More Pictures of Minnehaha Park and Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Park and Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Falls is located in beautiful Minnehaha Park. Our family went on picnics there with our Uncle Henry, Aunt Paula and their children and also on picnics for church. The falls are beautiful in the summer but also beautiful frozen in the winter as well. The park is a pleasant

summer recreation spot.

Minnehaha Creek & Parkway

The family house on Stevens Avenue was only about a block and a half from Minnehaha Creek. We loved taking family walks and riding bikes on the wonderful trails. I remember the paved walking and bikes paths were put in in the early to mid-1970s. We sure took advantage of them. Before the paved bike paths the city would close off the parkway from cars on summer Sunday afternoons so people could ride bikes. I remember doing that too. As a kid I remember searching for crayfish at the creek in the summer and walking in the dried out creek bed in the fall. As a teenager I loved taking my bike on the Minnehaha bike paths all the way to Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and sometimes even Cedar Lake and riding around them. As a college student I would drive Minnehaha Parkway to St. Paul where I attended the College (now University) of St. Thomas. As an adult I trained for the Twin Cities to Chicago AIDS Ride using the paths on Minnehaha Parkway and the lakes and now drive the parkway to work.

The following is from Wikipedia:

"Minnehaha Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River located in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from Lake Minnetonka in the west and flows east for 22 miles through several suburbs west of Minneapolis and then through south Minneapolis. Including Lake Minnetonka, the watershed for the creek covers 181 square miles. The creek might have been unremarkable except for the 53 foot Minnehaha Falls located near the creek's confluence with the Mississippi. The site is not far from Fort Snelling, one of the earliest white settlements in the region."

"While the name is often translated as 'Laughing Water', the correct translation is 'curling water' or 'waterfall'. The name comes from the Dakota language elements mni, meaning water, and haha, meaning waterfall. The Dakota called Minnehaha Creek, 'Wakpa Cistinna', meaning 'Little River'."

Snow!

Part of living in Minneapolis is having to deal with weather extremes. The summer is hot and can be incredibly humid. The winter of course brings snow. Lots of snow (how much varies a lot from year to year). Driving in it, shoveling it, roof raking it, all take a toll the longer winter drags on. As a kid I remember how much fun the snow could be. Sam, Pete, and I made snowmen, skied, skated, cross country skied, sledded and made snow angels. I loved it. It's still just as pretty as it ever was to me but as an adult it just seems like a lot more work.

(Above photo taken 2-20-11 during one of the heaviest snowstorms of the season.)

Church of the Annunciation - Minneapolis

The Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis is a Roman Catholic parish that was attended by my family starting in 1969 when we moved to south Minneapolis. The church is located at 509 West 54th Street near the corner of Diamond Lake Road and Lyndale Avenue.

The following history is from Annunciation's website:

"The parish of Annunciation was created by Archbishop Dowling with the appointment of the Rev. Francis J. Lang, as pastor, on September 8 1922. Most of the pioneer parishioners were young and middle-aged couples, many with children. Before 1922, most of the people in this area worshipped at Incarnation parish to the north and Assumption parish in Richfield to the south. The first parish Mass was offered on October 1, 1922."

"Within a year, this young community occupied the first rooms of a new church-school building, which still serves our community well. On August 5, 1923 the first liturgy was offered in the building and on September 10, 1923, four Dominican Sisters opened Annunciation School, with 72 pupils."

"The Post-War Boom, 1945-1960, brought the challenge of rapid population growth and expansion. On December 16, 1962 the first Mass was offered by the community in its new worship space."

I remember the big summer rummage sales in the school gymnasium in the summer in the 1970's and I remember the parish festival, Septemberfest, which I believe began in the 1980's. Dad contributed a lot of time and effort to the set up and take down of that festival.

St. Mary's Hospital Minneapolis

I was born at St. Mary's Hospital in Minneapolis in 1966. The hospital was built around 1900 and was largely staffed by Roman Catholic nuns. In 1986 St. Mary's merged with the nearby Fairview Hospital. Later still, Fairview-St. Mary's merged with the University of Minnesota Hospitals. The hospital is now known as the University of Minnesota Medical Center.

My mom was employed by Fairview Hospital as a medical record librarian when I was born. She walked from work to St. Mary's and delivered me.

Bank Restaurant and the Old Minneapolis Farmers and Mechanics Bank

Dale and I had an early Valentine's Day dinner last night at Bank Restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. The restaurant is located in what was formerly the grand lobby of the old Farmers and Mechanics Bank.

The following is information regarding the bank from Wikipedia:

"The 1942 Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank building in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, is a former bank building that is now the home of a Westin Hotel The building is an example of the Streamline Moderne phase of the Art Deco movement and is notable for its bold relief sculptures of a farmer and a mechanic framing the main entrance. The sculptures were designed by Warren T. Mosman, who headed the sculpture department at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006."

"The walnut-paneled main banking hall of the building is now the lobby of the hotel. The taller wings of the building once held offices, but now house 214 hotel rooms. The hotel conversion preserved several historic features of the bank building. The main banking lobby with a 34 foot high ceiling, marble staircase, and carved wood emblems have been retained. The original bank vault on the lower level is a conference room, while the former safety deposit vault is now a wine vault and the entire bank has been made in to a restaurant, called B.A.N.K. The restaurant kept as much of the original woodworking from the actual bank as possible. Former offices now serve as private dining rooms and the teller counter now serves as a bar."

"The previous Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank headquarters was built in 1891 on 115 S. 4th St. As of this writing it is home to Schiek's Palace Royale, a strip club."

Wells Fargo Tower Minneapolis

Dale and I had dinner at Bank Restaurant in Downtown Minneapolis tonight. At left are pictures of Wells Fargo Center. The bottom picture was taken on February 12, 2011 with my iPhone from the street across from the restaurant. I love the Wells Fargo tower which was formerly called Norwest Center. It was built in 1988.

Minneapolis - Population

Population 1960: 482,872

U.S. Rank: 25

Population 1970: 434,400

U.S. Rank: 32

Population 1980: 370,951

U.S. Rank: 34

Population 1990: 368,383

U.S. Rank: 42

Population 2000: 382,618

U.S. Rank 45

Photos are from the Minneapolis Aquatennial. Top circa 1930s and bottom circa 2003.

Great Northern Depot

Photo taken by Jerome Liebling in 1966. From the book The Face of Minneapolis. I remember eating Happy's potato chips as a kid although we ate Old Dutch more.

The Face of Minneapolis by Jerome Liebling & Don Morrison

My interest is in starting a blog that will chronicle the city where my brothers and I were born. I discovered this book after doing a Google search for "Minneapolis 1966" as my thought is to look at the city starting with the year I was born. Included in the book are photographs from that very year, 1966.

I just checked to see if I could find the book on Amazon.com and could only find a used version. I plan on checking the public library as well.

My Minneapolis

My brothers and I were born in Minneapolis, Minnesota between the mid-1960's and the mid-1970's. This blog looks at the city itself, places within it, the surrounding area, and other related things that we experienced from the time our lives began until the present time.

The above photo is from a book of photographs by Jerome Liebling and shows what the downtown Minneapolis skyline would have looked like around the time I was born in 1966.