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G’day Maka Ska, G’bye Calhoun?
Efforts to eradicate the name Lake Calhoun and replace it with Bde Maka Ska have generated a great deal of discussion and passion on many sides. The usage of the recommended new name and its meaning...
View ArticleNew Names for Minneapolis Parks
Naming the meadow at Riverside Park in honor of Annie Young was a very nice gesture by the Minneapolis park board — and appropriate — although it was approved with contempt for board rules and public...
View ArticleInfluential Women in Minneapolis Park History
I just received a new post from the Minneapolis Parks Foundation blog by Janette Law about five important women in the history of Minneapolis parks. Janette wrote her tribute to celebrate Women’s...
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DIY Minneapolis Park History at the Library
I have been very lucky over the last decade to have had access to the archives of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board because of some park board history projects I was working on. I have always...
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Restored Posts: Makwa Club, Toboggans, Building Restrictions, Parkways
In response to requests and my own whimsy I have restored several posts to these pages today. I restored one post at the request of author Joe McAleer, whom I met through these pages. He is just...
View ArticleMinnehaha Falls Tour: Preserve Minneapolis
I will be leading a walking tour around Minnehaha Falls—More than Just a Little Laugh—on August 21 for Preserve Minneapolis. That, by the way, is the working title of a book I’m writing about the...
View ArticleTimeless Quote, Ever-changing Parks
“The men and women of today who recall with lively joy the days when they played unwatched through the long summer days in meadow or woods or the old swimmin’ hole are likely to pity the youngsters of...
View ArticleNew Bell Museum
I found an old post about visiting the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota and wanted to provide a link to the new, renamed Bell Museum...
View ArticleWild River: A rainy morning on the Mississippi
I had a brilliant boat trip on the Mississippi this morning from Bohemian Flats to the Ford Bridge and back. It was raining, and everything was damp except for enthusiasm for the spectacular river...
View ArticleMinneapolis’s Amazing River Parks: East River Parkway
Due to significant changes to the website of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (minneapolisparks.org) a while back, the histories of some parkways in Minneapolis, which I wrote ten years ago,...
View ArticleMinneapolis’s Amazing River Parks: West River Parkway
Due to significant changes to the website of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (minneapolisparks.org) a while back, the histories of some parkways in Minneapolis, which I wrote ten years ago,...
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Sheepish: What’s Old is New in Park Maintenance
Minneapolis is now in its second year of testing goats to control invasive plants, especially buckthorn, in parks. The concept may be novel, but it’s not new. Long ago in park history, attention...
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Linden Hills Boulevard: The Carriage Route to Lake Harriet
At a recent picnic with friends who live south of Lake Harriet (Happy Birthday Kathryn!), they were surprised when I told them that the first park connection between Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet was...
View ArticleElection Day Updates
To celebrate our ability to choose our leaders and to encourage everyone to vote, I have re-posted a few more favorites from my archives. I especially encourage you to see this brief post, which...
View ArticleCommemorating the “Great War” in Minneapolis Parks: Cavell, Pershing,...
As we remember the war that didn’t end all wars, which ended 100 years ago this weekend, I searched through my archives for park stories related to World War I. I found several that are worth sharing....
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Sharing Streets: An Old Discussion
The lively continuting discussion of the use of Minneapolis streets and parkways by bicycles, pedestrians and cars reminds me of something I wrote on these pages about six years ago. That post—100...
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What Year Was It? Vaccinations, Assault, Free Trade and Snow Shoveling
I’ve been researching several park topics lately in archival newspapers and stumbled across peripheral incidents that made me double-check the date of publication. These aren’t directly park-related,...
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Ice Queens: The First Female Speed Skaters in Minnesota
Dorothy “Dot” Franey, one of the best athletes in Minnesota history, achieved her greatest athletic success as the state’s first world-class female speed skater. When a Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame...
View ArticleLake, Creek and River Tour … History Archive … Aerial Photos
How did Minneapolis preserve nearly all waterfront in the city as public property? Lakes, creeks, ponds, river, even some bodies of water that no longer exist. Public property! You can walk up to the...
View ArticleMinneapolis Park Names Added and Reconsidered
In light of rekindled debates over park names, prompted by the Appeals Court decision rescinding the name change of Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska, the park board’s vote to alter the process for changing...
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