Bridge over Cambridge Ave. was built
in April 1957, replacing a rickety wooden one. Skunk Hollow,
located approximately behind Methodist Hospital, was
beginning to develop as a major light industrial area in town.
Students, teachers, and parents came together to create a
Teen Age Code for Park’s 900 junior high school students.
The code was based on a model Minnesota code, but the school
got national publicity for being an innovator. Still to be
found is a copy of the code.
Myrt’s Café opened at Minnetonka Blvd. and Dakota, catering
to the teen-age trade. It was run by Mr. and Mrs. Truman
Hedwell. It created some controversy as to whether the
police were enforcing the law (re: drinking, smoking,
curfew) even handedly at Myrt’s.
S&D Cleaning and Laundry was built at
4501 Excelsior Blvd.
(at 38th/Lynn). In 1952-53 the site had been Suburban
Chevrolet Used Car Lot. Not far away, at Excelsior and
Kipling, All Sports, Inc. requested a permit to run a used
car lot on May 25, 1953.
There were lots of weight loss – reducing – businesses
advertised in 1957. One, Alvin Roy’s Salon, advertised with
a sketch of a woman strapped into a most convoluted
apparatus.
The stucco Schadow Building at
6100 Excelsior Blvd. was
built in 1956. Insurance agent Gene Schadow rented and later
bought the building. When he retired he sold it to his son
Bruce, who later sold it.
Leonard E. Enga built the
Enga Funeral Home at 5600
Excelsior Blvd., at Webster. An Open House was held on
August 17 and 18, 1957. The business had previously been
located at 1300 Lowry Ave. No. in Minneapolis. The building
permit was taken out by Ralph Rutledge.
A record 4.3 million children were born in 1957, the peak of
the baby boom. Contrast the number to just 2.9 million born
in 1945. 9,600 kids were in the St. Louis Park school system. The teachers
weren’t helping: 79 new teachers had to be hired due to an
“epidemic of pregnancies.”
Educational TV station KTCA began broadcasting on
Channel 2.
The world’s first wearable pacemaker was invented by
Medtronic founder Earl Bakken at the request of Dr. C.
Walton Lillehei at the U of M Hospital.
1958
McDonald’s opened on June 3 at 6320 Lake Street. It was
Park’s first, the state’s second (the first was in
Roseville), and the world’s 93rd McDonald’s ever built. The
building was remodeled several times over the years, and in
October 2000 it was razed by owner Ken Darula in order to
build a larger facility.
E. M. Smith of 5511 Vermont came forward to suggest that
Vermont Street be changed to 43rd Street, seeing as how it
lies between 42nd and 44th. Research found that Ordinance
No. 167, dated January 20, 1941, had done just that.
Sentiment was against Mr. Smith, however, and the City
Council passed an ordinance officially changing it back to
Vermont on May 19, 1958.
The 36-room
Minikahda Motor Lodge was built at 3924
Excelsior Blvd., next to Al’s Liquors.
Resat’s Beauty Salon took up residence at the
Wooddale
Professional Building, holding its Grand Opening on April
10-12, 1958. Resat Komac was listed as consultant/owner.
Featured hairstylist was Mr. James (Sundstrom) from New
York.
The Navy set up a recruiting station at 4630 Excelsior Blvd.
(next to Jennings Liquor Store) from April 24 to May 3,
1958. Featured were scale models of the USS Forrestal and an
F7U-3 Cutlass Navy Jet Fighter. In June, the Council urged
the establishment of a US Naval and Marine Corps Reserve
Training Center to be located east of Aquila School.
The Centennial Train, loaded with displays related to the
100th anniversary of Minnesota statehood, made a stop at St.
Louis Park on August 21, 1958. The Chamber of Commerce and
Queen Sharon Bigalke were there to meet it at the Milwaukee
Railroad depot at 36th and Wooddale. 4,824 visitors walked
through the train before it continued on to the state
fairgrounds.
The Battle of the Lilacs ensued between
garden clubs of St.
Louis Park and Golden Valley, each claiming the lilac as its
city “shrub and tree.” The race was on to see who could
plant the most lilacs in their community. After all it was
the Golden Valley Garden Club that originated the idea for
Lilac Way, raising money to plant lilacs by selling lilacs.
But the Park Knoll Garden Club was instrumental in having
the lilac adopted as the official tree by the City Council
of St. Louis Park in June 1958.
By the way, it is (un)commonly known that raspberries are not
native to Hopkins and had to be transplanted from St. Louis
Park.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the house at
2706 Parklands in
1958.
The 1958 directory lists several community organizations:
- The Community Club met at Eliot School.
- The Jaycees President was Bill Carlson.
- The Optimist Club met at 4815 Excelsior Blvd.
- The Sportsman’s Club was based in Hopkins.
- The 60 Plus Club’s President was Minnie Henry.
- The West Suburban Exchange Club’s President was
Richard Ward of the Skippy Peanut Butter Company
The
Hamilton Building/Masonic Lodge, 6505-07 Walker
Street, was
destroyed by fire in a 9-hour blaze on December
25-26. See Fires and Firefighting.
The first code of City Ordinances (as opposed to Village
Ordinances) was adopted on October 6, 1958.
The 15-acre
Ruedlinger Nursery, one of Park’s oldest
businesses, sold out to Modern Homes for residential
development of
the tract bordered by the Great Northern Railroad, Minnehaha
Creek, Knollwood Shopping Center, and Zinran Ave. The
Ruedlinger building became the Knollwood Liquor Store.
The City Council declared that “areas that are left in St.
Louis Park will be developed on a high basis.” That included
ornamental street lights that you see in Country Club in
Edina, or Minnehaha Gables, 2nd Addition, out by Flag and
Gettysburg.
Vice President Richard Nixon served as the Aquatennial’s
Grand Marshall.
Urban Renewal came to Minneapolis when the city approved the
Gateway Renewal Plan. The Gateway Pavilion and Bridge Square
were created in 1917, but almost immediately became a magnet
for homeless men. The stretch along Washington Avenue had at
one time served as the commercial and business center of the
City, but by the 1930s it had become the City’s Skid Row,
rife with liquor stores, bars, restaurants, brothels,
warehouses, flophouses, and other dilapidated old buildings
that had been an embarrassment to the city for decades. It
was from here that homeless men were bussed to St. Louis
Park to building Highway 100. Over
a five year period in the 1950s, 24 city blocks were leveled and 3,000 or
more homeless men were displaced.
Vice President Nixon and Senator Edward J. Thye met with
“Young Men of Minnesota” at the Leamington on July 19, 1958.
Present was St. Louis Park City Attorney H.H. “Ace” Burry.
Although perhaps not reflected in the economy of booming St.
Louis Park,
the country experienced the first major recession since the
Korean War.
Congress created the “National System of Interstate and
Defense Highways.” See
Automotive Milestones.
Plans were made to bulldoze Fort Snelling to make way for a
highway cloverleaf, but the public insisted on preserving
it. In 1961 it became Fort Snelling State Park, and the
Minnesota Historical Society turned it into an education
center. By 1978 it had been restored to the year 1825.
1959
There was a three-week “food sales blackout” starting at
the end of March when the meat cutters and grocery clerks’
unions went on strike. During that time, groceries were only
available at small, usually family grocery stores like
Freeland’s. Violence ensued at General Mills in Golden
Valley during the strike, and when it was over on April 3 at
4 pm, there was a buying frenzy at the supermarkets.
Dave Williams, Kermit Quaintance, and Arnold Alger opened
the Econ-o-Wash at
4815 Excelsior Blvd. Meant to be the
first in a chain, it was advertised as having a spacious,
comfortable lounge with 30 washers and 10 dryers (always
open). 100% “petal soft” water was promised. Their grand
opening was held on April 17 and 18, 1959, and must have
been successful as it is still there today.
Rollie Williams was a presence in St. Louis Park for many
years. From November 1959 to November 1960, Northwest Guitar
and Organ Studio (aka Northwest Guitar and Accordion) was
located at 3699 Joppa “under personal supervision of Rollie
Williams.” The company’s Minneapolis office was located at
6436 Penn Avenue South. From November 18-26, 1960 the store
had an open house at its new location at
4520 Excelsior
Blvd., this time called Rollie Williams Music Company. It
became R.W. Music Co., and was at that location until about
1974.
Imogene Coca made an appearance at Red Owl in Miracle Mile,
kicking of an MS drive. She was in town with a show called
“The Girls in 509,” playing at the State Theater.
Clyde Sorenson was appointed
Chief of Police on July 1, 1959
and served until 1974.
The Park’s first zoning ordinance was adopted on December
18, effective February 5, 1960. Edina had been the first
village in Minnesota to pass a comprehensive zoning
ordinance, in 1929.
Westwood Junior High was built at 2025 Texas Avenue So. When
Central Jr. High was closed, it became St. Louis Park Junior
High.
The
Sports and Health Club was built at 4916 Excelsior Blvd.
by Arthur W. Owens. The $250,000, precast concrete building
opened on November 23, 1959.
The building that now houses Sela Roofing at
4100 Excelsior
Blvd. was built in 1959. This was the former site of one of
the original
Hanke house.
Clark-Brewer Business Services owner and manager Elwyn L.
Miller of Edina set up shop at the
Wooddale Professional
Building in September, when he bought the business.
Originally a teacher and educational placement service, the
company’s owner started an Electraprint Department in July
1960. At the time it was the only place in the Park that
could turn out electronic stencils by way of the Gestefax
Electrostencil maker.
Methodist Hospital opened its doors at 6500 Excelsior Blvd.
on February 16, 1959. In August 1954 the site was purchased
from Salkin & Linoff for $70,000. The swampy site next to
Minnehaha Creek had to be filled and 100-ft. pilings sunk.
Carl Pohlad of Marquette National Bank was instrumental in
assisting with the financing. The first patient was admitted
on February 16, 1959. The Hospital lost $200,000 in its
first year, despite many fundraising drives, but soon
thrived.
Powers of Knollwood was first to display the new 49-star
flag, but alas Hawaii was admitted soon after.
Arnold Palmer participated in the 41st Annual PGA
tournament, held at the
Minneapolis Golf Club. Palmer was a 28-year-old
phenom, but Bob Rosberg won the championship.
A rainstorm in late June turned Excelsior Blvd. in front of
Miracle Mile into a lake.
Mrs. Oscar Derickson from St. Louis Park won a Paris trip at
a G&K TV contest on Channel 4.
“Clancy the Cop” debuted on Channel 4 and ran until 1971.
Clancy (John
Gallos) had a sidekick detective named Willie Ketchum,
played by Allen Lotsberg.
The St. Lawrence Seaway opened, making Duluth a world port.
Local courts changed from Justice of the Peace to
Municipal Court on January 1, 1960. When a recalcitrant defendant
charged with speeding demanded a jury trial on December 31,
1959 and when only eight jurors showed up,
Judge Anton Yngve
ordered the bailiff to use a little-known law to grab jurors
off the street in order to hear the case before the JP’s
authority ended. The instant jurors consisted of a salesman
on a business call in City Hall and three others on their
coffee break in a nearby cafe. Mrs. Genevieve C. Mengelkoch
was found guilty of doing 40 in a 30 mph zone and was fined
$20.
1960
In February 1960, Nelson Farmer started only the second
Perkins House of Pancakes in the Twin Cities area at
4150
Excelsior Blvd. (the first being at 50th and Nicollet). [In
1958, Matt and Ivan Perkins opened their first Perkins
Pancake House in Cincinnati, Ohio.] According to the ads in
1961, 40 cents would buy a meal – its 18 kinds of pancakes
were so light they float. It became Perkins Cake and Steak.
It operated there until about 1988. In 1991, a new building
(Mr. Clutch) was built on the site. Perkins was later tried
in the building east of Miracle Mile, but it didn’t work
out.
Hoigaard’s opened for business in May 1960 at 3550 South
Highway 100.
The Pizza House opened at
4532 Excelsior Blvd., the former
home of Hughes Furniture. It must have changed owners in
1970 since it had a Grand Opening from February 16-22. The
building burned to the ground on October 12, 1971 – two
firefighters died in the fire. See
Fires and Firefighting.
Ken Glaser opened the Lend Lease Transportation Co. Car
Rental Company at 5056/5105 W. 36th Street. The 12,000
square ft. facility was spread over 3 acres. The company,
founded in 1947, operated in 48 states. 90 percent of the
vehicles were delivered to the customer.
The Y’s Men Club was formed
in 1960 with 90 charter members.
The Y’s Menettes, the auxiliary of the St. Louis Park Y’s
Men, was chartered on March 20, 1960. The goal of the groups
was to bring a YMCA to St. Louis Park, but that has never
happened.
On May 3, Mrs. M.G. Vaughan jumped the curve and crashed
into the front of Warner Hardware at Miracle Mile. There was
no official explanation of the accident. In an unrelated
story, on June 2-4, Miracle Mile offered free helicopter
rides.
Something called the Mondo Group Dance Party was offered
by a bunch in Minneapolis – clip and send. Lessons? DJ? Hard
to tell.
Cedric’s opened at 50th and Vernon in Edina. Owners were
Cedric Adams, Dick Enroth, Harry Gustafson, and Max Winter.
This building at 5116 Vernon became the Edina Mortuary. In
2004 it was still owned by Enroth, or rather by the bank.
Jack Dempsey came to town to open an IGA Store in Golden
Valley. Park had two IGA stores, on Cedar Lake Road and
Wayzata Blvd. The Park
Chamber of Commerce sponsored the
visit with a luncheon for the Manassa Mauler at the Golden
Valley Golf Club.
West Side Volkswagen was built by Archie Walker, Jr.,
grandson of T.B. Walker, in 1960. West Side was known for
its revolving bugs and vans, which were taken down for good
in 1971 due to the company’s overall modernization effort.
The last bus they took down had 15 bullet holes in it, which
may have had something to do with the decision. Archie sold
the dealership in 1965. See
Hoigaard’s for the Beatle Wig stunt.
The fascinating building at 1903 So. Cedar Lake Road was
built by architect Harry “Sonny” Gerrish for himself and his
brother John Kenyon “Ken” Gerrish. The 100 percent cement
building has a roof of hyperbolic parabolas that create a
sail effect. Added touches included moon rocks in the
ceiling. It originally housed three businesses, including
Harry’s architecture office and Ken’s engineering firm. It
was later owned by Ken’s daughter, Sandy G. Haberle, who ran
the Gerand Engineering Co., making equipment to test flow,
water and otherwise. Unfortunately it has been torn down to
make the lot more salable.
A 1960
Youth Conference was held at the high school on
February 16. The topic was “Culture of American Youth –
Decadence or Progress?” Two decidedly adult speakers were
featured.
One youth, David Brown of 4011 Excelsior Blvd., won a $250
national scientific research prize in Westinghouse’s “Search
for Science Talent” contest. Brown’s project had to do with
animal tissue grafting.
June 17 and 18, 1960 saw the grand opening of Fun Wash –
Home of the Happy Washerwoman” at
5809 Excelsior Blvd. The
firm had another store in Edina. It lasted until at least
1962. Owner Robert Hayes split the profits earned on
Wednesdays and Thursdays with the local
Lions Club.
Cardinal Insulated Glass Co. was founded in 1960 by M.L.
Gordon as a source of insulated glass for the M.L. Gordon
Sash and Door Co. Customers include millwork and
refrigeration equipment manufacturers and glass
manufacturers. In 1966 they added a 25,000 sq. ft. addition
at 7115 W. Lake Street, and the company had 25 employees.
Both President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon made
stops to Minneapolis. Boy Scouts from the Park made up the
honor guard for the President, and
Chamber of Commerce
representative Bert R. Jones was in Nixon’s welcoming
committee.
In 1960, Park became the first suburb in the area to
vote for fluoridation in the
drinking water, as recommended
by the American Dental Association. Both Minneapolis and St.
Paul had already taken the step.
On May 20, a cloudburst flooded the still-at-grade
intersection of Excelsior Blvd. and Highway 100. Traffic was
routed through the Miracle Mile parking lot.
Ross and Ross appeared before the City Council and requested
permission to use city land that would eventually become
3700 Highway 100 (Shoppers’ City).
Percy Ross was in the business of auctioning off heavy
construction equipment.
Brookside resident Stephen Zalusky won the soap box derby
sponsored by the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce and area
Chevrolet dealers. He went on to Akron to compete with other
local winners. In other racing news, by 1969, a man named
Phil Stewart owned the Twin City Speedway, Raceway Park, and
Elko Speedway.
Despite all the construction going on in the Park, the home
building boom had begun to boom out, and the paper reported
that the recession in home building and some commercial
building caused a temporary tailspin in the construction
industry.
200 members of the
Knights of Columbus
and the
Boy Scouts
canvassed the city to gather information for Suburban
Newspapers for the 1961 city
directory.
In the summertime, there were complaints that ice cream
vendors were working too late on the street. Case in
point was Mr. Slaypen, aka Mr. Softie. The peddlers’
ordinance was amended to prevent ice cream trucks to run
from 5 to 6:30 at night, so as not to interfere with the
dinner hour.
Population: 43,310, which was 20,612 more than ten years ago.
Park was the fourth largest city in the State behind
Bloomington. Median age was 27.3 Life expectancy
was 67.1 years.
The 1960 census reported that the Park had 37 units without
plumbing.
In May, Americans were disillusioned to find that President
Eisenhower had lied when denying the existence of the U2 spy
planes.
“The Pill” was put on the market, paving the way for
the women’s movement. The first pill was called Enovid
10, and cost $11/month.
Xerox, which had patented a prototype copier in 1940,
perfected the Xerox 914 copier for office use.
The laser (Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of
Radiation) was invented by Ted Maiman.
John F. Kennedy (Democrat) was elected President.
The U.S. Olympic hockey team won a gold medal; on the team
were the Christian brothers from Warroad.
Verne Gagne formed the American Wrestling Association.
1961
The
Ambassador Motor Hotel
was opened at 5225 Wayzata
Blvd. at Highway 100.
Calvin Griffith bought the Washington Senators and they
became the Minnesota Twins. Their first game was on April 11
in New York, where they beat the Yankees 6-0. Their first
home game at Met Stadium was April 21. Minneapolis had a
team when the American Baseball League was founded in 1900,
and the Minneapolis Millers joined the League in 1894.
Nicollet Park was built 1896 at 31st St. and Nicollet. It
was the Millers who played the first game at Met Stadium in
1956.
The voice of the Twins was St. Louis Park resident
Halsey Hall, who was known for the term “Holy Cow!” He also dubbed the
Gophers “Golden.” He died on December 30, 1977 – he had made
a broadcast that day. He lived in the same house on Alabama
Ave. for 55 years.
On September 17, 1961, the first Minnesota Vikings game was
played at Met Stadium. The Vikings beat the Bears, 37-17.
Cheering them on were the Vi-Queens, a group of pom pom
girls that included some former
Parkettes. The Vi-Queens
were replaced by the Parkettes as the team’s cheerleaders in
1963.
The New York Giants owned the site
that became the Cooper Theater and the Ambassador Hotel with
the intent of building a big league stadium there, but the
franchise moved to San Francisco.
Work began on the first segment of Interstate Highway 494.
The Loon was adopted as the State Bird. The loon is the
earth’s oldest living bird species, over 60 million years
old. Over 12,000 loons come to Minnesota’s lakes in the
summer and fly south for the winter.
This has nothing to do with St. Louis Park, but on
September 27, 1961, the greatest cartoon ever, Top Cat,
premiered and ran Wednesday nights from 8:30 to 9. The
show was a brilliant knockoff of Sgt. Bilko, and featured
the voice of Arnold Stang. Its prime time run was
limited to one year (it went off the air on September 26,
1962), but every kid saw the Saturday morning reruns, and
indeed they are still being shown over 40 years later.
1962
The City adopted a housing code and began a housing
inspection program to maintain the aesthetic quality of
The Park’s neighborhoods, to maintain a quality housing stock in
the City, and to promote health and safety in residents’
homes.
The Dayton-Hudson Corporation opened its second-ever
Target store
at 8900 Highway 7 in St Louis Park in the fall of 1962. The
store had 125,000 square feet and had spaces for 1,700 cars.
In the beginning there was a grocery department run by Applebaum’s
Mr. Q’s opened at
4920 Excelsior Blvd. The restaurant was
known for being open all night and for its alpine scenes on
the walls. Mr. Q was Daniel Quinn. In 1975 Mr. Q’s featured Henny Penny Chicken. In 1977 it was purchased by Mike
Perkins and managed by his sister Rita. In 1979 it was
advertised as the “New Mr. Q’s” with new management, but it
changed hands again that same year.
Miss St. Louis Park Darlene Anderson became the first Park
candidate to become an Aquatennial Ambassador when she was
crowned a princess in the Queen of the Lakes competition.
The
Cooper Theater opened on August 8, 1962. The 800-seat
theater was one of the first in the country to be specially
outfitted for Cinerama. Hubert Humphrey and his wife were
present at the grand opening. The theater was razed in 1992.
There were 63 sets of twins attending St. Louis Park
schools in the 1962-63 school year.
“Dancing Hair” was all the rage at the local salons. Mr.
Richard (Johnson) [Park Hair Stylists, 4041 Highway 100]
describes the phenomenon as “effects that swing, sway, and
flip up playfully into amusing and diverting curls.” Most
shops were owned by male stylists who were referred to as
“Mr. (first name).”
The Twin Cities International Airport opened, which cost $8
1/2 million. It replaced Wold-Chamberlain Field.
Highway 35 was dedicated at a ceremony near Hinckley in the
fall. Also, Highway 62 Crosstown opened. By 1967, I-35 was
criticized for faulty engineering and dubbed “blood alley.”
President John F. Kennedy promised that the U.S. would go to
the moon in a speech at Rice University in Houston on
September 12, 1962.
The invention of polyethelyne made possible the advent of
Baggies sandwich bags.
The first skyway was built in downtown Minneapolis.
1963
An Open House party at Excelsior Blvd. and France ended
with Park’s Finest as uninvited guests. Although the hosts
said they had invited only six couples, an invite had been
posted at Porky’s, and as many as 200 inebriated guests were
seen carousing in the street.
In April, the International Association of Machinists went
before the City Council and requested that a Surplus Foods
Program be put into effect. The request was filed.
The 1.5 million gallon
reservoir near the corner of Yosemite
and Vermont was put into operation in September. It required
the removal of the house at 4231 Yosemite and the purchase
of some property at 4349 Brookside.
Despite objections by neighbor
Aldersgate Methodist Church,
a Topps Department Store opened at
3700 Highway 100 So. This
site had later use as Shoppers’ City, K-Mart, and now
Burlington Coat Factory.
In December 1963, Bill Jasper and John (Jack) Fitzgerald
formed the J&F Corporation and began doing business as J&F
Reddy Rents at
4911
Excelsior Blvd. at Quentin. The company started as a
general tool rental store, and grew to rent construction
equipment such as air compressors and Bobcat tractors.
In October 1963, local band The Trashmen released their
national smash hit, “Surfin’ Bird.” On Halloween night, WDGY
DJ Bill Diehl promoted a date at the
St. Louis Park Roller
Rink. Expecting 800 kids, an estimated 2,100 showed up. The
enthusiastic crowd shattered the building’s glass front
wall, and reinforcements were sent for from the local
constabulary. Money was made in bucketfuls, and presumably
St. Louis Park teens enjoyed its night with their favorite
local surf band. The Trashmen were kings of the Mpls. music
scene, but once their fame went national, the Underbeats
became top dogs. See
Twin
Cities Music Highlights.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22;
Lyndon B. Johnson became President.
1964
On June 12, 1964, the Rolling Stones played to 200-400
unimpressed Minnesotans at Danceland in Excelsior, which
could hold 1,400. Memories of the night vary, but none of
them are very good. The Stones stayed away from the
Cities until the ‘70’s. The next night, the Trashmen
packed the place. See
Twin
Cities Music Highlights.
Interstate 94 was built from Minneapolis to St. Paul.
Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat) was reelected President.
Minnesotan Hubert H. Humphrey was his Vice President.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, following an alleged attack
on US destroyers, starts the
Vietnam War. By the end, 1,053
Minnesotans would be dead.
1965
1965 was a horrendous year for
weather. Cold, blizzards,
flooding, and tornadoes tormented the metro area.
Johnson Lake, 80-90 ft. deep and full of minnows and
stolen cars, was owned by Glenn Johnson. In 1965 it was
renamed Wolfe Lake after Mayor Ken Wolfe, who advocated its
development. All manner of activities took place here, not
the least of which was illegal swimming. It was the place to
be if you wanted to hang out, drink beer, and smoke
cigarettes. The Mayor wanted to make it into a lake for
swimming and work had been done in 1964 to shape the lakebed
and create a sandy beach. But tests by the State health
department showed unhealthy levels of bacteria and the City
was advised to develop a pool instead.
The City wanted to buy houses along 40th Street to use as a
municipal parking lot, but backed off after they were sued
by residents and slapped with an injunction.
The VFW Pirateers
drill team was organized
in 1965. In 1970 it was
directed by Janice Gibbs.
The 7-Hi Drive In, located in nearby Hopkins, inaugurated
Drive in church services. On August 22, 1965, Rev. John
Fishcher preached on “Two Sides of Forgiveness.”
December 1965 saw the advent of the Granny Dress, which was
basically kind of a long calico print nightgown. As with any
fad, the school district promptly banned them – except for
school dances. (“The [Central] School handbook definitely
states that students must clear any new fads through our
office.”) They were selling big in local stores such as
Haugland’s for the Young in Miracle Mile, and Powers at
Knollwood, which advertised “Mother and Daughter Granny Look
A Likes” with matching head scarves. The buyer at Haugland’s
pitched the dresses as dual purpose: “They can also be used
for robes or nightgowns.” But even as the fad reached its
zenith, most were reporting that it was already on its way
out.
The Beatles came to town on August 21, 1965, and had a
terrible time. See
Twin Cities
Music Highlights.
Poppin’ Fresh made his debut in a TV ad for Pillsbury
Crescent Rolls. His giggle was provided by Paul Rees, who
was also the voice of Boris Badenov. FYI.
1966
On March 22, eleven inches of snow were dumped on the
Cities in 12 hours. Being spring, the snow was wet, and
wreaked havoc on power lines.
Every Saturday and Sunday, head on down to Raceway Park on
Highway 101, four miles west of Savage, for the Stock Car
Races! Asphalt track – Clean, modern grounds. !!NOW!! –
“Covered Chair Seats” fully protected from cool winds and
sudden showers, only $2.00. Apparently in August 1965 there
was a big dispute between the drivers and owner Darwin Hentz,
and the track was shut down.
Miss St. Louis Park was chosen at a ceremony in September.
The program featured MC Bob White from KRSI, visiting kings
and queens, the Parkettes, and the Parkette Go-Go Dancers.
Marilyn Field was chosen from 10 candidates, with runners-up
Rochelle Malinsky and “vivacious” Nancy Levin.
Excelsior Blvd. was repaved, widened, and dedicated on
October 29, 1966.
The Ordnance Division of
Honeywell leased 100,000 square
feet in a new building located just south of Highway 12 and
west of Vernon Avenue. The plant was designed to produce
equipment for the Air Force.
Racial violence erupted in North Minneapolis, when black
militants confronted Governor Karl Rolvaag and Mayor Arthur
Naftalin.
Oh Dear. In December 1966, Schuler Shoes had an ill-advised
“Shoe-I-cide Sale,” featuring the “spectacular drama of
footwear values for the entire family!” The full page ad in
the Dispatch showed a man hanging from a noose, legs
swinging, holding and dropping shoes, and looking very
unhappy. Happily, the company is alive and well and
expanding, so don’t fret.
The municipal rose gardens were planted at City Hall,
partially maintained by local garden clubs.
1967
Peter Hobart Elementary School was built at 6500 W. 26th
Street.
Stop signs were erected at 41st and Brookside, and at 42nd
and Yosemite.
4615 Excelsior Blvd. was the site of Kentucky Fried Chicken
from about 1967 to 1995. Before that you could get KFC at DeLaria’s at
Southdale in 1959.
August 12-19, 1967:
Robin Hood Days was instituted,
featuring the crowning of
Miss St. Louis Park, who was now
called Maid Marian. The week of civic programs and parades
was named for the Robin Hood Flour grain elevator on Highway
7 (demolished in 1968). Gene Schadow served as Richard the
First, and Gil Braun as Robin Hood. Our first Maid Marian
was Eloise Berg, chosen from a field of 37 contestants.
Princesses Kathie Corcoran and Sheila Siegel were now called
“ladies in waiting” in keeping with the festival’s Olde
English theme.
Susan Lindgren Elementary School was built at 4801 W. 41st
Street.
George’s in the Park took over
4700 Excelsior Blvd., George
being George Schaumburg. According to some, this site was
popular with some rather nefarious people from Minneapolis,
in a time when drug use was on the rise. In 1972 the fire
chief sent a letter citing many complaints of overcrowding.
In fact, the City Council went so far as to ban live music
in Park bars to keep down the traffic, not figuring on
disco. There is one sketch of the building on file that
indicates that there was a sauna in the place! In 1968 a car
ran into the building, causing some $35,000 worth of damage.
The Minnesota North Stars became an NHL expansion team
when Walter Bush, Jr. bought the Minneapolis Bruins. Their
first game, played in St. Louis on October 11, ended in a
2-2 tie. They played their first home game on October 21,
1967, at the Met Sports Center, and their last on April 13,
1993. The team became the Dallas Stars.
What began as a trail that ran from Minneapolis to Fort
Snelling became Nicollet Mall. Local developer Leslie Park
proposed the mall to the Minneapolis City Council in 1956 in
the wake of the success of
Southdale. Construction began in
1966 and was opened on November 20, 1967.
The St. Louis Park branch of the Hennepin County
Library was
dedicated in its new building at 3240 Louisiana Ave. So.
(now 3240 Library Lane).
Fairview Southdale Hospital opened – the Dayton family had
wanted a hospital located near to
Southdale, and had courted
several over the years before Fairview agreed. This second
suburban hospital cut into Methodist’s business in its first
years of operation.
On July 19, 1967,
racial unrest erupted along Plymouth
Avenue in North Minneapolis. Crowds threw rocks and set
fires over two nights. The unrest started up again, and
Governor Harold LeVander called in 150 national guardsmen.
Three people were shot, two policemen and one fireman
injured, 34 arrests, and four businesses burned to the
ground. Appliance dealer Ben
Koval made a hurried move
from Plymouth Avenue to the Park in the wake of the riot.
On January 14, 1967, the “Summer of Love” began with a free
concert and “Human Be-In” in Golden Gate Park in San
Francisco. That summer, local hippies frequented the West
Bank, near the University. The Aquatennial offered a
three-day “Happening ‘67” concert with bands like Jefferson
Airplane and Buffalo Springfield. This may or may not be the
same as Dayton’s “Second Session ‘67” which featured
national artists such as the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and
local acts like the High Spirits. See
Twin
Cities Music Highlights.
In May 1967, the St. Louis Park city flower was determined to be the
Amaranthus, a foliage plant. Packets of six (seedlings?)
were distributed to school children and made available at
supermarkets.
1968
Robin Hood Days were held on August 15, 1968. The
highlight of the 1968 Maid Marian (Miss St. Louis Park)
contest was that three of the candidates wore the same
frock. 30 girls were narrowed to one: Cynthia Gangl. Runners
up were Terry Lynn Johnson and Rita Frankel. Arthur Owens
served as King Richard, and Don Johnson was Robin Hood.
After a year on Wooddale Ave. behind the King’s Inn,
Ben Koval
moved his appliance store to
4317 Excelsior Blvd.
Three Ojibways and a Dakota – George Mitchell, Dennis
Banks, and Clyde Bellecourt – formed the American Indian
Movement in Minneapolis. The group was known for occupying
public buildings, including the vacant Alcatraz Island.
Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed on April 4.
Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot on June 5 and died June
6.
The Housewives Helping Humphrey headquarters was located at
Highway 7 and Monk [Blake] Ave. in October. The
participants’ main means of campaigning was holding cocktail
parties.
Richard Nixon (Republican) was elected President.
Marv Davidov formed the
Honeywell Project to protest the company’s manufacture
of cluster bombs.
According to City Council minutes in 1970, a December 1968
survey found that the Park had:
95 units of deteriorating housing
20 units of dilapidated housing
264 units of obsolete housing
The survey also identified 10 pockets of deterioration.
1969
Robin Hood Days were held from August 2-8. John S. Allen,
Jr. served as King Richard, and Leo Hughes served as Robin
Hood. Hughes had a furniture store at Lilac Way, and was a
big supporter of the pageant. An elaborate castle-like float
was designed by St. Louis Park Sun artist Lawrence Spiegel.
30 young women competed in the Maid Marian (Miss St. Louis
Park) contest, and the winner was Joy Sheekanoff. Ladies in
waiting were Marilyn Schultz and Clariece Locketz.
The La Querida Ltd. Boutique opened at
4811 Excelsior Blvd.,
promising “body jewelry, a suede department, wild wild
earrings, mod scarves, all at prices to suit you swingers”
Elayne Galleries was launched in the Wooddale Professional
Building by Elayne and Russ Lindberg. In 1977 it moved to
6111 Excelsior Blvd.
Simeon Stoilov was an art student in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1967
when he and friends Kris and Jordan escaped over the border
to Italy and eventually made it to New York and then… St.
Louis Park. Simeon and Kris started a metal sculpture
business, first on Harmon Place, and at
4510 Excelsior Blvd.
in 1969. Their firm, Sculptured Metals, made metal cabanas
for the Hopkins House. 1969 was also the year that Simeon
and Kris reunited with Jordan, who had gotten separated back
in Bulgaria. They just happened to find each other in… St.
Louis Park. George’s in the Park, to be exact. Truth is
stranger than fiction.
Simeon became a fixture on the Boulevard, and has many
tales to tell, most of which can’t be related in detail
here. One involves a man who rented an office in the
building for eight years. Seems this man was caught
counterfeiting $1 bills in Excelsior City. He offed himself
in South Dakota before the FBI got him. Seems harsh for $1.
Simeon also tells tales of bookmaking and $50,000 pool games
at now-flattened drinking establishments on the Boulevard.
Not to mention the questionable films that one occupant left
behind. Simeon was the last owner to sell his building to
the City for the Park Commons development, on April 11,
2001.
The Pizza Hut was built at
5804 Excelsior Blvd. and opened
in July 1969. That year Jim Jennings had proposed bringing
an Arby’s or a Sandy’s drive-in to Excelsior Blvd., but the
projects proved unfeasible. In 1993 he tried again to bring
a Minnesota Steakhouse to the Boulevard.
October 15 was
Moratorium Day, when the Student Mobilization
Committee demanded “Peace Now” and gathered at Northrop
Auditorium for speeches. Mimi Harary was the organizer in
charge of area high schools and junior highs. Numbers of St.
Louis Park High School students walked out carrying candles.
Those at Central Jr. High were told to get away from the
windows. November 13 was a student strike, when 3,000
marchers converged on the Federal Building downtown. Rain,
snow, and sleet reduced the number of participants.
Beth Sar Shalom Messianic Jewish Fellowship met in a private
home at 6212 Minnetonka Blvd. They advertised “no dues – no
charges – nothing to join.”
On July 12, three American astronauts took their first steps
on the moon. With them were high protein space food sticks
made in Minnesota that were soon marketed for the public.
The “New Town” of Jonathan was established in Chaska, Minn.,
the brainchild of former State Senator Henry T. McKnight.
The town was named for explorer Jonathan Carver, who
traversed the area in 1776. The new town was constructed on
a 5,000 acre site Jonathan was on the cutting edge of
planned communities in the U.S. The quality of life was
preserved by regulating such details as house paint color,
landscaping, fences, and swing sets. The town was considered
finished in 1987. It has been absorbed into the community of
Chaska.
Minnesotan Warren Burger was named to the US Supreme Court.
The 1969 welfare case load was as follows:
102 families on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
27 disabled persons
153 nursing home cases
the 1970s
1970
The Hypnosis Center, 5912 W. 35th Street, was highlighted in the Sun. It was started by Mrs. Zula Bowers in 1963, and in January 1970, Robert Balter was the Associate Director.
The
St. Louis Park Medical Center purchased a $121,000 UNIVAC 9200-II Magnetic Tape System for use in billing.
The Meadowbrook Medical-Dental Building at 6490 Excelsior Blvd was built by private investors for $5 million as an office building for doctors practicing at Methodist Hospital. The Open House was held on April 18, 1970. The building featured a health club for professional men. Problems arose because the site was built over swampland –
the floors dropped about 3 feet and undulated. On the ground floor, services included Dahl Pharmacy, Lucille Heinen Beauty Salon, Benson Optical, Blue Ribbon Cleaners, Victor Kieweno Hearing Aid Lab, Alko Dental Studio, Mikrotts Continental Barbers, Uniform Shop, dining facilities, and an extended care wing. There was also a skyway to Methodist Hospital. The hospital purchased the building in 1990.
The Friedheim Building, located at 3601 Park Center Blvd. (at 36th St.) was built in 1970. The original plan included both offices and apartments on 40 acres, built over a period of 5-10 years at a cost of $20 million. The Friedhem Ready-Mix and Block operation was to be phased out to Osseo over the next two years. It had been there since 1930.
Robin Hood Days were held from June 21-27, 1970, this time led by Robert N. Benham as King Richard and a dashing Robert Wolfe as Robin Hood. 30 young women vied for the coveted Maid Marian (Miss St. Louis Park). The winner was Faith Kiperstin, sponsored by Brookside Drug, who attributed at least part of her success to her lucky turquoise dress. Faith Kiperstin became Faith Schway and went on to win Mrs. Minnesota in 1985. When the Miss St. Louis Park program became dormant after 1971, Faith re-organized the pageant in 1986.
Runners up were back to being Princesses instead of Ladies in Waiting; they were Sue Hedberg and Lynn Kasma. Prizes included memberships at the Sports and Health Club. On July 20, you could go get your car washed at Jim Lupient Olds by one of the local beauty queens or by Miss America her own self, to benefit the Minnesota Mental Retardation Center. Heckuva deal.
Senatorial Candidate Hubert Humphrey participated in the St. Louis Park High School Homecoming parade in early October. Also in the parade was Faith Kipperstin, Maid Marian (Miss St. Louis Park). This year’s slogan was “Beat the Hill out of Mound.” Humphrey also paid a visit to the Westwood Jr. High Cafeteria to take questions from kids.
1970 was an interesting year of changes: studded tires were out ($2.50 a tire to remove), expectant fathers were in (the delivery room), skirt lengths were all over the place (but heaven help that awful midi), and hot pants were on the horizon. Fashion was big, featuring peasant dresses and “flares.” Wigs were apparently still big – one local bank even offered a wig as a premium for depositing $300. At the
same time, long hair was so prevalent, barbers were feeling the pinch.
The anti-war movement was very active in 1970, with teach ins, strikes, demonstrations, and so forth.
On September 19, 1970, Mary Richards moved to 2104 Kenwood Parkway in Minneapolis and proceeded to turn the world on with her smile.
The Population Explosion was decried as “Perilous” by the
Sun, and with good reason; the population of St. Louis
Park peaked at 48,883 and if the trend continued, schools
would be hard pressed to keep up the demand. As it turned
out, it was the peak, and in the next 10 years the
population would decline by 6,000 residents. The average age
of residents in 1970 was 28.6, slightly higher than in 1960.
It would grow to 32.9 in 1980 and 34.3 in 1990.
U of M graduate Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize for developing a high-yield, disease-resistant strain of wheat. His associate was Donald Fletcher from St. Louis Park.
1971
The St. Louis Park Historical Society was incorporated on April 21, 1971, with the purpose of “the discovery, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge about the history of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.” Marie Hartmann served as President until her death in 1996.
The fifth and last Robin Hood Days were held. Carmen Nelson became the very last Maid Marian (Miss St. Louis Park), and indeed the last representative of St. Louis Park at the Aquatennial’s Queen of the Lakes pageant until 1985. Jeff London served as Robin Hood, and Al Shapiro was the last King Richard.
The burning of the Pizza House at 4532 Excelsior Blvd. on October 8, 1971, was the most tragic event in the history of the St. Louis Park Fire Department. See Fires and Firefighting.
Community Education was instituted in the Park after a
delegation of 13 citizens ventured to Flint, Michigan to
learn how to implement community schools. The State
Legislature provided $5,000 to support the effort. The
program includes Early Childhood education, childcare, youth
and adult enrichment, aquatics, ESL, volunteers and senior
programs.
Protests against the Vietnam War were heating up. On February 10, about 250 students marched from the U of M campus to the Federal Building on Washington Ave. downtown. They threw some snowballs, distributed leaflets, and got into “rap groups with people about the war.”
Another hot issue in 1971 was the plight of Soviet Jews. A Rally of Concern was held at
Beth El Synagogue on January
17, 1971, attended by 4,000 people.
For the first time, teachers in the public schools were
issued guidelines as to how to celebrate the holidays. With
30 to 40 percent of the school population Jewish, Christmas
was beginning to tread the line between church and state.
Teachers were told no cards, no gifts, no evergreens, no
Christmas carols (in non-elective courses) – and parties
were to be designated “before the winter holiday.” There was
some opposition, with parents meeting at
Ascension Lutheran
Church. See
Race, Creed, and Color.
1971 was also the year that more and more women started to
use the title “Ms.” This was quite a departure, for it had
not been very long ago that women in the newspaper were
identified by their husband’s first name only – and this
included the
League of Women Voters. The
National
Organization for Women had organized in 1966.
The St. Louis Park garage was moved to a $1.1 million new
facility at 7305 Oxford on November 1, 1971. The old garage
was condemned.
Newcomer
Frank Pucci upset
Frank Howard in the race for
Mayor.
Reilly Tar and Chemical announced that it would close the Creosote plant.
Over 800 apartment units were built in St. Louis Park in 1971.
Minnesota was one of five states that ratified the Constitutional amendment that would lower the
voting age to 18 on the day it was proposed by Congress, March 23, 1971. The 26th Amendment was effective July 5, 1971.
The Renaissance Festival made its debut in 1971.
On November 19, NSP’s nuclear reactor at Monticello spilled radioactive storage water and it reached the Mississippi River.
On November 20, 40 women from the Twin Cities joined 3,000 on an Abortion Rights March on Washington.
The Post-it Note was invented by 3M employee Art Fry, using an adhesive invented by 3M’s Spence Silver.
1972
The
Park Recreation Center opened on July 22, 1972.
The St. Louis Park Senior Center opened at the former Lenox Elementary
School in 1972.
The carnage taking place on the highway may have inspired
Dick’s Superior American Exterminating Co., located at 4036
Webster, to urge customers to “Drive Carefully and Leave the
Killing to us.”
Duane Janikula won a five minute shopping spree at Red Owl and Miracle Mile in May 1972. His six carts of groceries added up to $204.
Dutch Elm Disease was the scourge of the neighborhoods.
It had reared its ugly head as early as 1955, when 1,800
trees were sprayed.
In October, 1972,POW/MIA bracelets could be found on the
wrists of many high school students. Each bracelet had the
name and other information on a soldier who was a prisoner
of war or missing in action in
Viet Nam.
Park population was estimated at 51,000. This included
89 blacks, 107 Indians, 92 Japanese, 41 Chinese, 12
Filipino, and 35 other. The median
age was 28.6. 75.8 percent of persons 25 and older
completed four years of high school or more. The
median family income was $12,482. 2.3 percent earned
less than the poverty level. 525 people received
welfare and 2,050 received social security. Median
price of housing was $22,100. Average rent was $150.
The employment rate was 2.3 percent. And this:
45.6 percent of married women were employed.
The first St. Louis Park Expo was held (at the high school)
(sponsored by Community Education).
1973
The Red Owl store in Miracle Mile burned down on October
26. See Fires and Firefighting.
George Foreman’s wife Adrienne gave birth to daughter
Michi on January 6, 1973 at
Methodist Hospital. Mrs. Foreman
lived in South Minneapolis. It was on January 22, 1973 that
George Foreman beat Joe Frazier for heavyweight champion.
With the proliferation of apartment units in town, now
topping 4,000, City Council passed a new apartment
inspection bill.
The age of majority in Minnesota was changed from 21 to 18
on June 1, 1973. The law affected approximately 30,000
18-20 year olds in the Twin Cities area. The change
affected teens’ ability to sign contracts, and made them
criminally liable as adults. The biggest impact was
the drinking age: for a short window, 18-year-olds
could legally drink. (18-year-olds could already drink
in Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and Canada.) In the
schools, the law was interpreted to mean that 18-year-olds
could excuse themselves from class, smoke, and see their
school records. The voting age had been lowered to age
18 in 1971. Although the age of majority remained at
18, the drinking age was rolled back to 21 just a few years
later.
The IDS Tower opened in 1973.
Minneapolis Moline was purchased through a hostile takeover
by White Westinghouse. They closed the huge plant on Lake
Street in Minneapolis, reneging on pensions of hundreds of
workers, many of whom lived in St. Louis Park.
The Brady Bunch Kids appeared at the Minnesota State Fair on
August 27.
The last American military personnel left Vietnam with the
evacuation of the United States embassy in Saigon,
completely ending American involvement in Vietnam and the
Vietnam War. 1,053 Minnesotans gave their lives over the
course of the war.
On October 10, Spiro Agnew resigned as the Vice President
when it was disclosed that he had extorted money for state
contracts when he was the Governor of Maryland.
Minnesotan Harry Blackmun, US Supreme Court, wrote the
landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
1974
The bar at
4700 Excelsior Blvd. became Duff’s, although
Joseph P. Duffy and his partners were initially denied a
liquor license by the City after some concerns about
political contributions. There were at least two other
Duff’s in the area.
On June 20, 1974, thunderstorms were so thick that the
streets went dark – less than one percent of the normal
noontime brightness, as calculated at the U of M. Winds tore
down branches and trees in an unusual ferocity.
After the demise of
Excelsior Amusement Park, the 1974
school patrol picnic was held at the Southtown and Village
North Shopping Centers.
July 6, 1974 marked the beginning of A Prairie Home Companion,
broadcasting from Macalister College. The program would be
broadcast nationally in 1978. Garrison Keiller was from
Anoka.
Minnesota State Senator Allan Spear was the nation’s first public official to openly acknowledge that he is gay.
On August 9, in the wake of the Watergate break-in of 1972, Richard Nixon resigned. Gerald R. Ford became President, Ford pardoned Nixon, and the age of innocence, once again, was over.
NOTES AND CONCLUSIONS
There are a couple of overall themes that have emerged when
reviewing the history of Brookside and of St. Louis Park in
general. First, despite the low cost of land and
advertisements about the beauty of the landscape, etc.,
people were simply unable to move to the suburbs until they
could afford to build houses. Although there are a great
many houses that were built in the 1920s, it wasn’t until the
Federal Government provided mortgage insurance that many of
houses in the Brookside neighborhood could be built. Even
though the Depression was still on, almost the entire
neighborhood was built up between 1939 and 1941, thanks to
FHA insurance.
Second is the importance of transportation. St. Louis Park
was said to be divided into five distinct neighborhoods with
little interaction between them, in part because each
neighborhood depended on a separate means of transportation
into Minneapolis, be it by Walker’s streetcar or one of the
early railroad lines. In the case of Brookside, the 44th St.
streetcar was put into operation in 1905. When Brookside was
platted in 1907, it can’t be a coincidence that the very
first homes were built close by and Brookside School was
built three blocks away.
Ultimately, the issue of transportation came down to
highways, and the Park was once so proud of its new roads
that it was promoted as “Out where the Highways Meet.”
Perhaps another reason why Brookside developed earlier than
the postwar neighborhoods is its proximity to major roads.
Residents had easy access to [what would become] Highway 100
and Excelsior Blvd., the intersection of which quickly
became one of the busiest (and most dangerous) in the State.
Once again the Federal government was responsible for
building major roads such as Highways 100 and 7 in the
mid-1930s, making it possible for people to work in
Minneapolis and live in the suburbs.
My conclusion is that despite the prodigious amounts of
money that T.B. Walker and others put into making St. Louis
Park an industrial town literally owned by capitalist
bosses, it took the Federal government to regulate the
economy, provide transportation, and insure home mortgages
before the promise of suburban living could come true.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND SOURCES
This is not an academic undertaking and is not documented as
such. The information in this document was consolidated from
a large number of sources, including books, manuscripts,
written memoirs, phone books, high school yearbooks,
letters, emails, newspapers, interviews, and bar talk at
Bunny’s. I have chosen not to attribute most of the
information I got from individuals, first because I don’t
have permission, and second, so as not to inhibit anyone
from telling me their stories. Where information came from
published documents I have provided the source, but I have
not obtained permission to reproduce text. I have also
obtained a lot of information from corporate websites, which
I figure is fair game.
The most important source of information about the
overall history of the City is the 300-page
St.
Louis Park: A History of a Village that was written by Norman F. Thomas in 1952.
This unpublished manuscript contains very detailed
information, especially concerning the heyday of T.B.
Walker. Thomas apparently wrote this history at the behest
of Earl Ainsworth, and pored through innumerable documents
in order to provide such tremendous detail. It will continue
to be the ultimate source of St. Louis Park history for many
years to come.
Another history book was written in 1976 at the behest of
the Rotary Club. This is the book with the unfortunate
cover depicting Parkites as a bunch of clowns. Most of
the material for this book was from the Norman Thomas
manuscript.
I must acknowledge my Guru, Mr. Don Swenson, who edited
the book Something in the Water (I made up the title). And
also my plumber and the real historian of Brookside, Mr.
Frank Motzko. Both of these men have referred me to so many
of the longtime Park residents who have, in turn,
contributed stories and information to this effort. Without
their assistance, some of the best stories would be left
untold. Although this Timeline was intended only to include
cold hard facts, some of the stories were too good to
resist, especially Ben Brown’s. Cocky Roach, indeed.
Village street directories, first published in 1933, are
invaluable when researching names, dates, and places. Some businesses
listed may have operated at a site earlier and/or later than
the dates noted. Business year information can also be
gleaned from ads in the Echowan (a trick I learned from my
Uncle Pete). All dates that buildings were built come from
Hennepin County tax records.
I am a Trustee of the St. Louis Park Historical Society (SLPHS)
and I have permission to invoke their name when requesting
information. However, the SLPHS is not responsible for the content
of this document, including but not limited to errors,
omissions, spelling, slander, libel, etc. etc. I welcome all
additions, corrections, other memories, documents, pictures,
etc. Please feel free to contact me or the SLPHS.
Jeanne Andersen
4805 W. 42 ½ St.
St. Louis Park, MN 55416
[email protected]
612(dash)396-6292 (cell)
St. Louis Park Historical Society
3700 Monterey Drive
St. Louis Park, MN 55416-2671
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