Public Enemy No. 1 in the Twin Cities

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

The Gangster Era in the United States was full of crooked cops and crafty criminals. From Al Capone and John Dillinger to ‘Baby Face’ Nelson and Bonnie and Clyde, gangsters ruled. The Midwest states witnessed firsthand how ruthless and ironfisted these criminals were, and the Twin Cities were no exception. While many gangsters frequented the area, one gang in particular left a lasting mark in the Twin Cities, the Barker-Karpis Gang.

A wanted poster of Fred Barker and 'Creepy' Karpis.

The story of the Barker-Karpis Gang begins well before the gang formed in March of 1931. Kate ‘Ma’ Barker, a resident of Missouri, had four children, Herman, Lloyd, Arthur ‘Doc’, and Fred. These four brothers traveled around Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma robbing banks and stealing cars for most of the 1910s and 20s. While serving time is places like the Oklahoma State Prison and Leavenworth Penitentiary, the brothers gained notable reputation in the criminal world. Upon Fred’s release from the Kansas State Prison in 1931, he met up with one of his fellow inmates, Alvin ‘Creepy’ Karpis, and formed the Barker-Karpis Gang. After murdering police chiefs and robbing banks, they fled to Chicago. They quickly realized they wanted nothing to do with Al Capone’s gang, so with a tip from a colleague, they moved their operation to 1031 South Robert Street, West St. Paul.

By this time, St. Paul had garnered a reputation for being a safe haven for criminals. In 1900, Police Chief John O’Conner agreed to sign an unofficial contract, called the Layover Agreement, that meant criminals would not be arrested in St. Paul as long as they checked in with the police chief when they arrived and they could not commit any crimes within the city limits. Good news for St. Paul, bad news for Minneapolis. One of the Barker-Karpis Gang’s first notorious crimes in the area occurred on December 16th, 1932 when they robbed the Third Northwestern National Bank on East Hennepin and Central Ave. Unbeknownst to the gang, the bank teller quietly alerted the authorities. When the gang’s lookout, Lawrence DeVol, noticed a squad car approaching quickly without its sirens on, he shot a few rounds into the car killing Officer Leon Evans and wounding Officer Ira Gorski. After a brief gun fight, the gang fled down East Hennepin to St. Paul. However, the crime caused so much commotion that they fled further to a small hideout in Webster, Wisconsin. Once the authorities discovered their small hideout, they found the gang was long gone but had left ‘Ma’ Barker’s husband on the property with a single bullet hole to the head. He was very loose-lipped when drinking and the gang worried he had already tipped them off.

Interestingly enough, my family was involved in the Third Northwestern National Bank robbery. The accountant for the Rainville Brother’s Funeral Home was running an errand to the bank when the gang arrived, and after laying on the ground with his hands on his head and telling the police what he saw, he returned back to the funeral home four hours later. The boss, Edward Rainville, was very upset and accused him of going to the bar for a few drinks, but once the local beat cop provided an alibi for the accountant, Great Great Grandpa Ed took him out for a drink once the day was over and gave him the next day off.

The scene after the robbery of the Third Northwestern National Bank.

Bullet holes in the windows of the Third Northwestern National Bank.

The most noteworthy crimes the Barker-Karpis Gang committed in the Twin Cities were two separate kidnappings. The first, which happened in June of 1933, was the kidnapping of a member of the Hamm’s Brewery family. They set the ransom at $100,000, or over $1.95 million after inflation. The ransom was to be brought to Duluth by the brewery’s sales manager, and once that was completed, the gang released the family member later that same month.

The other, and even more noteworthy, kidnapping took place in January of 1934 when the gang took Edward Bremmer, the president of the Commercial State Bank. This time, the ransom was set at $200,000, or almost $3.8 million after inflation. The gang sent a letter to Bremer family friend Walter W. Magee with ransom instructions. Once Magee had the money, he was to print “We are ready Alice” in the Minneapolis Tribune's personal ads. Magee followed the directions, but the gang did not follow through. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a family friend of the Bremer’s, even mentioned the kidnapping in one of his fireside chats. The crime was gaining national attention, so the gang had to act quickly and collect the ransom. Once they did, they realized the FBI had recorded the serial numbers of the bills and they couldn’t do anything with the money.

Fingerprint evidence on a gas can used to refuel their car in Wisconsin revealed the Barker-Karpis Gang as the culprits, and at the end of the day, it was this kidnapping that did the gang in. Fred and ‘Ma’ Barker were shot by the FBI in a home in Florida, and ‘Creepy’ Karpis, who was Public Enemy No. 1 at the time, was eventually arrested and sent to Alcatraz. Other gangsters come to the Twin Cities during this notorious era of American crime, but few left an impact as great as the Barker-Karpis Gang.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net. 

Our Lady of Lourdes & the City: Part II

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

The history of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and the city of Minneapolis has been intertwined since their beginnings. In my November 27 article, I went over the early history of the church’s building and congregation. In 1855, the Universalists built their place of worship in a Greek Revival style, and twenty-two years later in 1877, the Catholic French-Canadians of Minneapolis and Old St. Anthony bought the building. During the next five years the congregation transformed it into a breathtaking French Gothic church that seemed like it was taken right out of France. From 1877 to the turn of the century, the church and the city of Minneapolis grew at very rapid paces as they welcomed settlers and immigrants, but that was just the beginning. 

In 1882 the parish had over 350 families attending Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, and with that many families there became an apparent need to expand their school, which was located in the basement. The school was outgrowing the space and it was not exactly in a convenient location for the neighborhood children to walk to, so in 1888, the parish acquired land on 6th Avenue and 5th Street NE for $4,000 to build a new school building. Once the new Notre Dame de Lourdes School was completed the Grey Nuns of Montreal took over and ran the school, and they taught every subject in French except for English language and Math classes. Soon after in 1906, the Sisters of St. Joseph Carondelet from St. Paul took over operations of the school upon the request of Archbishop John Ireland, and thus ended the tenure of French being used as the predominant language during classes.

Notre Dame de Lourdes school

Notre Dame de Lourdes School classroom taken around 1900

The population of Minneapolis was continuing to grow very quickly during the turn of the 20th century. However, this growth did not include more French-Canadians immigrating to the city. Because of this, the parish saw its highest membership in 1901 of over 2,000 parishioners. The decline in membership was not immediate, but it was noticeable during the years to come. Those who grew up going to the now English-speaking Notre Dame de Lourdes School were more likely to intermarry with other English-speaking cultures throughout Northeast Minneapolis. This led to more families leaving the parish and moving to other parts of Minneapolis as Northeast was becoming crowded. Some time later in 1917 Archbishop Ireland once again made a change at the French Church by assigning the Marist Fathers to run the parish, and it became one of two churches in the archdiocese to not be run by diocesan clergy. 

Ten years later in 1927, the Christian Brothers of nearby DeLaSalle Catholic High School agreed to assign the Marist Fathers of Our Lady of Lourdes as the chaplains of the school. This made the parish’s connection with the community even stronger. While the Marists are French in origin, the priests of the American Province of the Society of Mary who were now at the French Church decided to stop conducting Mass in French. It was not a permanent change, but this marked the end of a forty-year run of Our Lady of Lourdes truly being a French church.

The back of the church taken from 2nd Street SE

As made apparent by his actions with Our Lady of Lourdes, Archbishop Ireland made it a priority during his tenure to get the Catholics of Minneapolis and St. Paul to leave behind their cultures and become more American. If you visit any Catholic church in the archdiocese, it is clear that traditions have been passed down and are still important to the congregations, but if Archbishop Ireland’s campaign to make his churches more American did one thing, it was to make English the predominant language. In a melting pot of a city like Minneapolis, this was the only realistic outcome.

Both the city and its Catholic churches have always been diverse. From German and Italian to Ecuadorian and Vietnamese, this mosaic of cultures can be seen in every parish, including Our Lady of Lourdes. This diversity did not happen overnight, however. As churches began opening their doors to their neighbors and coming together under the English language in the early 1900’s, the slow process of uniting not only the Catholics of the community, but everyone in the community, had started. This change was difficult for the French Church as its membership was steadily going down for much of the following decades. The years to come for Our Lady of Lourdes would be the most challenging, but after these difficult times one of the church’s most prosperous periods would follow.

While my next installment of this series will touch upon Our Lady of Lourdes working hard to find success in the latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st, we already know the outcome. The church is once again a pillar of the community as they continue to welcome everyone with open arms and show support for the East Hennepin area. During this important week for Catholics around the world there are themes of redemption, rebirth, and renewal. By keeping these motifs in mind, the perseverance of the church and congregation have helped Our Lady of Lourdes make a strong comeback.

However, that story has yet to be written for another Our Lady. The fire at Notre Dame de Paris is heartbreaking for not only those who are religious, but also those who appreciate architecture, history, art, and culture. It may be sad and overwhelming, but if there’s a will there’s a way, and the Human Will is a very powerful force. It may take quite some time, but if Notre Dame de Lourdes in Minneapolis can make a comeback, so can Notre Dame de Paris, I know it. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net

Our Lady of Lourdes & the City: Part I

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church has stood tall along the Mississippi riverfront for over 140 years. It has seen Minneapolis grow from a quaint milling village to one of the most prosperous cities in the United States. When the original Church building was constructed in 1855 by the Universalists, it was located in the Village of St. Anthony, which itself was founded in 1849. In 1872 both the Village of St. Anthony and the City of Minneapolis merged, and five years later, the local French Catholics founded Our Lady of Lourdes. The prosperity of both the Church and city has been intermingled ever since.

The heart of the church building was constructed by the First Universalist Church in 1855 and became the first stone Universalist church in the city. It was a rectangular Greek Revival style building measuring 67 by 44 feet, built of native limestone from just a few blocks away along the Mississippi River. This style reflected the "temple of reason" which was significant to Universalist teachings. The waning numbers of the congregation could not support the upkeep of the building, so they abandoned the structure in 1866.

The building when it housed the First Universalist Church, 1857.

While all of this was taking place, the French-Canadian population of modern-day Northeast Minneapolis was worshipping roughly three fourths of a mile away at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. Initially, most immigrants to the Village of St. Anthony were French-Canadian, and by 1855 they made up roughly half of the village’s population. Around this time, immigrants from different European nations found their way to the area, and the population of the diocese rose from 8,000 Catholics in 1853 to over 50,000 by 1858. This caused a problem to arise at St. Anthony of Padua. The French speaking priests had a very hard time keeping the peace between the many different languages within the church. This resulted in a few of the cultures breaking away and establishing their own churches, such as the Germans did with St. Boniface, and the Polish with All Saints.

The two tenants that stayed were the French and the Irish, and in 1860, an Irish priest was assigned to the parish. To no one’s surprise, this move did not ease tensions. As the next few years passed, the French congregation of St. Anthony of Padua decided they wanted to keep true to their roots, and the only way they could accomplish this was to find a new home. They needed to raise a fair amount of money and find a suitable location that was still close enough for their congregation to be able to reach, and in 1877, things finally went their way when the First Universalist Church building went up for sale. The French congregation acted quickly and purchased the land and building, and officially named their new parish Notre Dame de Lourdes after the Marian apparition that happened merely 19 years earlier.

The building when it was vacant, but still owned by the Universalists, taken in 1872.

The small Greek Revival building did not meet the immediate needs of the Church, so once more money was raised, and they transformed their house of worship into one that looked like a proper Catholic church. From 1880-1883, most of the major changes occurred that would make the church into a very small version of a French Gothic cathedral. The church was enlarged to 135 by 65 feet, a higher-pitched wooden roof was put over the flatter Greek Revival roof, a sacristy was added to the east side, and doorways were installed in the northwest and southwest corners of the church with curved stone staircases leading up to them.

During the latter portion of the 19th century, the English Protestants of Canada were alienating the French Catholics, which saw a mass immigration of those French-Canadians to the United States. With 3,700,000 new immigrants coming to the U.S., many of them sought a familiar setting, and Minneapolis provided just that with their saw and flour mills and openness to new cultures and traditions. Because of this, Our Lady of Lourdes saw a massive increase in membership. In 1882, the parish had 350 families from Canada alone, and in 1900, that jumped to 400.

As the City of Minneapolis was growing, so was the Church. They both welcomed with open arms those who were looking for a new place to raise their families, and it was this positive and accepting nature of the Church and City that made both what they are today. With the Church and City seeing immediate success, the future was looking bright. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net

Update on Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 6:23AM by David Tinjum

--------------------------------

Read part II

http://millcitytimes.com/news/our-lady-of-lourdes-the-city-part-ii.html

Father Louis Hennepin: Man, Myth, Legend.

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

What is the story behind Father Louis Hennepin? It’s a name so common around here that we don’t think twice of it. There’s Father Hennepin Bluff Park, Hennepin Island, Hennepin Avenue, Father Louis Hennepin Bridge, and Hennepin County. He was the first non-Native American to set eyes on Owahmenah, “falling water” in Dakota, Kababikah, “severed rock” in Ojibwe, or St. Anthony Falls, but that’s just the middle of the story. Well here’s the beginning and the end.

A portrait of Hennepin from 1694.

Father Louis Hennepin was born in 1626 as Antoine Hennepin in Ath, Spanish Netherlands, what is now Belgium. Growing up he traveled around Europe as much as he could, and by the time he turned twenty, he joined the Récollets, also known as the Franciscan Order. During his time studying at a convent in Bethune, France he quickly became interested in stories of missionaries traversing the wilderness of undiscovered lands. In 1673, he was sent to Maastricht, Netherlands and became a military chaplain. A year later he was sent to the Battle of Seneffe, a part of the Franco-Dutch War, where he ran into Daniel Greysolon Dulhut, the namesake for Duluth. After the battle, he was ordered to make his way to La Rochelle, France where he would soon set sail for the New World.

For his first three years in Quebec, he would follow hunters and trappers to their camps and visit Native American settlements only bringing a portable altar, a blanket, and a mat made of rushes to sleep on. He took notes during all his journeys and would report back to French officials on his discoveries. During this time, he stumbled upon his first claim to fame, Niagara Falls, and he became the first non-Native American to document the falls. In 1678, a French explorer by the name of Robert Cavelier de La Salle made his way to Quebec with permission from King Louis XIV of France to explore the Mississippi River and the land that drains into it. Boarding a boat near Niagara Falls, the exploration party became the first non-Native Americans to navigate Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan.

Once landing in Green Bay, the party traveled by canoe and foot, and by the time they reached Fort Crèvecoeur, near present-day Peoria, Illinois, the food supply was low and they were lacking the necessary materials for navigation, so many members of the party, including La Salle, deserted and decided to head back to Niagara in order to rethink their plan. Only three men remained; Father Hennepin, Michel Accault, and Antoine Auguel Du Guay. Following the Illinois River, they made their way to the Mississippi. Once the ice left the river, they made their way upstream, and in mid-April of 1680, they were greeted at Lake Pepin by thirty-three canoes paddled by 120 Dakota. The three men were then taken upstream to Kaposia where the elders decided what to do with them. They were then taken by foot to a village along the south shore of Mille Lacs where they stayed for two months.

Famous 1905 painting by Douglas Volk.

A hunting party from the village then took the men down the Rum River to the Mississippi and the Dakota agreed to let them paddle down to the Wisconsin River where they could pick up supplies. The three men paddled their way down and on July 6th, 1680, they approached a roaring waterfall Hennepin eventually named after his patron saint, St. Anthony of Padua. The men soon made their way to Prairie du Chien, where the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers meet, and started the journey back upstream. With a canoe fully loaded with supplies, the three men struggled to paddle against the ripping current and were met by Daniel Greysolon Dulhut once again. Dulhut and Hennepin recognized each other from their previous meeting during the Battle of Seneffe. Dulhut’s party helped the three men back to Mille Lacs and over a month later, Dulhut negotiated with the Dakota chief to allow them to return home to Quebec. The men once again packed up their canoes and started paddling home, and on their way, Father Louis Hennepin set his eyes on what he called “the Niagara of the West” for the last time.

Statue of Hennepin located in front of the Basilica of Saint Mary.Once returning to Europe, he seemed to have made a few enemies, including King Louis XIV who said he would be arrested if he ever set foot in New France again. His eccentric personality and passion to become an explorer might have bolstered his ego a bit too much. He wrote three books about his travels and went into great detail in all of them. In his first book, he even slandered La Salle by saying, “Sieur de La Salle wanted all the glory and secret knowledge of this discovery for himself alone. This is why he sacrificed several persons to prevent them from publishing what they had seen and from foiling his secret plans.”

Paranoia and his need for being recognized for his discoveries took over Hennepin during his later years and passed away in Rome around the year 1705. Not much is known about his life other than what he wrote about in his books and what other explorers wrote about if they ever traveled with Hennepin. Some sources say he was born in 1626 and some say 1640. Some sources say he greatly exaggerated his discoveries in his books, and some say he returned to Quebec to a hero’s welcome. However, there’s one thing that’s for certain; Father Louis Hennepin will always be a legend in the Mill City.

-  -  -  -  -

Click here for an interactive map of Michael's past articles.

Interstate 335: Lower Northeast’s Ghost Highway

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

The next time you take a stroll through James I. Rice Parkway on West River Road or watch the Fourth of July fireworks from Boom Island Park, imagine a six-lane highway right in front of you. The Twin Cites has a history of splitting communities in half, like with I-94 in St. Paul, and I-35W in South Minneapolis, but there was almost one more. This is the story of how a neighborhood was shaped by a project that was never built.

Map from 1975 of the plan for I-335

Interstate 335 was first proposed in the 1940’s to connect I-94, at Plymouth Avenue N, to I-35W, between East Hennepin Avenue and Broadway Street NE, which would complete a highway loop around Minneapolis. Since this “North Ring” section would go right through a big chunk of lower Northeast, it took a few decades for the Minnesota Department of Transportation to carefully choose the most fitting design for the area. In 1970, the project started to pick up steam when a federal highway bill granted money to the project to buy right-of-way land and prepare the route for construction. In fact, if you head southbound on I-35W, you can still see the beginnings of an on ramp as you approach the East Hennepin Avenue overpass.

Google Maps picture of I-35W near the East Hennepin Ave overpass showing an unused on-ramp

I-335 was planned to start at Plymouth Avenue N with its first on/off ramps at Washington Avenue N. It crossed the Mississippi River just south of the Plymouth Avenue bridge, curved its way through Boom Island and B.F. Nelson parks, and its first on/off ramps on the Northeast side would have been at Main Street, where Marshall Street breaks off, roughly where the Pioneer monument currently stands. I-335 would have then continued east, with on/off ramps at University Avenue NE and 4th Street NE. Its last on/off ramp before it that would have connected to I-35W was planned to be at Monroe Street NE.

It’s hard to comprehend a six-lane highway going right through my favorite riverfront park, but it was very close to happening. Understandably, the residents of the St. Anthony West neighborhood were not happy about a highway going through their backyard. Led by their president, Patrick Rainville, Sr., the grandfather of yours truly, the St. Anthony West neighborhood board fought tooth and nail to stop this project. This was a daunting task, as no neighborhood organization has ever shut down a federal government project. Well do I have good news for you! History was made on July 25, 1975 when the Minneapolis City Council listened to one of their oldest neighborhoods and passed a resolution opposing the I-335 project.

When the weather warms up and you find yourself at Boom Island Park, take a moment to look at the Minneapolis skyline, smell the wildflowers in the fields, wave hello to the canoers and kayakers, and appreciate the natural beauty of the Minneapolis riverfront. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net

Early Chinese Immigrants in Minneapolis

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Wedding portrait of Liang May Seen and Woo Yee Sing, 18931893 wedding portrait of Liang May Seen and Woo Yee SingImmigrants from China first arrived in North America before the United States became a nation, working as sailors and merchants on Spanish galleons, sailing between Mexico and the Philippines. The United States acquired much of Mexico’s northern territory in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican – American War. By this time, many small communities of Chinese immigrants in California were already established, and that number only grew during the next few decades as many came to America to test their luck during the California gold rush and to help complete the first transcontinental railroad.

One of the first Chinese men to start a new life in Minneapolis was Woo Yee Sing who first arrived in San Francisco in the early 1880s at the age of eighteen. Soon after in 1882, the U.S. passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which restricted Chinese immigration to America and led to further segregation of Chinese Americans within the communities they have called home for decades. Woo Yee Sing came to Minneapolis in order to escape persecution on the west coast and operated a laundromat. In 1883, he started the first Chinese restaurant in Minneapolis with his brother Woo Du Sing known as the Canton Café. Woo Yee Sing returned to San Francisco in 1892 with the goal of finding a bride, and that’s when he met Liang May Seen who arrived in San Francisco in 1885 at the age of fourteen. Liang May Seen’s parents were approached by a man who said if she went to America, she would be marrying a wealthy Chinese American businessman. However, he sold her to a brothel as soon as they arrived in San Francisco.

Honeymoon portrait of the couple taken in 1893.

Liang May Seen escaped the brothel in 1889 and was taken in by the Presbyterian Mission Home in San Francisco where she became fluent in English and also took classes in housekeeping and mathematics. Once Liang May Seen and Woo Yee Sing were introduced to each other, they married and headed to Minneapolis making Liang May Seen the first Chinese women to call Minnesota home.

Because of Liang May Seen’s excellent grasp of the English language, she quickly made friends in Minneapolis, opening a curio shop in 1904. During her time at the Presbyterian Mission Home in San Francisco, she converted to Christianity, and in Minneapolis, she continued to participate in the faith. She joined the Women's Foreign Missionary Society where she met suffragist Mabeth Hurd Paige who was one of the first four women to be elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. Liang May Seen and her husband also joined the Westminster Presbyterian Church, located on Marquette Avenue and South Twelfth Street. The church had a Chinese Sunday School that helped many Chinese immigrants get acquainted with Minneapolis society.

Cantonese sign for their restaurant reading "Yuen Faung Low," made in 1913.

Portrait of Liang with son Howard taken in 1910.In 1906 Liang May Seen and her husband Woo Yee Sing adopted a Chinese boy from San Francisco named Howard and continued to help and strengthen the local Chinese community. This took a lot of resilience and patience, because the persecution of Chinese Americans was only getting worse as the years went on. Their restaurant, the Canton Café, soon changed their name to Yuen Faung Low, colloquially known as John’s Place and was known as a place where anyone could go to enjoy a meal, regardless of race. In an interview in the Minneapolis Journal, the reporter observed this diversity with Woo Yee Sing responding, “They are men like you or me. They have got to eat and there must be some place for them to do so…They are all brothers, and there is no room for race prejudice.” Unfortunately, their restaurant, which was located at 28 South Sixth Street, was the target of a bombing in 1912.

Nonetheless, Liang May Seen and Woo Yee Sing continued to help Chinese immigrants, teaching English and helping families settle into their new home of Minneapolis. Minnie Wong was one of these immigrants. She came here from the Kaiping District of the Guangdong Province in China; the same area Liang May Seen grew up. Together, they taught the first English classes Westminster offered for Chinese women.

John's Place interior, 1963

John's Place menu from 1960In 1916, John’s Place expanded up. They opened a tearoom on the second floor in order to be more appealing to their patrons that wanted a more elegant setting. The restaurant continued to find success and eventually closed in the 1960s. Woo Yee Sing passed away in 1925 with over 700 mourners attending the funeral, and Liang May Seen passed away in 1946, leaving behind a legacy to be proud of to say the least.

Being a non-European immigrant in the U.S. was, and still is, a challenge, and the early Chinese immigrants who settled in Minneapolis never let racism and prejudice overcome them. From teaching English and starting their own businesses to building a successful Chinese American community, Liang May Seen and Woo Yee Sing were model citizens and have made a lasting mark in this melting pot of a city we all call home.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net

Mr. Pettingill’s Wonderful Water

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

1875 - Chalybeate Springs near Pillsbury A MillIn 1875, the Minneapolis Riverfront welcomed its first, and last, resort. Mr. Mannesseh P. Pettingill reached an agreement with the St. Anthony Falls Company to lease a portion of their land, where he would start a spring-fed resort and tourist attraction. This was not the first time people would visit the springs, as they have been a popular spot to unwind since pioneers settled in the area. However, during the Civil War, the springs fell out of popularity.

The visitors of Mr. Pettinghill’s resort descended a steep flight of stairs, which were located in present day Father Hennepin Bluff Park. At the base of the bluff, they were able to enjoy ice cream, cigars, great views of St. Anthony Falls, and relaxing natural springs, which he marketed it as his Wonderful Water. One of the main attractions of the resort was a cavern, advertised as “Chute’s Cave.” An August 1876 issue of the Minneapolis Tribune says that visitors were able to take a tour of the cavern. “For the moderate sum of ten cents you can take a seat in a boat, with a flaming torch at the bow, and with a trusty pilot sail up under Main Street a distance of 2,000 feet.” If you were not the adventurous type, they also provided live music along the banks of the Mississippi every Saturday, such as the East Minneapolis Cornet Band on the evening of August 26th. Mr. Pettingill eventually constructed a covered dancefloor as a “rendezvous for lovers of dancing, where they can trip the light fantastic whenever occasion admits.”

1875 - Chalybeate Springs near Pillsbury A Mill

The growth of the city eventually made it hard for Mr. Pettingill to continue to run his resort, and in Autumn of 1880, it closed for good. Everything that could have went wrong happened all at once. Milling continued to grow at a rapid pace, which chased away many visitors of the resort because of the noise pollution, it was discovered that the source of Mr. Pettingill’s Wonderful Water was a swamp, and to top it all off, the city connected its sewers to the tailraces of the mills that emptied into the river right next to the resort.

Lower Father Hennepin Bluff Park

Fortunately for us, that area has cleaned up quite nicely. If you want to check out the springs, wait until the snow melts and the river thaws, and wander down the trails of the lower section of Father Hennepin Bluff Park and rediscover the beauty that attracted many residences of the Twin Cities and beyond to Mr. Pettengill’s resort.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net

A Tale of Too Many Bridges

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Photo credit: Skyline ArtEveryday, thousands of people cross the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, from those who are commuting to work and students arriving for class at DeLaSalle High School, to locals walking their dogs or going for a jog. We take our many bridges for granted these days, but it wasn’t always a luxury the citizens of the Twin Cities had. An important piece of infrastructure, this bridge helped industry and commerce blossom in the Mill City.

Before bridges started to pop up across the Mississippi River, ferries were the only way to cross when the ice cleared the river. In order to connect the two villages of Minneapolis and St. Anthony, businessmen Franklin Steele and John Stevens began operating a rope ferry in 1847 from Nicollet Island to Minneapolis to help travelers cross safely. Shortly after, in 1851, a bridge was built from St. Anthony to Nicollet Island. Steele and Stevens noticed how important commuting back and forth between the two villages was for the local economy and began discussing the possibility of building a bridge at the spot where they run their ferry service.

On March 4th, 1852, Steele, Stevens, and other investors started the Mississippi Bridge Company when they received a charter from the Territorial Legislature to build a bridge. The $36,000 bridge, or over $1,015,000 after inflation, was completed in December of 1854, and officially opened to the public on January 23rd, 1855. When the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge first opened, it was dubbed as the “link between the Atlantic and Pacific,” because it became the first bridge to span the Mississippi anywhere on the river. It wasn’t New Orleans, it wasn’t Memphis, it wasn’t St. Louis; Minneapolis is the true Gateway to the West.

The original anchors for the suspension can still be seen in First Bridge Park underneath the current Hennepin Avenue Bridge. Since the wooden suspension bridge was built by a private company, it was initially a toll bridge. Pedestrians paid 3¢, or 5¢ for a round trip, horses and mules cost 15¢, cows and oxen cost 10¢, and pigs and sheep cost 2¢. Because the bridge was small, and rather close to the river, there was a strict rule that you had to cross the bridge at a walking pace or slower. If they did catch you going faster than a walking pace, they would fine you $10! That doesn’t seem like much now, but the average day wage for those who worked in the mills was 25¢.

Photo of the first and second bridges taken in 1876 during the construction of the second bridge.

When the bridge first opened, the population of Minneapolis was roughly 480 residents, and St. Anthony had over 1,000. Only five years later in 1860, the populations quickly rose to 2,500 and 3,200 respectively. There is no doubt that the Hennepin Avenue Bridge was a major factor in the growth of both villages. In 1869, the Minneapolis Bridge Company’s charter expired, and Hennepin County purchased the bridge to become its new owner. In February of 1872, St. Anthony agreed to merge with Minneapolis to become one city and the ownership of the bridge once again changed hands, this time to the city of Minneapolis. The rapidly rising population, quickly growing milling industry in the city, and almost constant repairs to the bridge meant that it was close to obsolete. New plans to make a larger wooden suspension bridge came to fruition in February of 1877. During construction of the second bridge, the original was left up because taking away that crossing would have been devastating for the city and its residents. Once that second bridge was open, they tore down the original, the very first bridge to span the Mississippi River.

A couple decades later, the city needed a much larger bridge, so in 1888 they started construction on a steel arched bridge, moving away from the previous suspension bridges. The third bridge on this site opened to the public in 1891 and lasted almost 100 years. By the 1980s, city and county officials knew the third bridge was in dire need of repairs, and once a study was complete, they were split on whether they should invest in the almost 100-year-old bridge or build a state-of-the-art new bridge. Led by John Derus, who was also key in securing the future of the Stone Arch Bridge and the Merriam Street Bridge, the city and county officials decided to build a new bridge that the city would be proud of.

Photo of the second and third bridges in 1891 before the second was torn down.

The new, and current Father Louis Hennepin Bridge is once again a true suspension bridge. Two 150-foot-tall towers support the suspension for two separate bridge decks, thus making it the shortest suspension bridge to carry highway traffic built in modern times when it opened in 1990.

Now one of the most recognizable sites in Minneapolis, the Hennepin Avenue Bridge is featured on everything from postcards to t-shirts, and I’m sure it helps that it’s located right next to another Minneapolis icon, the Grain Belt Beer sign. The next time you traverse the Hennepin Avenue Bridge on your commute to work or your next bike ride, take a second to imagine crossing the bridge in 1855 when it was a revolutionary feat of engineering; the first bridge to span the Mississippi River.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -   

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville Jr. received his B.A. in History from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently enrolled in their M.A. in Art History and Certificate in Museum Studies programs. Michael is also a historic interpreter and guide at Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote and a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 7+ years. Contact: mrainvillejr@comcast.net. Click here for an interactive map of Michael's past articles.

The Lumber Exchange Building

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Lumber Exchange Building, 1886The Lumber Exchange Building, one of the last remaining structures of Minneapolis past that thankfully survived our city’s Urban Renewal era in the 1960s and 70s when so many of our beautiful buildings were torn down to make way for parking lots. The Lumber Exchange has stood tall for well over 100 years at Hennepin Avenue and Fifth Street, watching the ups and downs of this ever-changing metropolis.

The lumber industry in Minnesota served as the catalyst for economic growth and prosperity during the first decades of statehood, and a dedicated space to conduct business and make deals was necessary for not just the continued success of the industry, but the growth of our westward-expanding nation. The decision to create a lumber exchange in Minneapolis came in 1885 with the architectural team of Franklin Long and Frederick Kees in charge of the design. This architect firm also created the Hennepin Center for the Arts, formally known as the Masonic Temple, the Flour Exchange Building, City Hall, and the original Minneapolis Central Library.

Expansion under constructionWith construction starting in 1885 and ending in 1887, the original Lumber Exchange stood ten stories tall, was situated along South Fifth Street, and featured exceptional Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. This structure was a shadow of what the building looks like today. There were thirteen bays of windows spanning 142 feet along Fifth and just three bays of windows spanning about thirty-eight feet along Hennepin. Shortly after completion, Long and Kees were hired once again to expand the building. Staying true to the original building in terms of style and appearance, the expansion wrapped up in 1890 and extended the Hennepin side to sixteen bays of windows, covering 170 feet, and two additional floors were added, bringing the total to twelve.

Once the expansion was completed, the total cost of the building’s construction came to a total of $1,200,000, or over $35,000,000 after inflation. Using the historical definition of “skyscraper,” this was the city’s first, and it is still the oldest high-rise building in the city. Outside of New York City, the Lumber Exchange is the oldest building that is twelve or more stories in the entire United States, and it was known as one of the first completely fireproof buildings in the nation.

This last moniker was put to the test within a year of the building’s completion when a fire broke out at a neighboring paint and hardware store along Fifth Street during the winter of 1891. The original, more slender section of the Lumber Exchange was semi-fireproof, known as “slow-burning,” and the two-story addition on top, that was fully fireproofed, had yet to be furnished and was still under minor construction in order to incorporate it into the rest of the building. These factors lead to the fire next door spreading to the semi-fireproof parts of the Lumber Exchange. The blaze was controlled and extinguished, and to the surprise of many, there was minimal to no damage to the two-story addition.

Aftermath of the fire, 1891

The Lumber Exchange served as a case study, the perfect example of why it’s important to completely fireproof new buildings as American downtowns began to expand upward. As part of the post-fire renovations, the entire Lumber Exchange was converted from semi-fireproof to completely fireproof, making it one of, if not the first, fireproof buildings in the country - quite an important feature for a lumber exchange if you ask me.

After the lumber industry slowed down in Minnesota, the building needed to find new tenets. Over the years various businesses have called the Lumber Exchange home, including a barber shop, bank, and many bars. In fact, the notorious Kid Cann used the barber shop as an alibi during the 1936 trial for the murder of New York Times journalist Walter Liggett where Cann was quickly acquitted. Over the years, the building has also been adorned with some interesting pieces from around the world. The basement features marble floors from an early twentieth century bathhouse in Turkey, and the 100-year-old brass revolving door that once connected Grand Central Station to the Commodore Hotel in New York City was brought to the Lumber Exchange in 1979 and now serves as the main Hennepin Avenue entrance. Because of its architecture, fireproofing technology, and importance to the lumber industry in the state and country, this building was included in the National Register of Historic Places in May of 1983.

Current day Lumber Exchange Building. Photo: R2 Companies

Today, the building is home to Trieste Café, The Pourhouse, The Exchange & Alibi Lounge, and the Lumber Exchange Event Center to name a few. I actually had the opportunity to step inside the building and Event Center this past Friday for the wedding of one of my friends and graduate school classmates, so if anyone asks about my whereabouts on Friday, October 29th between the hours of 4pm and midnight, that’s where I was. Nowhere else.

Michael with girlfriend Theresa and the newlywed couple, Jessy and Eric, in the Lumber Exchange Event Center.

For 136 years, the Lumber Exchange Building has stood the test of time, from fires to Urban Renewal. The next time you visit downtown, go to a sporting event, pick up a book from the library, or enjoy a night out at the many bars and restaurants, take a good look the historic Lumber Exchange as it peers over Hennepin Avenue, watching the city grow as it has for so long.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net

The Tallest Skyscraper in the Northwest

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Dominating Minneapolis’ skyline for many decades, the Foshay Tower is one of the most iconic buildings in the city, and state for that matter. While its tenants have changed throughout the years, its stoic and distinguished look has been a constant in this ever-changing city.

Photo Wilbur B. Foshay from 1929Before the Foshay Tower was ever a thought, Wilbur B. Foshay traveled the U.S. from the East Coast to the West working various jobs for utility companies. Electricity was starting to reach a much broader audience after the turn of the 20th century, and Foshay noticed this trend. After working many years in the utility business, he eventually bought and operated three companies one right after another, and each was more successful than the previous. In 1915 he settled his family in Minneapolis and worked for Page and Hill, a manufacturer of electric-light poles and telephone poles. A year later, he bought a utility company in Nebraska and continued to grow his empire.

By 1927, his company, the W. B. Foshay Company, owned utilities in 32 states, the territory of Alaska, Canada, and parts of Central America. After years of apparent success, he decided that his company needed its own world-class headquarters. He spared no expenses when making his building, and it was the most elaborate structure the region had seen up until that point. Wilbur Foshay was heavily inspired by his trips to Washington D.C. and modeled his tower after the Washington Memorial. In order to successfully recreate this obelisk structure, Foshay’s architects, Magney & Tusler, Inc., developed a new construction method by utilizing hot-riveted fabricated steel with reinforced concrete. The exterior of the building is made from Indiana limestone, and the interior is decorated with African Mahogany, Italian Siena marble on the walls, terrazzo on the floors, gold-plated doorknobs, a silver- and gold-plated ceiling, and ornamental bronze entrances. This 32-story Art Deco building was made for a king with a final cost of $3,750,000, or over $56 million after inflation.

Foshay Tower, 1935

On August 30th, 1929, the Foshay Tower opened to much fanfare. Wilbur Foshay went all out and organized and three-day long festival to commemorate the opening of the Foshay Tower, which ended up costing him $116,500, or almost $1,750,000 after inflation. He sent out 25,000 personal invitations, which included various governors, senators, congressmen, and foreign dignitaries, and the main address was made by Secretary of War James W. Good who represented President Herbert Hoover. Possibly the most noteworthy events that happened during the celebration were the eight concerts performed by John Philip Sousa and his seventy-five-piece band. Here Sousa debuted a song he wrote specifically for the event titled “Foshay Tower-Washington Memorial March.” In order to persuade Sousa to do this, Foshay gave him a check for $20,000, or almost $300,000 after inflation. There’s no wonder why Sousa went all out for this celebration.

Only months after the openings of the Foshay Tower the stock market drastically crashed, and the U.S. entered the Great Depression. This was bad news for Wilbur Foshay as his company immediately failed, so quickly in fact that his $20,000 check to Sousa bounced when he tried to cash it. This made Sousa so furious that he refused to play the “Foshay Tower-Washington Memorial March” until he was fully paid, and even wrote it in his will that the song shall never be played. This was not resolved until 1988 when a group of Minnesota investors repaid Foshay's debt to Sousa's estate, and the march was finally permitted to be played in public once again.

Foshay’s company failing also lead to a very serious legal issue. In 1932, he was convicted of conducting a pyramid scheme and mail fraud, and was sentenced to 15 years at the Leavenworth Penitentiary. Eventually, President Franklin D. Roosevelt cut his sentence to only five years, but Foshay only ended up serving three years and was released early for good behavior. Later in 1947, President Harry Truman granted Foshay a full and unconditional pardon.

Even though Wilbur Foshay may have been a crook, his building was a success. When it was completed it became the tallest building in Minneapolis, beating out City Hall, and was billed as “the tallest skyscraper in the Northwest.” It took 43 years before the Foshay Tower was dethroned by the IDS Center when it was completed in 1972. The building has been home to many radio stations, including WTCN and WCCO, Café Un Deux Trois, where Andrew Zimmern was executive chef, the Norwegian Consulate, and now the W Hotel and Prohibition Sky Bar. A famous building with an extraordinary past, the Foshay Tower has been, and will always be, a part of our city’s identity.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville Jr. received his B.A. in History from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently enrolled in their M.A. in Art History and Certificate in Museum Studies programs.

Michael is also an intern at the Hennepin History Museum and a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 6+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

A Brief History of the University of St. Thomas

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

The 2021-2022 school year is the beginning of a new era at the University of St. Thomas. For the first time in their 136-year history, the Tommies will participate in Division I of the NCAA in all sports. This unprecedented jump from Division III to I has put the spotlight on my alma mater, so let’s take a look at how St. Thomas became the university it is today.

A 1886 print of the original building that previously housed the Catholic Industrial Boys School.

Starting with the history of the land, in 1805, the first governor of the Louisiana Territory, James Wilkinson, ordered Lieutenant Zebulon Pike to lead an expedition up the Mississippi River to explore the upper region of this new territory. Keep in mind that Wilkinson never informed the United States government of this expedition. Departing from St. Louis on August 9th, the expedition crew arrived at Bdote, the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, on September 21st. Here, Lt. Pike negotiated a treaty with seven Dakota leaders to acquire the land from Bdote up to Owamni, also known as St. Anthony Falls, as well as land around the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, a total of over 150,000 acres. Only two of the seven Dakota leaders signed the treaty, and since the U.S. government was never aware of the expedition, the treaty was illegal. In fact, in 1856, the Military Affairs Committee of the Senate noted in a report,

“It does appear that General Pike made an arrangement in 1805 with two Sioux Indians for the purchase of the lands of that tribe, including the Faribault island, but there is no evidence that this agreement, to which there is not even a witness, and in which no consideration was named, was ever considered binding upon the Indians, or that they ever yielded up the possession of their lands under it… It was never promulgated, nor can it be now found upon the statute books, like any other treaty—if indeed a treaty it may be called—nor were its stipulations ever complied with on the part of the United States.”

Nonetheless, the land that was included in the “treaty” was turned into a military reservation once Fort Snelling was established in 1819.

Almost thirty years later in 1848, William Finn, a veteran of the Mexican-American War and the namesake of Finn Street, was awarded a portion of this land; 640 acres along the east side of the Mississippi River, from modern-day Marshall Avenue to St. Clair Avenue and from Fairview Avenue to the river. This soon became known as Finn’s Farm, and in 1874, Bishop Thomas Grace of Saint Paul purchased 452 acres from Finn and established the Catholic Industrial School for boys whose family lives were disrupted by the Civil War.

In the 1880s, Archbishop John Ireland made it a priority to establish a Catholic seminary, a college that prepares students to become priests, in order to help assimilate the many new Catholic immigrants to the American way of life. The Diocese of St. Paul, known as the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis since 1966, renovated the old Catholic Industrial School and on September 8th, 1885, the St. Thomas Seminary opened its doors. This new school consisted of a high school, college, and seminary, and had a rector, five professors, who were also priests, and sixty-two students.

One of the first sporting events to happen at St. Thomas was a baseball game. The college fielded a team called the Shadow Falls Base Ball Club in 1886, named after the waterfall that empties into the Mississippi River right by the campus. The team joined the Minnesota Athletic Conference in 1902 and won the inaugural championship.

Lake Mennith, 1907

During the early years of the campus, students could be seen sailing, and skating during the winter months, on a human-made pond known as Lake Mennith. It was created in 1887 when the school dammed a creek and wetland that went through the middle of campus. Lake Mennith was filled in when the City of Saint Paul installed a sewer line through campus in 1910.

In 1894, the liberal arts college was founded thanks to a donation by James J. Hill to establish the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity separately from the college. The funds were used to create multiple different buildings, including two dormitories, Loras and Cretin halls, a dining hall, library, chapel, and gymnasium and power plant. The architect in charge of the seminary’s new campus was Cass Gilbert, who also designed our State Capitol Building and the United States Supreme Court Building. Two of these structures still stand and many have been replaced.

St. Thomas campus, 1930

The most recent of these original buildings to be demolished is Loras Hall. This building was used for offices for the last years of its life and was razed this past spring to make way for a new STEAM building (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math). The original plan was for Loras Hall to be moved to the west a few dozen feet, but that plan fell through. The Saint Paul Historic Preservation Committee voted 6-1 to deny the university a demolition permit. However, after an appeal to the city council, the council voted 6-1 to allow demolition. This was quite heartbreaking and frustrating to see as someone who studied history and architecture at the university. Methods and theories of historic preservation that I was taught seemed to be ignored and not practiced by the university, ignoring the historic preservation committee’s ruling. I do look forward to touring the new STEAM building when it is completed in the coming decade.

One of the more famous buildings on St. Thomas’ campus is the chapel. Initially, services were held in the basement of the old administrative building, but as the student body population was growing, so was the need for a larger, separate space to worship. During the turn of the twentieth century, Archbishop Ireland was searching for a location for a new, much larger cathedral for the diocese, and he heavily considered a site across Cleveland Avenue from the college’s campus, where Laurel Flats Apartments now stand. He ended up going with the cathedral’s current location, at Summit and Selby avenues, and the college was still needing a larger place to worship.

The first chapel was constructed in 1907, but this wooden structure quickly became too small for the college. It was torn down in 1917 and was replaced with the current chapel, designed by Emmanuel Masqueray, the same architect who also designed the Cathedral of Saint Paul and Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

Aerial photo of the campus in 1971 with downtown Minneapolis in the background to the left.

Archbishop Ireland and college president Reverend Humphry Moynihan worked to establish St. Thomas as a military school in the early 1900s, and in 1905, they had a contract with the U.S. War Department to start that process. The college was designated as a military academy in 1907, and the next year, it ranked in the top ten of all military academies in the nation. Military training was required for all students until 1922 when students were allowed to opt out of the training. Students who joined the college from its high school, St. Thomas Academy, were still required to participate in training.

St. Thomas started its first graduate program in 1950, education, and its second in 1974, business administration. In 1977, they became co-educational, and in 1990, St. Thomas College changed its name to the University of St. Thomas. In 1991, they opened their downtown Minneapolis campus, and ten years later in 2001, their School of Law moved to that location.

Photo of Loras Hall taken in 2020 by Casey Eakins of Tommie Media.

The University of St. Thomas has a long, storied past, and their future looks brighter than ever, becoming just the second school in Minnesota to participate in Division I athletics in all sports. The university is growing in every sense, and I couldn’t be prouder to be a Tommie. Roll Toms!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net

The Longest Concrete Arch in the World

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Minneapolis, the City of Lakes, but also, the City of Bridges. Dozens of bridges span the Mighty Mississippi, and each are famous for their own reasons. This week, I will tell the story of a bridge that once held the world record for the longest concrete arch in the world, the Franklin Avenue Bridge.

The old Franklin Avenue bridge, 1912

Starting back in 1889, a metal bridge with stone piers was constructed where the current bridge stands. It served as a vital connected between Prospect Park on the east side and Seward on the west. Thirty years later, Minneapolis grew by nearly 350,000 people, and a larger bridge was needed. The two men tasked with designing a new bridge were Norwegians Kristoffer Olsen Oustad and Frederick William Cappelen, who lead the project. Cappelen designed the Prospect Park water tower, was previously Minneapolis’ municipal bridge engineer, and later was elected as the city engineer, with Oustad taking over as the municipal bridge engineer after Cappelen.

The advancements of concrete and steel in the early 1900s meant that much larger structures could be built than previously imagined, so Cappelen took this opportunity to give this new bridge a center span of at least 300 feet long and fifty feet tall. Over the course of the design process, Cappelen decided to lengthen the center span in order to keep the current bridge in operation until the new one could be completed. Construction started in 1919 and finished in 1923, with the center section spanning 435 feet across the river and providing eighty-eight feet of clearance for boat traffic. Upon completion, the center span was the largest concrete arch in the world.

A 1920 painting of the construction of the current bridge by Ada Wolfe

Unfortunately, Cappelen passed away in October of 1921, five days before his sixty-fourth birthday, so when the new bridge opened in 1923, it was officially named the F.W. Cappelen Memorial Bridge. During this era of bridge construction, similar bridges were constructed throughout the Twin Cities, and the area became known as having the best examples of concrete arch bridges in the world.

1923 photo of the current bridge, looking downstream. Note the piers of the original bridge underneath the new bridge.

In the 1940s, the streetcar tracks were removed from the bridge, and two more lanes of vehicle traffic were added, bringing the total number of lanes to four. Soon thereafter in 1954, West River Road was built underneath one of the arches. The bridge closed in 1971 for its first major renovation, and in 2005, a bike lane was added.

In 2007, an inspection revealed that freezing and unthawing water combined with salt from the winters contributed to significant corrosion. Efforts to repair the bridge began during the spring of 2015 after $28.5 million was set aside for the project the year before, and it was thought that the bridge would have to be closed for two years. However, the construction crew decided to use a method called Accelerated Bridge Construction in order to greatly speed up the process, and the bridge only had to be closed for five months.

Because of U.S. Bank Stadium construction driving up the price of concrete, the piers of the 1889 bridge were salvaged to help with costs, but the newly renovated bridge ended up having a price tag of $43 million. It includes two lanes of traffic with terrific, separated bike and pedestrian lanes, much needed improvements for one of the most bikeable cities in the nation. Because of the fantastic updates and renovation, the bridge and construction teams won the Engineering News-Record Midwest Award of Merit and the American Public Works Association Project of the Year Award in Historical Restoration/Preservation ($25 million to $75 million category), both in 2017.

The F.W. Cappelen Memorial Bridge, commonly referred to as the Franklin Avenue Bridge, is approaching its centennial birthday, and with the recent renovation, Minneapolitans will be able to enjoy this once record-holding bridge for another hundred years.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is a historical interpreter at the Minnesota History Center and has been a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway, walking, and biking tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 9+ years.

 

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net

Milling on Minnehaha

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Minnehaha Creek has been an important fixture in Minneapolis and the western suburbs for over 150 years. Ever since the first settlers came to the area when Fort Snelling was established in 1819, people have been drawn to it. The first person to capitalize on the power of the creek was our friend from my last article, The Oldest House in the City, Ard Godfrey.

During the mid-1800’s, Minnehaha Creek and Falls would have been well known throughout the tourism world. It was very popular to take a steamboat from St. Louis up to St. Paul and explore the creek and lakes of Minneapolis. Thousands of people made that journey every year, including many photographers and artists. This lead to the creation of many paintings and stereoscopic view cards of the falls, which spread throughout the country. The popularity of the art and view cards eventually led to Minneapolis and Minnehaha Creek being called a must-see vacation destination.

Now one would think that with the popularity of the area, someone would settle that land immediately. The reason why this was not the case is because it was within the Fort Snelling Military Reservation. Fortunately for Godfrey, he had a friend who was an officer at the fort, and in 1851, with his friend’s help, Godfrey made a claim to "the wooded point lying between the Mississippi river and Brown's creek, as Minnehaha was then called.” His first project was opening a sawmill in 1853 on the north side of the creek, roughly halfway between Minnehaha Falls and the Mississippi. I’m sure he got this idea from the sawmill that was located on the same stretch of the creek which helped build Fort Snelling a few decades before. Even though sawmills would always create a profit since everyone needed wood, he quickly opened a second mill on the creek closer to the Mississippi. This second mill was a gristmill, a type of flour mill, and was a two-story wood frame building with a gabled roof and a redbrick chimney, much like his house in the Village of St. Anthony. Godfrey’s gristmill became very popular as many farmers in the area would take their various grains directly to mill to be made into flour.

Godfrey's gristmill, 1865 

Godfrey's dam, 1889 

Godfrey dam ruins, 1920 

Like many mills that operated during the early years of the city, Godfrey’s sawmill and gristmill burnt down, but while his mills are no more, the foundation of the limestone and wood dam he built for his mills is still visible today. There’s a reason why we’re called the Mill City. Mills weren’t exclusive to the Mississippi around St. Anthony Falls. They could be found anywhere there was a body of water in the city. When you find yourself strolling down Minnehaha Creek, look through the foliage, find the remains of Godfrey’s dam, and imagine a time when the creek was more than just a place of monumental beauty.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville Jr. received his B.A. in History from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently enrolled in their M.A. in Art History and Certificate in Museum Studies programs.

Michael is also a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 5+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

The Minneapolis Industrial Exposition Building

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Long before the Minneapolis Convention Center started hosting events, such as the American Legion’s 100th Anniversary convention, the Industrial Exposition Building was home to many events and fairs. Sitting on the east side of the Mississippi River, the building towered over the riverfront and added to the already impressive sights of St. Anthony Falls and the Stone Arch Bridge. While it may not be there today, it served as an important event center for the city for many decades.

1910 photo of the building through an arch of the Stone Arch Bridge. 

Planning for the Exposition Building started in 1885 to counteract an announcement made that same year by the Minnesota State Fair to call St. Paul their permanent home. Prominent Minneapolitans were upset with the decision, so they quickly came together and agreed to dedicate an impressive structure to host industrial expositions to compete with the yearly agricultural exposition held in the next city over. After passing on many architects, such as Leroy Buffington, who designed the Pillsbury A Mill and the second iteration of the State Capitol Building, the local firm of Isaac Hodgson & Son won the bid.

Photo of the celebration when the laid the cornerstone in 1886.

After acquiring land on 101 Central Avenue SE and considering the construction cost, the total amount it took to complete the building was roughly half a million dollars in 1886, or $13,400,000 in 2018. However, the 5.5-acre plot was donated by the city, and the $250,000 needed for construction was raised by the citizens of Minneapolis. Once the building would open, it would be free of debt. On April 29th, a ceremony was held to celebrate the laying of the cornerstone, and it was attended by over 5,000 people. Only taking three months to construct, the cream-colored brick and Mankato limestone building officially opened on August 3rd, 1886. The majority of the building consisted of a three-story hall that could be divided into smaller rooms, and the main feature of the building was an eight-story tower that was the tallest building in the city upon completion.

The building with the new 3rd Avenue bridge in the foreground, circa 1920's.

To celebrate this brand-new event center, they held their first exhibition on August 23rd. 50,000 people attended the first day of the exposition and saw guest speakers such as Archbishop John Ireland and Senator Cushman Kellogg Davis, who was also the state’s 7th governor. President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Frances Cleveland were also invited but could not make the event. Instead, he wrote a letter, which was read aloud to the many spectators.

“With many thanks for the kind message sent to us by the officers and directors of the Minneapolis Industrial Exposition, Mrs. Cleveland joins with me in tendering to them a hearty congratulations upon the auspicious inauguration of an exhibition which not only demonstrates the prosperity and progress of the great northwest, but also reflects credit upon a country whose greatest pride is the happiness and contentment of its people and their enjoyment of all the gifts of God. Mrs. Cleveland gladly complies with your request and will set in motion the machinery of the exposition. she now awaits your signal.”

— Grover Cleveland

.

Standing by in New York, Mrs. Frances Cleveland flipped a switch and all of the machinery at the exposition turned on much to the excitement of the crowd. Running through October 3rd, the forty-day exposition attracted over 500,000 people.

The next significant event at the Industrial Exposition Building was the 1892 Republican National Convention. The ballot consisted of President Benjamin Harrison, who eventually won the nomination, James Blaine, William McKinley, Thomas Reed, and Robert Todd Lincoln, the first son of Abraham Lincoln. Harrison lost the presidential election to Grover Cleveland who then became the first president to serve two non-concurrent terms. Not only was this an important convention for Minneapolis, is was very important for the entire country as it was the first national convention where women could be delegates and vote. (They couldn't vote in the presidential election, however.)

Depiction of the inside of the building when the RNC was there.

The Minneapolis Industrial Exposition Building could never draw big crowds like they once did, and in 1896, it was sold to Thomas Janney for only $25,000. The few events that were held there for the next seven years were concerts, and in 1903, it was sold once again to Marion Savage, owner of the famous race horse Dan Patch, who turned it into the International Stock Food Company. In 1940, it was sold once again to Coca-Cola and torn down to make way for a new bottling plant. However, they did keep the eight-story tower to honor the history of the previous building. While it served an important role in the development of the Mississippi riverfront and was an attractive space to hold many different events that saw many visitors come to the city for the first time, the Minneapolis Industrial Exposition Building could never really compete with the Minnesota State Fair and eventually was lost to history. You win this time, St. Paul.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville Jr. received his B.A. in History from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently enrolled in their M.A. in Art History and Certificate in Museum Studies programs.

Michael is also a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 5+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

At the Confluence of a River and a Creek: The Minnesota Soldier’s Home

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Photo of the Minnesota Soldier’s Home taken in 1912 with the Mississippi on the right and Minnehaha on the left.

Caring for our wounded soldiers and veterans has been an ever-present need in our country. The first piece of legislation to help those soldiers passed in 1798, and it provided financial relief specifically for sick and disabled sailors. By the mid-1800s, both state and federal governments took responsibility for aiding those soldiers and veterans in need and constructed hospitals in suburban areas, surrounded by beautifully landscaped campuses that provided an attractive and comfortable experience.

The campus in 1900Once the Civil War subsided, the need for soldier and veteran care skyrocketed. Unfortunately, the only choices for Minnesota veterans were to receive financial donations from charities or stay in an almshouse, a house built by a charitable person or organization. This led to 30,000 Minnesota Civil War veterans signing a petition to the state in 1886 to help the many veterans who were in desperate need. A year later, the state legislature agreed to pass a bill that would provide “for the relief of honorably discharged indigent ex-soldiers, sailors and marines, and the widows, minor orphans and dependent parents of such deceased soldiers, sailors or marines, and for the making of an appropriation for the purchase of land and the construction of the necessary building or buildings thereon.” This was also the first bill in the country that gave money to the families of veterans.

A triangular property at the confluence of the Mississippi River and Minnehaha Creek that was donated for the cause was chosen to be the location of a soldier’s home. Tasked with turning this land into a beautifully scenic location was Horace Cleveland, a landscape architect best known for laying out the Grand Rounds parkway system and the Saint Paul neighborhood of Saint Anthony Park. Throughout his career, Cleveland made it a point to use the natural vegetation and landscape in his designs, and that’s exactly what he did for the soldier’s home. A winding avenue from the north leads to the campus where it meets a system of roads that give easy access to all corners of the property. The land was sectioned off into three terraces, with natural shrubbery and deciduous and coniferous trees being prominent features. A ten-acre vegetable garden was located on the upper terrace, most of the buildings were on the middle, and beautiful meadows were located on the lower terrace, near the creek.

The architect who won the bid to design the structures of the campus was Warren Dunnell, who previously worked with Cleveland designing the State Training School in Red Wing. Dunnell utilized the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture, known for its heavy appearance, large arches, and short towers, and constructed two soldier’s homes as well as a laundry facility and heating building.

Upon his visit to the Minnesota Soldier’s Home, the National Inspector of Soldier’s Homes noted that, “Minnesota has in many respects the finest home in all the twenty states. In point of location and construction it cannot be excelled.”

Photo of the bridge taken in 1908.

One of the more noteworthy structures at the Minnesota Soldier’s Home is the bridge across Minnehaha Creek that leads to the campus. The Minneapolis Park Board worked with the Soldier’s Home board of directors to provide another route for vehicles to take to the home, and in 1908, they chose the Minneapolis architect firm Bayne & Hewitt to construct the bridge and the Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Company to provide the materials. This 626-foot-long steel arch bridge sits 105 feet above the creek and consists of one three-hinged arch spanning 288 feet across the ravine, with seven approach spans leading to the main arch. The bridge was completed in September of 1908 and cost $40,000, or roughly $1.15 million after inflation. It was an immediate success and a favorite of residents and visitors alike. My own mother has fond memories of driving over the bridge with her family as a child to visit her grandfather at the Soldier’s Home. The bridge was deemed unsafe in 2014 and closed. Once repairs were complete, the bridge reopened in January of 2020.

1912 photo of the campus from the entrance to the bridge.

Photo of the campus taken in 1930

The Minnesota Soldier’s Home began providing medical assistance after World War I, and the board agreed to make medical care a priority in the 1960s. In 1972, a nursing care facility was constructed, bringing the total number of nursing care beds and domiciliary beds to 250 each. Since then, the state erected veteran’s homes in Fergus Falls, Hastings, Luverne, and Silver Bay, with the Minneapolis campus, now known as the Minnesota Veterans Home, currently housing 291 nursing care beds and fifty domiciliary beds.

Veteran feeding a cat at the Home.

Providing soldiers and veterans with beautiful, state-of-the-art spaces to heal and call home is the least we can do for those who put their lives on the line to protect our country, from the Civil War to now. The next time you visit Minnehaha Park, take a walk over the steel-arch bridge, enjoy the spectacular natural landscaping and views of the bluffs, and appreciate those who have come, gone, and still live at the historic Minnesota Soldier’s Home at the confluence of a mighty river and a lively creek.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -     

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is also a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment, LLC, giving Segway, biking, and walking tours of the riverfront for 9+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

Martha Ripley and the Hospital Named in Her Honor

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Martha George Rogers RipleyIn the land of 10,000 lakes, medical field advancements, promoting women’s rights, and helping charitable causes have been ever-present, and Martha George Rogers Ripley lived a full life that encompassed all three. From growing up on the East Coast to establishing one of the best maternity hospitals in the nation, this is a story of how one person positively impacted the lives of many.

Born in 1843 in the small town of Lowell, Vermont, Martha Rogers started her life’s journey as an elementary school teacher. Once she married William Ripley, they moved to Massachusetts where she worked in the textile milling industry. Here, she took note of the subpar working conditions for women in the mills, began a suffrage group in Middleton, MA, and eventually was elected to the executive committee of the Massachusetts Women Suffrage Association. In order to be of better assistance to the women working in the mills, she enrolled in the medical school at Boston University and received her medical doctorate in 1883. Shortly after, her husband was involved in a milling accident and could no longer work. The responsibility of supporting her family was now solely on Martha’s shoulders, so the family moved to a land of more opportunity, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Martha Ripley was one of the first women to receive their medical license in Minnesota, and she soon became a top obstetrician. That same year, 1883, she was elected president of the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association and brought the yearly national convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association to Minneapolis just two years later. During her time as president, she worked to bring more attention to public health issues such as clean water, food availability for all, and proper city sanitation. She also unsuccessfully petitioned the state to grant women the right to vote and to raise the age of consent from ten to eighteen years old. The state would later raise the age to fourteen in 1891. Quite shocking to think this was only 130 years ago.

1909 photo of the Maternity Hospital

Martha Ripley opened her own hospital in 1886 for pregnant women and children at 316 East 15th Street, near the present-day Convention Center. They quickly outgrew their first location and moved to 2529 4th Avenue South, and even then, that location was too small. Ten years after Maternity Hospital opened their doors, they moved to five acres of land on the corner of Penn Avenue North and Western Avenue, now known as Glenwood Avenue. Martha employed an all-women staff and gave care to any woman, regardless of their marital and financial status. There was also room for unwed mothers and abandoned children to live and get back on their feet, similar to the services provided by Sharing & Caring Hands at Mary’s Place.

The new building, 1916

Nurses with babies, 1925

1925 photo of babies playing with a wheelbarrow - and a pitchfork (!?!) - at the hospital.

The first new building for the hospital on this site was the Marshall Stacy Nursery, completed in 1909. In 1910, an intensive care and isolation unit for infants was built, known as the Babies’ Bungalow. That same year, the Emily Paddock Cottage opened, a residential home for nurses. Maternity Hospital was a huge success, but it wasn’t expanding quick enough for the demand it had, so in 1911, Martha asked the State for funding in order to erect a proper hospital building. Unfortunately, Martha succumbed to a respiratory infection and heart failure in 1912. However, her new two-story hospital building was completed four years later and was renamed as the Ripley Memorial Hospital.

The hospital operated until 1957, and during its time, it had one of the best infant mortality rates in the United States. Their maternal death rate was also something to be proud of. During the 1930s when the state of Minnesota saw 4.5 maternal deaths for every 1,000 births, the Ripley Memorial Hospital had 1.35.

Martha's plaque in the MN State Capitol rotunda.The memory of Martha Ripley and the hospital named in her honor still remains, however. In 1939, twenty-seven years after her passing, a bronze plaque depicting her was installed in the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda. The hospital campus was sold to the Children’s Hospital of Minneapolis, and its remaining funds were used to start the Ripley Memorial Foundation. The hospital was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and was redeveloped into Ripley Gardens affordable housing in 2007 by Aeon, a Twin Cities organization dedicated to making quality housing available for those who may not be able to afford it otherwise. Martha Ripley may have left us over 100 years ago, but her passion to help those who need it the most continues to live on through her foundation and the housing that now occupies the old Ripley Memorial Hospital.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -     

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is also a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment, LLC, giving Segway, biking, and walking tours of the riverfront for 9+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

Early Years of the Minneapolis Fire Department and Its Repair Shop

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Long before the Minneapolis Fire Department was established in 1879, volunteer firefighters were in charge of quelling fires. St. Anthony established their volunteer force in 1847, and the west side of the river did the same in 1851. Six years after St. Anthony merged with Minneapolis, the Washburn-Crosby Company A-Mill exploded in 1878, leveling the surrounding area. With the rise of lumber and flour milling and the dangerous consequences of both, the volunteer firefighters on both sides of the river joined forces. Just a year later, the volunteers requested that the City of Minneapolis replace them with paid professionals, and the Minneapolis Fire Department was created, led by Chief Winslow Brackett.

Starting as an on-call force with two horse-drawn steamers, one ladder truck, six hose companies, and seven stations, the new department grew quickly. In the 1880s, Minneapolis expanded by over twenty-two square miles, and the lack of construction standards meant that the fire department had a lot of work on their hands. Mayor Ames and the City Council approved Minneapolis’ first building codes in 1884, which required new buildings to have non-combustible walls, cornices and roofs, and the position of building inspector was also created to ensure compliance.

1925 photo of the shop interior.

Photo taken in 1979 of the 1922 addition.

Throughout the 1880s, the department added ten more stations, twenty-nine more vehicles of various uses, and their own water tower. With all of this equipment, the need for a dedicated space for repairs was obvious. The first shop opened in 1890, was located behind Station 1 in downtown, and consisted of a machine room, blacksmith, woodworking shop, harness shop and hose storage. Even though the city continued to expand and grow in population, the fire department never saw an increase in their funding. An external report completed by the National Board of Fire Underwriters lambasted the City Council for their unacceptable administrative role and recommended the city invest in new stations and facilities.

In 1909, as the City Council worked to provide more funding, Chief James Canterbury paid a $100 down payment on a $6,000 property along First Avenue NE between University and Second Street. As the city began looking for potential sites for a new, much larger repair shop, Chief Canterbury gave his cousin Sarah Guile $200 to offer his newly acquired property to the city for $9,000, or over $260,000 after inflation. This was a problem. Not only did Chief Canterbury expect to make a profit of $8,700, which would have led to firefighters not receiving pay in November and December, but other people of power were also well aware. Many council members, the city attorney, and the chief were all implicated.

Chief Canterbury apologized and resigned. Shortly after, the investigation was complete and found that he took $3,000 from the City of Minneapolis. The City Council told the public the truth about why there was a possibility of no pay for two months, and the firefighters of Minneapolis and the citizens they served were not happy. Once this land speculation scandal had cleared, construction of the new repair shop at 24 University Avenue NE began and was completed in late 1909.

Photo of the shop along University taken in 1936.

The new shop was designed by the local architect firm Downs & Eads and employed twenty-five men permanently assigned to the shop. A year later, another external survey was done and found even more problems with equipment, buildings and staffing than before. The chief at the time, Charles Ringer, ushered in a new era for the fire department, improving and expanding every aspect of the force. The most impactful change was the switch from horse-drawn vehicles to motorized. By 1916, over one-third of the department’s vehicles were now motorized, which saved an estimated $4,600 per rig a year, or over $70,000 after inflation.

1979 photo of a used car business that occupied the former repair shop site.

The repair shop expanded in 1922 to include a designated building to construct motorized vehicles at 222 First Avenue NE. In total, the shop converted forty-eight vehicles from 1910 to 1926. Once Chief Ringer retired in 1933, the shop stopped converting vehicles and was mainly used for repairs until it was closed down in 1960. The site has had various uses since, from a workout gym and used car business, to an event center and restaurants. It was also placed in the National Register for Historic Places in 2005 for its civil architecture and for the role it played in updating and advancing the Minneapolis Fire Department.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -    

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is also a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment, LLC, giving Segway, biking, and walking tours of the riverfront for 9+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

Stahlmann’s Cave Brewery

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

The brewing tradition in Minnesota is older than the state itself. The first European to arrive in and explore this area, Father Louis Hennepin, was himself a brewer, and in 1848, the year before Minnesota was granted territory status, the area’s first commercial brewery was opened by German immigrant Anthony Yoerg. Before then, military personal at Fort Snelling and immigrants coming from the East Coast were brewing beer in their homes. Decades later, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul were full of breweries.

Diagram of ale vs. lager brewing processes.

One of the first successful breweries in the area was established by Christopher Stahlmann, a native of Nuremberg, Germany. Like many German immigrants in the mid-1800s, Stahlmann brought with him a different style of beer, the lager. From the time of the Thirteen Colonies until the 1850s, English ale was the beer of choice in North America. Ale and lager have very similar brewing processes, with the main difference being how each ferments. The yeast in ale sits on top of room temperature wort, a sugary liquid consisting of water and malt, and the yeast in lager sits on the bottom of the tank in cooler temperatures. In order to find the perfect temperatures to ferment lager, many German immigrants settled in cities along waterways with sandstone bluffs along the shores, such as Cincinnati, St. Louis and Chicago. Sandstone is a mix of soft yet durable material that makes carving out a cave system very achievable, and this is exactly what Christopher Stahlmann had in mind when he arrived in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1855.

Entrance to Fountain Cave in 1875. This would have looked similar to the entrance to Stahlmann's Cave, and was located nearby along the banks of the Mississippi.

Stahlmann first arrived in the United States in 1846 at the age of seventeen, and after bouncing around the East Coast and the old Northwest for a few years, he finally settled in Saint Paul in 1855. That year, many riverboats were making the trek up the Mississippi River to bring settlers to Saint Paul and the surrounding area, so when choosing a location for his new brewery, Stahlmann took into account the potential growth of the new city. He found plenty of space away from the city center along Fort Road, now known as West Seventh Street, and took advantage of the geology of the Mississippi River bluffs. Artificial refrigeration had not yet been invented and brought to the United States, so this section of the Mississippi River that is spotted with natural caves was the perfect location to create caverns for the lagering process. Stahlmann quickly found success and became the largest beer producer in Minnesota after the Civil War, making 10,000 barrels of beer a year.

Stahlmann dug out his cave system in St. Peter Sandstone, the layer of geology right below Platteville Limestone which created a flat ceiling for the caves. The passages of the caves measured sixteen feet wide by ten feet tall with two grids of passages coming together at an angle. In total, there were roughly 1,400 feet of tunnels. Later subterranean additions brought the total length to half a mile. While the subterranean parts of his brewery were his most important “structures” for the company, he did begin constructing buildings in 1858.

Brewery employees, 1870 (note, child labor laws did not yet exist).

The first structure was a three-story brewhouse, and a decade-and-a-half later, he built a fermentation house and bottling plant. Once the American patent for the Lind ice machine was secured by Frederick Wolff in 1880, Stahlmann became one of the first in the nation to build ice houses with that technology, which resulted in the majority of the lagering process moving aboveground. During the 1880-1881 construction boom for the brewery, Stahlmann also erected a stone stable house, a boarding house, and an entirely new brewing complex. He hired Chicago architect Wangen to design this campus, which included a barley roasting kiln, a row of connected malt houses, and a four-story brewhouse. In total, this project cost $65,000, or over $1,700,000 after inflation.

1883 portrait of Stahlmann with other state representatives.

Throughout his time in Saint Paul, Stahlmann also worked as a community leader. He became a Ramsey County Commissioner in 1871, and later that year, he was elected to the State House of Representatives. He would hold other offices, including another stint in the House of Representatives starting in 1883, all while continuing to grow his brewery from its humble beginnings in a cave to producing over 40,000 barrels of beer a year at its peak in 1884. In the early 1880s, the vibrations of the aboveground brewery campus caused the ceiling to cave-in in many sections of the cave system, so they abandoned it altogether.

Stahlmann's Saloon on West Seventh taken in 1959.

In December of 1884, Christopher Stahlmann passed away at the age of sixty-five. Over the course of the next ten years Stahlmann’s three sons passed away from tuberculosis, and two years after that, George Mitsch, a father-in-law to one of the sons and head of the brewing company, passed away. The brewery campus would be used by others, but none found the success Stahlmann once achieved. However, brewing was not done in the area quite yet. In 1899, Stahlmann’s old brewery was purchased by none other than Jacob Schmidt.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -    

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is also a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment, LLC, giving Segway, biking, and walking tours of the riverfront for 9+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

Who Should Control Minnesota Historical Sites?

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

The Minnesota Historical Society. Now that we got that out of the way, I’d like to delve into why it’s problematic that Republicans in the Minnesota Senate are up in arms about our history and want control over sixteen historic sites, including Fort Snelling at Bdote.

The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) was founded in 1849 by the Territorial Legislature, the same year the Village of St. Anthony was incorporated and nine years before we became a state. For 172 years, MNHS has been a vital resource for not just preserving our past, but sharing it. They have worked tirelessly with the State government to provide the best historical and educational experiences at all of their sites throughout the years. The immense amount of academic work that has been done by MNHS, the National Park Service, county historical societies, museums, and independent historians has been done in good faith. The thing about history is that it becomes very apparent when stories are told incorrectly or when important details are purposefully left out, especially in this modern age where it is easy to access facts. If a story is wrong, then we make note of it and correct it. There is no shame in going back and correcting previous articles, books, historical markers, etc., a sentiment some members of the state Senate do not agree with.

Our past never changes, but our history does. 

Just over a month ago I walked across the graduation stage at the University of St. Thomas to receive my Master of Arts in art history, the same university where I received my Bachelor of Arts in history four years prior. At that ceremony, one of the speakers noted that now more than ever we, those who have dedicated our lives to the Humanities, are needed in this world. That one line has helped me put into perspective just how important and necessary history is for our society. Everyone’s history. The more stories we know, the more lessons we learn, and the less mistakes we will make. It is as simple as that.

I understand that it can be difficult to grasp our past here in Minnesota, but that’s the point. If control over the sixteen historical sites changes, what will stop those who are in favor of the change in ownership from purposefully changing the many stories found in Minnesota? If certain stories make you uncomfortable, find out why instead of lashing out. Why does learning about the Fort Snelling concentration camp make you mad? Is it because it was a crime against humanity or is it because you simply do not want to know the negative stories of our past? If it makes you so upset that you are willing to take control of historical sites away from historians, that is an action that will only lead to propaganda, and there is no room for that in our state, in our society.

The past never changes, but our history does.

I, too, have had to ask myself important questions and I know how difficult that can be. My great, great, great grandfather and his brother served at Fort Snelling during the Civil War and the U.S.-Dakota War. At the same time, twenty-eight of their cousins, my cousins, were being held against their will just below the fort at the concentration camp on Pike Island. It would be so easy to convince myself that the sole purpose of my Dakota relatives being brought to the fort was for protection, as some in the state Senate think. Or I can accept the truth, that they, along with 1,600 others, were forced to march 150 miles to the fort only to be thrown into a 12-foot barricaded concentration camp on an island in the middle of winter where hundreds of them passed away from disease, malnutrition and harsh weather.

The past never changes, but our history does.

The arguments for the changing of control over historical sites are not well-thought-out either. In a June 24 Star Tribune opinion piece, Katherine Kersten attempted to give the MN GOP side of the story. She noted that a few years ago Fort Snelling added the phrase “at Bdote” to their official name. “Bdote” is a Dakota word meaning “where two waters come together.” When white settlers first came to the area, many Dakota people had a different name for that area, “Mdote,” a word that has the same meaning as “Bdote.” Words change over time. We don’t call Saint Paul “Pig’s Eye” anymore, even if I think that name suites the city better. Kersten’s opinion piece is titled “Small group of activists commandeers Minnesota Historical Society,” which is quite farcical to say the least. From the wording of the title to the various arguments full of fallacies, it is clear that those who are for this changing of control are so for the wrong reasons.

As I sit at my desk and wrap up my thoughts on this “controversy,” I still find it hard to believe that some politicians in this state have a problem with historians doing their job. While it is concerning, I hope to put your mind at ease. Historians, teachers, tour guides, and history columnists like myself will continue to do what we do best; gather sources and stories, interpret our past to get a better understanding of our present, and create hope for our future.

The past never changes, but history does.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -    

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville, Jr. received his B.A. in History, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Thomas.

Michael is also a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment, LLC, giving Segway, biking, and walking tours of the riverfront for 9+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

Mark Twain in the Mill City

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Mark Twain, 1883Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, Samuel Clemens, more commonly known as Mark Twain, rose to celebrity status throughout America and the world.

Growing up in the river town of Hannibal, Missouri, he fell in love with the Mississippi, which became the setting for many of his stories such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. One of his more famous works of non-fiction is his memoir Life on the Mississippi where he recounted his time on the Mighty Mississippi from his young adulthood in Missouri to contemporary times.

To get a better feel of how the river has changed, he embarked on a riverboat journey from St. Louis to New Orleans, then up to Minneapolis where he witnessed the rapid growth of our great city.

The steamboat "Minneapolis" taken in 1870

In late May of 1882, Mark Twain travelled up the river from Iowa to St. Paul in the steamboat “Minneapolis,” and was greeted by thirty-seven-degree weather. Some things don’t seem to change. After taking in the sites of St. Paul, he continued upstream to St. Anthony Falls. Here he noted the beauty of the river bluffs, which are the only bluffs on the entire Mississippi, by saying “where the rough broken turreted rocks stand up against a sky above the steep verdant slope, they are inexpressibly rich and mellow in color — soft dark brown mingled with dull green — the very place to make an artist worship.” During this trek up to Minneapolis, he also noticed other rivercraft filled with families making their way upstream looking for a fresh start.

Once Mark Twain reached Minneapolis, he quickly observed the prosperity of the city and made the claim that “the Siamese twins would eventually rival in prestige and numbers the metropolis at the other end of the great waterway, New Orleans.” This prediction was not wrong. According to 2017 estimates, the cites of New Orleans and Minneapolis have populations of 401,221 and 422,331 respectively, while the metro areas of New Orleans and the Twin Cites have populations of 1,262,888 and 3,551,036. The evidence Mark Twain saw to make such a claim was the many mills, schools, railroads, and newspapers, as well has the up and coming University of Minnesota, as it was “not confined to enlightening the one sex.” This is praise that would make anyone proud of their city. While he noted the rapid success of Minneapolis, he also took in the natural beauty of the Twin Cities and took trips to Minnehaha Falls and White Bear Lake.

The only other time Mark Twain visited Minneapolis was four years later in 1886 when he and his daughters travelled from Buffalo, New York to Keokuk, Iowa to visit his aging mother. Intending to have a relaxing visit in Minneapolis, he arrived via train from Duluth with the press and paparazzi waiting for him at the train station and hotel. He tried his best to give the reporters what they wanted, but he did not have the same energy he had four years earlier. During his visit, he drove around the city with his daughters and stopped at Minnehaha Falls once again to take in its beauty one last time before departing downstream to Keokuk.

The man who brought the Mississippi River into popular culture had only good things to say about the Twin Cities and Minneapolis, except for maybe the weather, but who can really blame him for that? I can write about how great and important various spots of our city are, but it’s tough to know what it was really like. Pictures can only do so much, but when one of our country’s greatest authors is impressed by our city and predicted its growth and prosperity, that adds another layer of evidence that Minneapolis’ ability to impress tourists with its beauty and success started from day one.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -    

About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville Jr. received his B.A. in History from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently enrolled in their M.A. in Art History and Certificate in Museum Studies programs.

Michael is also a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 5+ years.

He can be reached at mrainvillejr@comcast.net.