Epiphany

1. 1capitalized :  January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ
2. 2
3. 3a (1) :  a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) :  an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) :  an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosureb :  a revealing scene or moment

Until recent years, my extended family has had a tradition of gathering each year on Epiphany, the Twelfth Day of Christmas - a family reunion of sorts. The timing was a concession to the busyness/business of the Christmas season but also an "Epiphany" gathering seemed to have a bit of magic to it. Ours was a joyful and raucous celebration - in a Scandinavian kind of way - focused on traditional foods and family stories. The centerpiece of the banquet was that wonderful Scandinavian delicacy - chili - with cheddar cheese, saltines and naturally, no peppers. 

{Editor note: My grandmother had to cook with "white pepper" to keep her family unawares of the "spiciness" of the meal.}

Some wry family members claimed the gathering was a celebration of the 2nd Christmas miracle - the existence of 3 wise men. No rebuttal - but be that as it may, the gathering was a mostly stress free day, albeit sprinkled with a few pointed barbs directed at various family foibles - all in good fun of course. The Christmas tree was still standing, but there was no gift angst as Roberts Rules specifying "no gifts" was strictly enforced.

Rosettes

Kransekake

But .. each family had an opportunity to show off their culinary prowess - with a heavy focus on Scandinavian heritage. Snella always took the hours necessary to create a "Kransekake", a Norwegian wedding cake. Doris made the best rosettes the world has ever seen. Carol made lefse so silky it melted in your mouth. The only controversy was white vs. brown sugar. 

flatbrød

And flatbread made with lard and cornmeal. Fantastic with a smear of smør. 

World's only fruit cake

Uncle Dave provided a fruitcake. 

{Editor note: It is a little known fact that there is but a single fruitcake in the entire world. It just gets passed around each year. I might be mistaken, perhaps it is one per continent.} 

Rainbow jello

Ruthie made a 7 layer rainbow jello, a multi-day effort.

Grandma's donuts

Occasionally, someone would try to replicate Esther's donuts or elephant ears and people would politely say how wonderful they were, all the while wondering what it was Esther did to make them so much better. 

{Editor note: it wasn't the cardamum}

Trilbies

To my wonderment, some would bring leftover Christmas cookies (whoever heard of "leftover" Christmas cookies?). Russian tea cakes -"butterballs" to we naifs; Trilbies - the world's best cookie; sugar cookies shaped as tree, star, basic round or with cream cheese frosting; ginger cookies; molasses cookies; peanut butter cookies - with the Hershey's kiss in the middle; spritz, snickerdoodle and of course the ever popular "krumkake". 

Egg coffee

This massive sugar intake required several cups of "egg coffee". 

{Editor note:  But Folgers - NOT Caribou}




In the past few years, as the family patriarchs and matriarchs have died and the family scattered, our Epiphany tradition has lapsed.

And this brings me to Epiphany, definition 2a - "a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something ". 

In this case, my epiphany was not a thunderbolt, rather more like "duh". Through it's absence, I came to realize that this tradition was a good, perhaps a sacred thing, a shame to lose. To my rescue, to his everlasting credit, Phil, first-born son of Snella, has taken this epiphany to heart and convened an annual "Cousin Gathering" prior to Christmas - "searching for an epiphany" - complete with all of the food trappings of the gatherings of old. Well, maybe not, but Grain Belt Nordeast is a new innovation. 

{Editor note: While Phil gets credited here, actually Sue does all the prep work. I follow here a tried and true software development maxim that at the end of a project, you "reward the non-participants"}

Just a few generations past, it was typical for multiple generations to live together in the same home. Or grown family members to live but short distances from their parents and grandparents. But today, in this social media world, we live in splendid isolation, with FB friends and tweets substituting for relationships. We are scattered and separated from one of our core support groups - our extended family. 

Here's my recommendation. Schedule a get-together - preferably in a home - perhaps your own. Don't call it a reunion. Blast out a family come-one, come-all invite. (You can even use social media for this :-) You may just get a few folks, but you'll have a great time and next year there will be more. 

Trust me on this.

Copyright © 2015 Dave Hoplin

Immigrant Stock

“Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

from Emma Lazarus' poem "New Colossus" quoted on the Statue of Liberty

My people

If you are American and unless you are Native American, you are descended from immigrant stock. Some ancestor of yours braved a cross-ocean journey and bequeathed you the blessing of American citizenship. If you were born in Minnesota, odds are you are no more than a 3rd or 4th generation American.  In my case, my immigrant ancestors were grandparents and great-grandparents arriving from Norway & Sweden between 1879 and 1914.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's Scandinavian immigrants were not fleeing war or oppression - unless fear of starvation qualifies. Abject poverty and the hope for a better life for themselves and their children compelled them to cross the Atlantic. In the 1880's alone, desperate times drove 9% of the population of Norway to emigrate. Many families simply could not feed themselves and often the oldest children were forced to leave. Frequently married men left to establish themselves in the new world, with wives and children following at a later date.
{Editor note: this was the case with my great-grandfather Nils.  Nils immigrated in 1879, his wife and 3 children followed in 1881}  

Many were induced to come to the USA with stories of "gold on the sidewalks", the promise of jobs and free land. Some immigrants were lucky to have had trail-blazer relatives or neighbors who had previously immigrated and were willing to sponsor them, perhaps paying for the steamship ticket and the "entry money" the US immigration laws required. While most Scandinavian immigrants came from agrarian lives, large numbers moved to Chicago & Minneapolis for railroad work, stockyard jobs, lumbering, milling, brewing, beginning the population transfer from farm to city. The Homestead Act and the promise of free land drew many to Minnesota and Dakota prairies, often living in sod homes. Northern Minnesota mining drew immigrants of many nationalities to the Iron Range. The decade of the 1880's brought over 5 million immigrants to America, a country of 50 million at the time.

After the American Civil War, railroad construction boomed, subsidized to the tune of $16000/mile and coupled with huge land grants. The railroads, along with many states, had "emigration agents" to recruit in Europe, vying to populate the vast empty American interior. The American Consul in Norway promoted the employment opportunities in America.  From the 1880's through 1920, "America Fever" struck Norway and Sweden in particular.

My Family's Story

My Immigrant Ancestors

White Star Line Baltic

On my mother's side, my Swedish grandfather & grandmother (Emil & Hilma Elizabeth) immigrated from a hardscrabble farm near Rosjo, Sweden to Iowa with their 2 daughters in 1914 aboard the White Star Liner Baltic.  They were more fortunate than most immigrants, as both Emil & Hilma had siblings who were already living in the US and sponsored them. The family lived with brother Gust until they were able to rent a farm. According to my Aunt Alice, Gust "got more than he bargained for. For his sponsorship, he received a hired man, a housekeeper and two rambunctious children he wasn't counting on." The family eventually rented a farm near Paton , IA, paying "cash rent" even through the depression years, eventually moving to a farm between Lanyon & Paton, a farmhouse with 4 bedrooms and a large kitchen - and indoor plumbing! By that time there were several more little ones around, including my mother. Brother Gust moved to Kennedy, MN in the northwest Minnesota.  Not sure if the rambunctious children were the driver for this. By then there were so many siblings with the same family name on the mail route that brother Carl changed the family name to Nyren, ostensibly to reduce the confusion factor for the mailman.

On my father's paternal side, my great-grandfather Nils immigrated from Åsen, Norway in 1879, first to Wisconsin and in 1880 to Minnesota.  He arrived by train in Alexandria and was met by Johan Berg, a neighbor from Norway and together they walked the 14 miles to Brandon to Johan's farm, arriving late at night.  Johan told Nils that he could get work on the wood train that supplied the railroad. Next day he walked back to Alexandria and began working on the railroad.  {Editor note: There is a quote attributed to J.J. Hill, the Great Northern Railroad tycoon: "give me snuff, whiskey and Swedes and I will build a railroad to hell."  I think on the same diet, Norwegians could handle the task as well.)  Nils' wife Hanna and 3 children joined him in 1881.  

By 1884, Nils had saved enough railroad money to buy some land north of Brandon , adding to it a few acres at a time from 1890 to 1918.  16 acres in 1886;  40 acres in 1890; 40 acres in 1898, 1899; 1903, 40 acres for $1120 and in 1918 the final 40 acres for $2600.

Cunard Bothnia

Carl & Sofia, great-grandparents on my father's maternal side were Swedish and my great-grandfather was a reluctant immigrant. Sofia had a sister (Elizabeth & husband Carl) who had immigrated to the Brandon, MN area and had encouraged them to come with tales of easy living, offering to sponsor them.  Carl did not want to come.  Finally, after 3 refusals, the brother-in-law issued an ultimatum - "this is my last offer" and they packed up themselves with 5 children and left Fageras, Sweden on June 24th, 1886, arriving in Boston aboard the Cunard liner Bothnia in July 1886, then by train to Chicago, St. Paul arriving in Brandon on July 12th.


On my wife's side, it is much the same story.  Her Norwegian grandmother and grandfather, immigrated from Leksvig, Norway area separately to Spring Grove, MN, met there and married.  In each case, poverty forced adult children to leave their home.  Grandmother Johanna never was able to return to Norway.

Twin City Stories

There are two areas in the Twin Cities that are locally famous - or perhaps infamous - immigrant ghettos. Bohemian Flats on the west bank of the Mississippi below the Washington Avenue bridge is now park land. But in the late 1800's and early 1900's it was a shanty town, home for nearly a 1000 people who had to endure the annual spring flooding. The upslope shanties were the desirable spots. Many residents were Slovakian immigrants, hence the name "Bohemian". The citizens of Minneapolis would stroll over the bridge and observe the "teeming masses" living along the river. The "flats" were accessible via a long wooden staircase descending from 7 Corners (Cedar-Riverside). The inhabitants were largely day laborers who climbed the stairs to milling or lumber jobs on the river.   In the 1930's the city of Minneapolis, used its eminent domain rights to expand a barge landing on the site and most of the shanty houses were destroyed.

Bohemian Flats 2015

Swede Hollow~1900, Swede Hollow Gateway 2015

In St. Paul, Swede Hollow, an area originally known as "Svenska Dalen", was perhaps even a bit more squalid than Bohemian Flats. Swede Hollow is a deep ravine east of downtown St. Paul along Phalen Creek, which served as water source and sewer.  The hollow was reachable only by a tunnel, which is still true today. Many a new immigrant arrived at St. Paul's Union Station with a name clipped to their coat and walked through the tunnel to Swede Hollow to find a friend or relative.





The Hamm's Brewery and the Hamm's family mansion towered on the bluffs above.

Swede Hollow with Hamm's Mansion & Brewery above

[Editor note: there is now a really nice bike path running through Swede Hollow. And stop at the Swede Hollow Cafe.]

Hamm's Realty exacted $5/year for a Swede Hollow homesite and for 100 years various waves of immigrants had "starter homes" there until in the 1950's St. Paul declared it a health hazard, evicted the remaining residents and burned the remaining shanties to the ground.

"Clearing" Swede Hollow Slum 1950's - Minnesota Historical Society

Between 1880 & 1930, 27 million immigrants entered this country. In retrospect, it is easy to romanticize these migrations.  But, despite the "give me your tired ..." rhetoric, immigrants generally were not welcomed in the United States. The "Know Nothing" Party, anti-Catholic groups and American "nativists" worked to limit immigration. With the onset of WWI the immigration laws became even more restrictive, especially targeting exclusion of Asian, Eastern & Southern European and Jewish immigrants. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended Chinese immigration for 10 years & in 1902 it was renewed indefinitely, repealed only during WWII in 1943; In 1891 Bureau of Immigration was established with initial quotas based on nationality. In 1917 a literacy test was added and an "Asiatic barred zone" was established.  In 1924 quotas were established that set allowed immigration in ratios of 82% Northern Europe; 16% Southern Europe; 2% rest-of-the-world.  In 1948, with the world awash with refugees from WWII, the "Displaced Persons Act" allowed just 205,000 refugees over quotas to enter the US, largely refugees from the Baltic states.

{Editor Note: For a WWII Latvian refugee story, read my post about a family who came to live in my small Minnesota community.   http://ussbb62.blogspot.com/2015/05/lowrys-latvian-dps.html}

Our "melting pot" implies an assimilation where people become indistinguishable. This has never been the case. Our nation is in reality a "multi-cultural" nation where, while we are all Americans who benefit from the opportunities a free and open society provides, we preserve our ethnic traditions from generation to generation. This is a good thing. Stop by for some lefse & krumkake if you're in the neighborhood. Sorry no lutefisk.

Over and over new waves of immigrants have brought diversity, work ethic and strength to this land. Let us not withdraw the welcome sign.

Sources:
> Ellis Foundation http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/immigration-timeline
> University of Minnesota Heritage Projects 
http://ias.umn.edu/programs/collaboratives/heritage/projects/boho/
> Historyapolis http://historyapolis.com/


Copyright © 2016 Dave Hoplin















...

Bridges of Hennepin County

I do a lot of biking in the Twin Cities and surroundings.  Once in a while, usually with someone of like mind, I'll do a "themed ride" e.g. cemeteries, churches, historic sites, lakes, parks, colleges, places where I have worked (stay tuned) ...  and the theme for this post - the bridges of Hennepin County. Actually, a subset of that, the Bridges of Minneapolis, but I that title doesn't have the same literary cachet.

Prior to the railroad era, rivers were the primary transportation and exploration arteries.  And many major US cities owe their existence and growth to these rivers.  Minneapolis & St. Paul (the misnamed "Twin Cities") are situated above and below Fort Snelling which is positioned at the confluence of the Minnesota and the mighty Mississippi River.  (How did a river with its source in Minnesota get named "Mississippi" by the way?  If rivers are named based on their mouths, the Tennessee should be the Ohio and the Ohio should be the Missouri. Probably too late to make these changes.)

But I digress.

In modern times, any city where a river runs through it, its bridges are key features of the city's landscape and history.

The biking challenge I proposed was to cross the Mississippi River as many times as possible before fatigue halts the exercise - without recrossing any bridge.

So here goes.

#1 We start our ride with the 494 bridge just southeast of the MSP Airport.  (This is actually connects Bloomington and Mendota Heights and crosses the Minnesota River so I've already messed up the thesis.)

494 Bridge

Concrete girder construction
opened 1982
4509' in length (longest bridge of the ride)

This is a dreadful bridge for a biker.  Even though there is a concrete barrier between the road and path, heavy, high speed traffic, lots of trucks kicking up sand and wind blasts make it a real slog.

494 Bridge (that's not me btw)

#2 Proceeding north through Fort Snelling State Park - a nice ride in itself - we cross the Mendota Bridge which connects Minneapolis to Mendota Heights. This is known to locals as the "Mile Long bridge", although it's a bit short of that.  It crosses (the Minnesota River) just below the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi at Fort Snelling. This is a beautifully constructed concrete arch bridge but also dreadful to bike across for the same reasons as 494, plus it's 75' above the river and the wind howls.

Mendota Bridge

Concrete arch
opened 1926
4119' long

Mendota Bridge

#3 At the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota, we cross the Fort Bridge, also known as the Highway 5 bridge (or the 7th St. bridge if you are from St. Paul). This crosses the Mississippi and puts you in St. Paul.

Fort Bridge  aka 7th St Bridge

Crosses the Mississippi at Fort Snelling becoming St Paul 7th St.
Steel plate girder
opened 1961
1198' long

Fort Bridge

Fort Snelling

#4  Following along the Mississippi River north, we reach the Ford Bridge at 46th St/Ford Parkway. The bridge sits just above Mississippi Lock & Dam #1. It is known as the Ford bridge due to its proximity the Ford auto plant (demolished in 2014) and is officially the "Intercity Bridge".

Ford Bridge  a.k.a. Intercity Bridge

Crosses the Mississippi at 46th St - Ford Parkway. Mpls on the west, St Paul on east
Concrete arch
opened 1927
1523' long

Ford Bridge & former Ford Truck Plant Site

#5 Continuing north following the "Grand Rounds" bike trail along the Mississippi, we reach the Lake Street Bridge (or Marshall Street Bridge if you are from St.Paul).

Lake St Bridge

Crosses Mississippi at Lake St (mpls) Marshall (St. Paul)

Concrete arch, concrete girders

opened 1992 - Original bridge on this site was constructed in 1889
1483' long

Lake St Bridge

#6 Continuing north on the east bank, we reach a National Register of Historic Places landmark, the fabulous Franklin Ave Bridge.  A beauty of a bridge with a beauty of an intersection on the east end, miserable place to be stuck at a red light.

Franklin Ave Bridge

Steel reinforced concrete arch
Opened 1923
1054' long

#7 Next up is the 10th Ave bridge, also on the National Register of Historic Places, due to its classic arch design.

10th Ave Bridge

Crosses Mississippi between 19th Ave S & 10th SE north of the U
Concrete Arch
opened 1929
2921' long

10th Ave Bridge

I include the Dartmouth Bridge (I94) for completeness, but you would have to be crazy to cross it on a bike.

I94 / Dartmouth 

Freeway bridge - No bike traffic
Steel girder
Opened 1964
1001' long

Dartmouth/I94 Bridge

#8 Just beyond is the creative Washington Ave bridge, a 2 level bridge which triples as an auto, light rail & pedestrian-bike bridge linking the East & West Bank campuses of the University of Minnesota. It overlooks Bohemian Flats (stay tuned).

Washington Ave Bridge

Steel plate girder

opened 1965
1131' long

Washington Ave Bridge & Bohemian Flats

#9 Next one of my favorites, the NP #9 railroad bridge, now a strictly pedestrian-biking bridge and serving as a short-cut from the University of Minnesota to downtown Minneapolis.

NP Bridge #9

Steel deck / truss

opened 1922

Abandoned Northern Pacific railroad bridge reincarnated as a bike/pedestrian bridge connecting East/West bank U 1999
922' long

NP #9

Next another freeway bridge with particular significance to the city and the state of Minnesota.  In 2007, the 35W bridge collapsed sending 84 cars and 200 people plunging into the river below. Miraculously, only 13 people died. A new 35W was constructed in under a year, opening in 2008.

35W Bridge

No bike traffic

Precast concrete segment

1216'

new bridge opened 2008

#11  My favorite bridge. The railroad tycoon, J.J. Hill built the Stone Arch Bridge, a railway bridge to serve the Union Depot in Minneapolis.  It was converted to a pedestrian/bikeway opening in 1994 and offering a fabulous view of St. Anthony Falls to the north.

Stone Arch Bridge

JJ Hill's Great Northern RR bridge
Opened 1883
2100'
Opened as Bike/Pedestrian bridge 1994

Stone Arch Bridge

#11 Just above the Stone Arch bridge is the 3rd Ave bridge, also known as the St. Anthony Falls bridge.  This bridge takes you to Nordeast Minneapolis and Central Ave. See my Nordeast post

3rd Ave Bridge

Concrete arch
Opened 1918
2223' long

3rd Ave Bridge a.k.a. St Anthony Falls bridge

#12  Next is the elegant Father Hennepin Bridge, the only suspension bridge on the list.  This was the site of the very first permanent bridge in Minneapolis constructed in 1854.  It has been called ".. the most elegant and stylish bridge to span the mighty river".

Father Hennepin Bridge

Site of 1st permanent Mpls bridge 1854
Steel suspension
Opened 1990
1037' long

#13 North of downtown, we reach the Plymouth Ave Bridge - or the 8th Ave Bridge to Nordeasters'. The original bridge on this site (1873) was a wood truss structure.

Plymouth Ave Bridge

Crosses Mississippi at Plymouth (20th N) Ave to 8th Ave NE
Concrete box girder
opened 1983
944' long

#14 Next up, the Broadway Ave bridge, a pretty generic looking bridge, but ...  the 45th parallel crosses the Mississippi about 300' north of the bridge, meaning the bridge is almost exactly half way between the equator and the north pole. (from John Weeks website)

Broadway Ave Bridge

Steel girder

opened 1987 (original 1857)
857' long

Broadway Ave Bridge

#15 Next, another favorite and ignoring the no trespassing signs & we gingerly walk the bikes across.

Abandoned NP-BNSF RR Bridge

Abandoned RR bridge

#16 Next we reach the modernistic Lowry Avenue Bridge, named of course for the railroad/streetcar tycoon, Thomas Lowry, more famously known for the Minnesota village that bears his name. (Had to recross this bridge as there is no "nice" way north on the west side - fail.)

Lowry Ave Bridge

original 1905
opened 2012
1576' long

Lowry Ave Bridge

#17 And at last we reach Minneapolis north and the Camden Ave Bridge (or 37th Ave Bridge if you're a Nordeaster).  This bridge connects two parkways on either side of the river.

Camden Ave Bridge

Connecting 42nd Ave N with 37th ave NE

Steel plate girder

opened 1977

1686' long

Camden Bridge

17 times across the river.  Not a bad ride.

If you're interested in more bridge history and technical specifics, see John Weeks excellent site on Minnesota bridges. http://www.johnweeks.com/bridges/index.html


Copyright © 2015 Dave Hoplin

Minneapolis Nordeast

Editor note. I recently completed a "short course" on Minneapolis' Northeast neighborhood from the University of St. Thomas' Selim Center. Selim Center is a community outreach program with a well targeted charter - "for learning in later years". This class was part of a series on Twin City neighborhoods, this a fascinating exploration of "Nordeast", its history, architecture and emergence as an artist district. The class was held at two historic Nordeast churches, St. Anthony of Padua and St. Hedwig's. Among the attendees were numerous long standing Nordeast residents, adding a great deal of color to the class. I am certainly no expert on Nordeast, but I thought I would share some of the things I learned.

Minneapolis Nordeast 

Northeast Minneapolis, affectionately known as "Nordeast" is a wonderful example of the melting pot that has built America.  

Nordeast was originally part of independent city of St. Anthony, situated on the east side of the Mississippi at St. Anthony Falls. St. Anthony was established in the 1840’s by Franklin Steele, the sutler of Fort Snelling, the downriver fort and military reservation situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. In 1872, St. Anthony was annexed by Minneapolis and the area “across the river” was designated as the “Eastside District”, which in turn was divided into Southeast, now dominated by University of Minnesota, and north, across Central Ave, Northeast. Although any Minneapolis address with a “NE” designation is a part of Nordeast, the heart of Nordeast lies between Marshall on the west, Stinson on the east, 37th on the north & Central on the south.  

Nordeast is different from any other Minneapolis neighborhood. 

First, it has an architectural character that no other part of Minneapolis can claim. Historically significant buildings abound. This is largely due to the fact that the Nordeast never reached a level of affluence to succumb to "progress" - the “teardown and rebuild” craze that affected the west side of the river. Buildings were and are continuously reused and thus (thankfully) preserved.

Nordeast neighborhoods were built up before zoning laws separated residential and industrial so neighborhoods mingle with industrial sites - breweries, lumber mills, and flour mills. People wanted to live within walking distance of their work or later (1880's) on or near a street-car line.  

Editor note: A sidebar. The man behind the explosion of street-car lines in the Twin Cities, which at one time stretched from Stillwater to Excelsior with over 500 miles of line, was none other than Thomas Lowry, more famously known for the Minnesota village which bears his name.

Most historic Nordeast buildings near the river date from the 1890's or later because the "great fire of 1893" destroyed 23 square blocks of Nordeast , from Nicollet Island to Marshall from 6th to 15th.   Along the river, flour milling, lumbering and breweries were the dominate industries, all susceptible to a spark. The fire started on Nicollet Island and soon leaped to Boom Island, destroying acres of stacked lumber - millions of board feet. A firestorm soon raged with flames soaring 300' in the air, overwhelming firefighters.  Read an interesting NY TImes account.


The Minneapolis Brewing Co (later Grain Belt Brewery) with is massive brick construction was the only building in the 23 blocks to survive the flames. Happily, the brewery stored kegs of beer in caves along the river so there was at least the ability to commiserate after the destruction.  Only one man died, a spectator, from a heart attack. 






After the fire, portions of the devastated area were soon taken over by Soo Line for its railroad marshaling yard, still massive and thriving today, spurred on by the North Dakota oil boom.

Nordeast was heavily industrial, offering laboring jobs in lumber, milling and brewing. The plentiful jobs spawned several waves of immigrants. A first wave of Scandinavian, Irish, German was followed by Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Slavonian, Finnish, Jewish, ... The immigrants built homes within walking or easy streetcar rides to places of employment. These residents cherish their neighborhood and ethnic traditions.  In the 1960's federal approval was granted for freeway I335 to cut from I94 to 35W crossing the river at Plymouth / 8th Avenue. Right of way and acquisition of property began in 1964, but a neighborhood revolt garnered the support of Mayor Don Fraser, managing to stop it and the project was cancelled in 1972. Thank's be.  

Nordeast is an aggregation of 14 different neighborhoods, with a greater proportion of family homes than anywhere in the Twin Cities, preserving the ethnic and cultural traditions. This unique ethnic mix is the reason Nordeast is known for “a church on every corner”. Each denomination coupled with its ethnicity yields a separate parish. So you find: Baptist, Swedish Lutheran, Norwegian Lutheran, German Lutheran, German Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic, Polish Catholic, Lebanese Catholic, Mosque ..

Patrol Limits

Another factor in Nordeast's appeal was its designation as one of the few legal "alcohol districts" in the city of Minneapolis, known as Patrol Districts. These districts were in place until the early 70's. In the heyday of the WTCU and the Temperance Movement, the city of Minneapolis decided to limit the "moral contagion of saloons" and in 1884, established “Patrol Limits” which established areas of the city where liquor could be served but mandated that any establishment serving on-sale liquor must be within a 2 minute walk from a police precinct.  This allowed a foot patrol officer to blow his whistle to summon assistance and have it heard at the station.  



Wonderful ethnic bars & restaurants & delis populate the area.  Mayslack's, established in the 50's by the former pro wrestler, Stan Mayslack, made famous the mountainous roast beef sandwich with a special garlic sauce stored in the cellar in mayonnaise jars. The Ideal Diner is right out of the 50's complete with 14 stools at the counter. Don't miss Emily's Lebanese Deli on University. Or Kramarczuk's. Or pyrohy/pierogi lunch ever Friday at St. Constantine's Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Chance Bar

One place deserving special note is the "First Chance Last Chance Bar" on Broadway (now known as NE Palace Bar). This place touted itself, depending on which way you were walking, as the ‘“first chance” or “last chance” to get a drink in Minneapolis.  

And of course, micro-breweries. Worth a road trip.

Sadly, perhaps the signature Nordeast landmark, Nye's Polonaise Room, is scheduled for the wrecking ball in 2016. If you've never been there, get there soon for a great dining experience and unique atmosphere - and offer a final good bye.

NE Minneapolis Art District

Northrup King, Q.Arma, California, NW Casket, Thorp, Grain Belt

In 2003, Minneapolis designated the area east of the Mississippi and bordered by 26th, Broadway & Central NE as the Northeast Minneapolis Art District. There are at least 700 working artists living and working in the area, many in studios housed in former industrial buildings: the Northrup King Building, Northwest Casket Building, Thorp building, Grain Belt Studios, California Building, Q.Arma building ...






Each May, the Northeast Minneapolis Art Association (NEMAA) sponsors "Art-A-Whirl", the largest open studio tour in the country. A great opportunity to tour studios , galleries and purchase art of the Nordeast. Check it out - May 20-22, 2016.  

Sheridan Veterans Memorial Park

And while you're in the neighborhood, stop by Sheridan Veterans Memorial Park, a wonderful memorial to veterans of all wars Minnesotans have fought in and doubling as a public art space.







My favorite way to explore Nordeast is by bicycle. The bike-friendly area abounds with bike trails and city streets designated as "bikeways". Here is one recent meandering ride. Join me for the continuation next spring.

I close on a cautionary note. Nordeast is under development pressure as witnessed by Nye's being replaced by condos. I fear the "gentrification" seen in the Warehouse District, Dinkytown and St. Anthony Main will creep into Nordeast. I hope the area can once again resist the voracious developers.


Copyright © 2015 Dave Hoplin