Sunday, July 17, 2011

Nicollet Park, Martin Luther King Park and the Nicollet Field Mural


On the block just north of Curran's is Martin Luther King Park. On the north side of the park building is this mural of Nicollet Field. There may have been a park called Nicollet Field on the MLK Park site but I think this mural is actually referring to Nicollet Park which was a ball park on the west side of Nicollet Avenue between Lake Street (30th Street) and 31st Street. The mural shows what looks to be a wading pool so maybe it is something altogether different than Nicollet Park. Regardless, I remember Father Wirth at Annunciation telling me that, as a kid, he used to take the bus to Nicollet Park to watch baseball games. The park was built in 1896 and was home to the Minneapolis Millers baseball team. The Millers moved to Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington in 1956. I'm not sure what happened to the Millers baseball team but the Minnesota Twins came along in the early 1960's and played at Metropolitan Stadium until the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome was built in Minneapolis in the early 1980's. Nicollet Park is no longer there and I couldn't find any information about when it was torn down. The block is now the site a Wells Fargo Bank branch, a condo building and a Hennepin County Medical Center clinic.

Top photo shows the mural Nicollet Field 1920 on the park building at MLK Park at 41st and Nicollet. The bottom photo shows Nicollet Park at Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue.

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