the wedge neighborhood of minneapolis lowry hill east historic context study

1 I

The Wedge Neighborhood q/Minneapolis Lowry Hill East Historic Context Study

Prepared for the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association

(LHENA)

by

Carole Zellie Landscape Research LLC

St. Paul, MN

2005

The Wedge Neighborhood of Minneapolis Lowry Hill East Historic Context Study

Prepared for the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association

Minneapolis, Minnesota (LHENA)

by

Carole Zellie Landscape Research LLC

St. Paul, MN

2005

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Contents

Management Summary Recommendations

Introduction

1 2

3

Chapter 1 4 The Golden Age of Minneapolis and the Wedge Neighborhood: ca. 1882-1910

Chapter 2 New Houses for the Minneapolis Middle Class, ca. 1882-1910 9

Chapter 3 Apartment Buildings 24

Chapter 4 Non-Residential Land Uses 29

Chapter 5 31 The 1920s and Beyond

Sources Consulted 33

Unless noted, historic photographs are from the Minnesota Historical Society. Confer Collection photos at the Hennepin County History Museum are noted (HCH).

Cover: George H Cook House, 2219 Bryant Ave. S., in ca. 1896

I City of Minneapolis Neighborhoods and Communities The Wedge (arrow). Map source: City of Minneapolis, 2005.

Management Summary

The Wedge neighborhood, or Lowry Hill East, occupies a 50-block near-triangle formed by Lake Street and Franklin Avenue, and Hennepin and Lyndale avenues. Today's neighborhood is the result of rapid growth during a 30-year period; nearly all streets were platted by 1882 and, with the exception of apartment buildings, most of the area's housing was completed by 1910.

This study focuses primarily on residential development of the Wedge. The history and significance of the Lake Street and Lyndale and Hennepin avenue commercial corridors should be evaluated within the context of their larger patterns of commercial development. Previously completed local historic context studies applicable to the Wedge include "Street Railways, 1873-1954," " eighborhood Commercial Centers, 1885-1963," and "South Minneapolis."

The Wedge remains a densely-built urban neighborhood that still embodies three of the primary themes of Minneapolis real estate and architectural development at the tum of the 20th century. Within its eight-block length from Lake Street to Franklin Avenue, it contains a dense middle-class quarter, with high-styled Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses dating from ca. 1886-191 O; a section of vernacular worker's houses of many descriptions dating from ca. 1882 to 1900; and a collection of masonry apartment buildings of several popular types dating from ca. 1900-1930. Dense commercial zones at the southern comers of the neighborhood-at Lake Street and at Hennepin and Lyndale avenues- include a number of architecturally significant properties and have been evaluated in other recent studies.

Beginning in the mid- l 880s, the Wedge captured a good portion of the city' s residential real estate energy. At the northern edge, the high-quality buildings in the Sunnyside and Lyndale Avenue additions was created by a group of master builders and architects working for clients exemplary of the city ' s growing middle class. Builders included Theron P. Healy, Preston C. Richardson, and Henry Ingham; William Kenyon, Warren B. Dunnell, and Harry W. Jones were among the neighborhood's architects. Worker's housing to the south is representative of the variety of plan book designs popular in the 1880s and 1890s, and early owners or tenants illustrate part of the city's pattern of employment and ethnicity. A number of the Wedge's early apartment houses are representative of the styles and types popular with a tum-of-the-century "luxury market." while later apartments housed an expanding workforce of that included many single office and retail workers as well as small fami lies.

The Wedge is bordered by the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul (CM & St P) Railroad along W. 29th Street; it is now a recreational corridor. This line was built in 1884 and attracted milling and manufacturing industries along its length and shaped the character of nearby housing. The CM & St P became the focus of a controversial grade separation project in 1912 that added nine bridges to the Wedge neighborhood.

Residential construction in the Wedge reflects many cycles of boom and bust, including the Panic of 1893 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. The collection of several dozen 1960s and 1970s apartment buildings-some nearly a half-block long- are testament to a 1963 rezoning that encouraged the destruction of more than 100 houses. The past thirty years of community interest in the revitalization of the many remaining historic houses has resulted in reversals of past poor maintenance and exterior alterations. Restoration of the feeling of the earlier streetscape of busy avenues lined with tree-shaded yards and open porches is evident throughout the area.

Period of Significance: ca. 1882-1930

This study suggests that the neighborhood's period of significance is ca. 1882-1930, extending from the earliest houses built in newly-platted parcels to apartment construction at the beginning of the Depression. Alth~ugh simil'.11" ~xa~ples of high-styled and vernacular houses can be found throughout south Minneapolis, certam areas w1thm this compact neighborhood are particularly distinctive because of their streetscapes of high-styled houses dating from the mid- l 880s to ca. 1910. This community can be documented by federal census and city directories to create a picture of early investment in the area that connects to the surge of residential ~evelopmen~ in Minneapolis, one encouraged by industrial and commercial growth, an expanding workforce, mvestment m streetcar expansion, and public works. These sources also document the subdivision of many large houses into smaller units during the early years of the Depression .

Historic Context Study Recommendations

This historic context study was coordinated with an historic resources inventory conducted by consultants Mead & Hunt. Further evaluation of the historic context study and the inventory findings can assist in determining which properties and areas warrant further evaluation for potential historic designation.

The context study suggests that the Sunnyside and Lyndale Avenue additions north of W. 25th streets, and the apartment zone along Franklin Avenue and at the Hennepin intersection are of particular interest for further study for potential local historic designation. Apartment buildings, especially those on Franklin and Hennepin, are of interest because of their relationship to the early-twentieth century apartment construction that was focused in the zone between Loring Hill, Lowry Hill, Stevens Square, and the Wedge. In addition, there are many individual properties representative of high-styled as well as vernacular architecture located throughout the area. Those that retain a good level of historic integrity, and link to the themes noted above, should also be the subject of further study and evaluation for potential local historic designation.

J. G. Gluek House, 244 7 81yant Ave. S. ( 1902); photo 2005. listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Local(v designated by the Minneapolis Heritage Presenation Commission.

Lowiy Hill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Srudy 2

Introduction

The Wedge Neighborhood a/Minneapolis Historic Context Study

Historic contexts provide a framework for evaluating historic resources relative to specific themes, timeframes, and locations. They are useful for many types of preservation planning, including National Register of Historic Places designation, and typically accompany or precede historic resources inventories and evaluation and designation studies. In spring 2005 consultants Mead & Hunt conducted a concurrent historic resources inventory of the Wedge. Building permit and other information co llected for the inventory was consulted in the context study, and the inventory results contributed to the historic context recommendations in this report.

This historic context study describes the development of the 50-block area known variously as Lowry HilJ East or the Wedge. Its boundaries correspond to those of the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association (LHENA). Situated close to the southern edge of downtown Minneapolis and bounded by Franklin Avenue on the north, Lyndale Avenue at the east, Hennepin Avenue at the west, and Lake Street at the south, most residential development was completed between ca. 1882 and 1910, with apartment construction continuing until ca. 1930.

The Wedge occupies part of the backslope of Lowry Hill, a feature called the " Devils Backbone" in late 19th-century accounts. The series of forested ridges that rose from the swampy area around Johnson's Lake (later Loring Pond) provided post-Civi l War builders with good potential building sites, but extensive building was discouraged by steep grades as well as distance from the downtown area near the Falls of St. Anthony. By the 1880s, with planning for streetcar extension and real estate development underway, Thomas Lowry and others began extensive grading that recontoured the hills for building lots. In 1969, much of the topographical outline of the hill just north of the Wedge was bisected by I-94, thus severing the connection with the Loring Park area.

Sources

Standard works on the early history of South Minneapolis include John H. Stevens' Personal Recollections of Minnesota and its People and Early History of Minneapolis ( 1890); Issac Atwater and Col. John H. Stevens, History of Minneapolis and Hennepin County (1895) and Marion D. Shutter, History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest (1923). Sociologist Calvin F. Schmid's Social Saga of the Twin Cities analyzed the city from sociological and economic perspectives. John G. Rice, "The Old-Stock Americans," in June D. Holmquist, ed. , They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State's Ethnic Groups (1981) is useful for understanding the backgrounds of some of the early homebuilders of the Wedge. Lanegran and Sandeen 's The Lake District of Minneapolis (1979); Trimble's Jn the Shadow of the City; and Berlowe et. al., Reflections in Loring Pond ( 1986) provide excellent information. The Hennepin History Museum's Confer Collection and the Minnesota Historical Society Visual Archives also contain many photographs of this and surrounding areas. Aerial views, ca. 1928- 1950, and a variety of planning studies conducted by the Minneapolis Planning Department in the 1960s and 1970s were also consulted.

Real estate sections of the Minneapolis Journal, particularly articles and advertisements for lots, houses. and apartments, provide much of the story of the housing and community development of the Wedge between ca. 1890 and 1930. Hennepin County and Minneapolis maps and atlases (ca. 1860-2000), City of Minneapolis building permits, Minneapolis city directories, and the Dual City Bluebook were also consulted. The Lake and W. 29th street area has been the subject of several historic studies including the "Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Grade Separation National Register District" (2004).

Lowiy Hill East Neighborhood Associa1ion / Wedge Hisroric Context Srudy 3

Chapter 1 The Golden Age of Minneapolis and the Wedge Neighborhood: ca. 1882-1910

The street layout of the Wedge and much of its first generation of housing was created during the period that some historians call the "Golden Age," and others have called the "fat years." A substantial number of the Wedge's early homeowners were representatives of a newly-forming Minneapolis middle class. Their stylish and comfortable houses reflect the employment opportunities afforded by the city's late 19th-century industrial boom, one largely based on the waterpower of the Falls of St. Anthony and related industrial and railroad expansion. 1

In 1890, Minneapolis ranked eighteenth among American cities in size; between 1880 and 1890 the city's population rose from about 47, 000 to 165,000. In 1890 European immigrants comprised about 37 percent of the total population; the percentage declined to about 17 percent in 1930.2 Growth leveled off between 1890 and 1900, and the population reached 202,000 in 1900.

-Mills at the Falls o/St. Anthony, 1890

Railroad construction bound Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul to an extensive national network, and many investors profited from the development of the waterpower at the Falls of St. Anthony. Over the next decades, Minneapolis became the country's largest primary wheat market, and in the North Minneapolis sawmilling district lumbermen were "slicing up white pine logs as if there were no tomorrow;" by 1899 Minneapolis became the world's leading lumber market.3 Although both flour and lumber production would decline sharply by the 1920s, they provided the base for a diverse economy that also relied on the wholesale trade, banking, and insurance industries.

The southern edge of the compact city around the Falls was Franklin Avenue until 1867 and 1872, when small revisions extended portions south to W. 24th Street. In 1883 the boundary was pushed to Lake Street

1 Lucile Kane and Alan Ominsky, Twin Cities: A Pictorial History of Saint Paul and Minneapolis (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1983), 81, 96. 2Calvin F. Schmid, Social Saga of the Twin Cities: An Ecological and Statistical Study of Social Trends in Minneapolis and St. Paul (Minneapolis: Minneapolis Council of Social Agencies, Bureau of Social Research, 1937), 130; John R. Borchert, David Gebhard, David Lanegran, and Judith A. Martin, Legacy of Minneapolis: Preservation Amid Change (Minneapolis: Voyageur Press, 1983), 64. 3Kane and Ominsky, 82.

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association / Wedge Historic Context Study 4

and south of Harriet, and then south beyond Minnehaha Cree~ in 1887 .4 In 1884, the city's total area encompassed 24 square miles, and by 1888, 53 square miles.' Streets, sewers, and water m~ins were among improvements underwritten with city bond financing. Between 1880 and 1 ~90, about 50 ~1les o~ Minneapolis streets were paved. By 1910, when there were 1,300 automobiles owned by city residents, paved streets totaled about 150 miles. 6

Especially important for the direction and development of neighborhoods was the city park system. The Minneapolis Park Board was created in 1883 with Charles Loring as its first president. The board immediately promoted the ideas advanced by Massachusetts landscape designer H.W.S. Clev~land for .a citywide system linking many of its lakes and the Mississippi.7 Durin~ t?e next d~cad.e, the Mmneapol.1s Park Board designated Lyndale and Hennepin avenues as boulevards (prov1dmg for w1denmg and landscapmg) and acquired extensive acreage around the lakes and along the river, thus creating a framework for subsequent real estate development. 8 Powderhorn (1890) and small neighborhood parks wer~ also established. No parks were proposed for the Wedge, although an unsuccessful proposal by city real estate dealer C.N. Chadbourn--echoing H.W. S. Cleveland's earlier suggestion that Lake Street be a wide, residence-lined boulevard-urged that the CM and St P Railroad along W. 29th Street be rerouted and turned into a parkway. Chadbourn envisioned that such a parkway would attract costly homes.9

Minneapolis also built an educational system to support its growing population. The number of public schools rose from 14 in 1880 to 46 in 1890, and the size of the corresponding student body surged from

6 10 6,142 to 20,554. By 1900, schools numbered 60 and students 36,16 .

Civic and social life was fostered by the creation of a great variety of organizations as well as private clubs, and many were concerned with the future development of the city. The Commercial Club of Minneapolis, founded in 1892, organized its public affairs committee in 1901. 11 Minneapolis branches of a variety of professional organizations were founded in the late 19th century, and newspapers extensively covered local participation in the new phenomenon of the "national meeting." This was especially important for . . . Minneapolis real estate dealers, whose board was organized in 1892 and who aligned themselves with c1v1c and commercial interests and with the emerging field of city planning. 12

In this period, "city planning" was generally left up to business leaders who created a template for development through actions such as acquiring parklands and by creating a system of public works. Real estate investors methodically opened up new residential tracts at the city's edges, and worked without much interference from city leaders. The municipal building code adopted in 1884 was aimed primarily at fire

4Calvin F. Schmid, Social Saga of the Twin Cities: An Ecological and Statistical Study of Social Trends in Minneapolis and St Paul (Minneapolis: Minneapolis Counci 1 of Social Agencies, Bureau of Social Research, 193 7), chart 38 opposite p. 73. 5E. Dudley Parsons, The Story of Minneapolis (Minneapolis: Colwell Press, 1913), 114. 6Schmid, 65. 7Marion D. Shuner. ed. Hist01y of Minneapolis: Gate>my to the Northwest (Chicago: SJ. Clark Publishing Co., 1923). 232-234; David Lanegran and Ernest Sandeen, The Lake District of Minneapolis: a History of the Calhoun-Isles Communitv (St. Paul: Living Historical Museum. 1978), 26-29. 8Lanegran, and Sandeen. 28-29. 9"Lots and Acres in Good Demand,"" Minneapolis Journal 15 March 1908, Real Estate Section. 6. Chadbourn resided

at 2110 Aldrich Avenue in the Sunnyside Addition by l 916. 10Minneapolis Board of Education "School Construction" chart, in Carole Zellie, Landscape Research LLC, "Minneapolis Public Schools Historic Context," Appendix. Prepared for the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission. 2005 . 11

"Commercial and Civic Organizations Boost the City," Minneapolis Journal 13 April 1911 , Sup., 22. 12

"Real Estate Board One of Livest Organizations," Minneapolis Journal 13 April 1911, 91.

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge His toric Context Study 5

protection,. a theme that.gri~ped most cities after the disastrous Chicago Fire of 1879. The code required stone or bnck construction m the downtown area, and established the building pennit process. 13

In this pe~o~, downtown Minneapolis was reshaped southward from its pioneer origins at Bridge Square into a .dense d1s~ct of bulky masonry buildings that housed banks, offices, hotels, department stores, and diverse retail and commercial offerings. Substantial, stylish buildings such as the Lumber Exchange ( 1885) and the Flour Exchange (l 892) reflected the city's confidence in its economic footing.

Minneapolis Street Railway Company

The edges of most large American cities were expanded by rail transit, beginning with horse-drawn steam and then electric service. Planning for a Minneapolis street railway system began in the 1860s but the first'

~uccessful syst~m was installed by Thomas Lowry a decade later. In 1875, Lowry, an attorne; and real estate mvestor, organized the Minneapolis Street Railway Company with Col. William S. King. 14 The first horse car route ran from Bridge Square to the University of Minnesota, and despite a low profit margin, Lowry worked to e~tend the system ahead of real estate development. Another route ran from Plymouth Avenue, along Washmgton Avenue to Twelfth Avenue S. and Nicollet Avenue, and then south to Franklin Avenue.

P~~~ns notes tha~ despite the slow and uncomfortable service, the carline bound together the "east and west d1v1S1ons of the city" and suggested "what might be towards furnishing the people with transportation." 15

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Dupont Avenue car barn. photo ca. 1876-1884

By ~ 876, the horsecar line was extended south of downtown along Lyndale Avenue, with a short spur tumm~ west at 27th Avenue to a car barn at the northwest comer of Dupont Ave. S. 16 Nearby, in 1879, a short-hved, steam-powered "motor line' (the Lyndale Railway Co., later renamed the Minneapolis, Lyndale, & Minnetonka Railway Co.), was run down Nicollet Avenue to 31st Street and to Lake Calhoun to a colony of.summer hote~s. 1 7 By 1893 electrification of the 115-mile Minneapolis streetcar system was complete and mcluded service along Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street. 18

13Tom Balcom, "Mills. Monuments, and Malls: A Century of Planning and Development in Downtown Minneapolis" ;;,ennepin County History (Spring 1988), 8-1 4. '

Lanegran and Sandeen, 20-22. 15Parsons, 99. 16c . I . ~mmumty mprov~ment ~rogram ~ene~ No. 19, Publication o. 163. Calhoun isles Community Analysis and Action Recommendations (Mmneapohs: City Planning Department, 1965), 10. Sources do not agree on the date of the first Lyndale horsecar service. ,-1Lanegran and Sandeen, 24-26.

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Study 6

New Neighborhoods

Streetcar service reshaped the residential character of central Minneapolis. Prior to the mid- l 870s, the earliest neighborhoods near the Falls of St. Anthony on both sides of the river housed the mill and factory owner and their employees in fairly close proximity. The confines of the "walking city" generally limited social and economic segregation. 19 With the availability ofhorsecar and then electric streetcar service, new residential districts for the city's wealthiest and socially prominent households grew around the edges of downtownmas early residential areas were encroached by business and industry. Downtown churches and institutions similarly followed the migration, particulary to the south. By the 1880s, much of the elite residential area was concentrated in the vicinity of Tenth Street S. and along Loring Park near Hannon Place. Very rapidly, however, "some of these older and better residential districts underwent a complete metamorphosis."20 Squeezed by downtown growth, the elegant houses were rapidly converted to multiple-family units or replaced with commercial buildings. The area of elite housing next focused across Loring Hill to Lake of the Isles, around the present-day Fair Oaks Park, near W. 24th Street and Nicollet Avenue, and continued along Park Avenue. 21 Schmid's map of the "Gold Coasts of Minneapolis: 1887 and 1933" shows the shift into a broad zone south of downtown, with Franklin Avenue as its east-west spine. 22

The growing league of the new middle class, however, could also seek residences in the same general vicinities, often in sections platted with comfortable if scaled-down houses in mind. Electricity, telephone service, and indoor plumbing became fairly standard in their homes by the end of the 19th century, and streetcar service provided convenient access to both employment and shopping.

Real estate dealers pounced on the promise of the city's expansion and its embryonic streetcar network and park system. A patchwork of real estate speculation followed the streetcar lines; "additions were platted far beyond any hope of settling them," noted Parsons. 23 He recalled the highly speculative real estate market:

The newspapers in 1883 advertised lots at Lake Calhoun at from $650 to $1 ,000 each an acre beyond the lake at $500 each. We know that twenty years later they could have been purchased at half those prices, since they were as far from the real city as Minnetonka is today and without anything like its railway service.24

Parsons also observed that "streets were graded, walks and mains laid far out into the country, with the same faith on the part of the general public, and by the same effrontery of exploiters, that inspired the building of mills in the woods miles distant from switching accommodations. Money in this way passed from buyer to buyer with such surprising swiftness that Minneapolis was credited with 38 millionaires- a number sadly decreased in the time of trouble that followed this wild expansion as sure as the night of day. During this over-expansion people were being told that there was "no boom" and there could be "no limit to the rise."25

It was in this environment that by 1882 the entire 50 b locks of the Wedge were laid out by at least a dozen individual real estate investors. The variety of lot s izes, proximity to the upscale Loring and Lowry Hills at the north and west as well as the streetcar barn and the imminent CM & St P rail line at the south suggests

19Notable exceptions included "Villa Rosa."' the Italianate Style house of Dorilus Morrison (1858; razed). The building site was the two blocks now occupied by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts near 241h and Nicollet, about ten blocks east of the Wedge. 20Schmid, 73. 21Atlas of Minneapolis (1885). 22Schmid, Chart 44, opposite p. 86. 23Parsons. I 0 I. 24Parsons, 97. 25Parsons, 98.


that the various investors had some design about the future market for their lots. The northern tier of the Wedge- including the Sunnyside Addition, the Lyndale Avenue Addition, and the 25th Street Addition-was especially well suited to more spacious houses for the middle class. A greater number of smaller lots intended for less costly housing- including what were advertised as "workingmen's homes" by some realtors-were concentrated in the southern section.26

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26"Low Cost Homes for Working Men," M inneapolis Journal 2 May 1902, 8.

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Srudy 8

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Chapter II New Houses for the Minneapolis Middle Class, ca. 1882-1910

Group on porch of the Henry and Lillian Hahn house, 2421 Bryant Ave. S., 1905.

The term "middle class" has had varying usage among sociologists, economists, and historians. Most agree that the late nineteenth-century American middle class included educated white-collar workers who typically worked for wages. Unlike many in the working class, the middle class was employed in conditions that were safe and relatively comfortable, and they typically enjoyed home ownership and long-term relationships with community organizations and institutions. The late 19th-century industrial and commercial growth of Minneapolis and St. Paul fostered the creation of such a middle class, one that persisted through national economic declines including the Panic of 1893, World War I, and the Depression.27

This Minneapolis middle class included physicians, attorneys, owners of small businesses, and the managers and high-level employees of milling companies, railroads, and factories. They comprised the membership of many of the dozens of social clubs and civic organizations that campaigned for city improvements, and many were stalwart church members . They were not the very earliest acquirers of new technology such as the automobile, but Schmid shows approximately 80 automobile owners in the Wedge in 1908; a number comparable to Lowry Hill west of Hennepin.28 Middle-class women were typically at home with several children and were assisted by one or two servants, and the children typically attended public schools. Private carriages were part of some early households, although the horses were often kept at a nearby livery instead of a rear carriage barn. Many could seek an architect or builder-designer for a new home, which was typically financed with a mortgage.

27Historians have used the term "middle class" in various ways to describe tum-of-the-century Minneapolitans. See for example, Schmid, p. 77; Stephen Trimble, "The First Hundred Years: Loring Legends and Landmarks," in Berlowe, et. al., Reflections on Loring Pond (Minneapolis: CLPC, 1986), 12. 28

"Automobiles Minneapolis: c. 1908," in Schmid, Chart 33.

Lowry I l ill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Srudy 9

Hemy Hahn House, 2421 Bryant Ave. S .. in ca. 1905; at left, in 2005. In 1900 Henry and Lillian Hahn and their 9-year old son Louis, and 18-year old servant resided here. Henry (1858-?) was born in New York to German parents. and worked as a mill foreman.

While some Germans, Swedes, Norwegians and other immigrants appear in neighborhood census schedules between 1880 and 1910, the middle-class Wedge population was primarily native-born. Many were from New England and New York and other points east, and arrived in Minnesota in their teens and twenties. The household servants were predominantly Swedish women, typically 18 through 40 years of age. The 1900 federal census listed only one African-American residing in the Wedge; Ludie Frazier, age 18 and a native of Louisiana, was a servant employed by the William James family at 2612 Dupont Ave. S.29 By 1930 only about 12 percent of the residents were not natives of the U.S ., but the neighborhood became more ethnically diverse after World War II.30

R. P. Russell and the Wedge

Roswell P . Russell (1820-1896) had a pioneer role in shaping the development of the Wedge. A native of Vermont, he arrived at Fort Snelling in 1839 at the age of 19. He opened St. Anthony's first store in 1847,

and became receiver of the land office in 1854. He also owned a flour mill and a planing mill; served in the state legislature, held city offices, and invested in real estate.31

In 1851, Russell secured a claim along the government road just east of Lake of the Isles. The claim extended from the lake to Lyndale Avenue, and from W. 26th to Lake Street. Russell 's 1850s claim shanty, probably dating from ca. 1851, and his elegant mansard-roofed brick house (ca. 1873) were located at Hennepin A venue and W. 28th Street (later the site of West High School, 1908).32 In 1872, Roswell platted Russell's Outlots to the Town of Minneapolis between W. 26th and Lake streets.33 His plat showed 16 outlots that awaited further division into building lots.

291900 Federal census schedule, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, page 11 , Enumeration District 92. The exact selling of her name is not legible. 3 Schmid, Chart 72. 31 Warner, George, and Charles M. Foote, eds, Histo1y of Hennepin County and The City of Minneapolis (North Star Publishing, 1881 ), 624; Thatcher Imboden and Cedar Imboden Phillips, Uptown Minneapolis (Charleston, South Caro lina : Arcadia, 2004), 32-33; "Denis Peters' 160 Acres in 1856," Minneapolis Journal 13 March 1932. 32David Wood, "Early Pioneers in the Lake Area," Lake Area (December 1982), 1; Bob Taylor, "Lowry Hill East Claim Shanty,'' Wedge (Dec. 1988-Jan. 1989), I, 21. 33Plan of Russell 's Outlots to the Town of Minneapolis, Hennepin County Recorder' s Office.


G.M. Warner, Map of Hennepin County, Minnesota (1879) . Edmund Brewster owned the northern tip of the Wedge, while R.P. Russell owned the outlots to the south and William Windom 80-acre parcel along Lake Street.

To the east, across present-day Lyndale Avenue, John T. Blaisdell's farm included a swampy area known locally as 'Blaisdell 's Lake," as well as the well-drained highlands of present-day Pillsbury and Blaisdell avenues. Blaisdell, Russell, and the other farmers and speculators who claimed land within what is now the Wedge on ly held their tracts for about 20 years before the next phase of development was underway. Many of these farms were devoted to products needed by urban dwellers, such as fruit, vegetables and eggs.34

Cwting down "Lowry 's Bluff' near Groveland and Hennepin, ca. 1886

In 1872, Thomas Lowry platted the Groveland Addition atop Lowry Hill with a group that included "pillars of society and industry" and built his mansard-roofed mansion at the corner of Hennepin and Groveland avenues . 35 To the east of present-day Lyndale Avenue. the John Blasidell property was subdivided by 1882 into 28 blocks along Garfield, Harriet, Grand, Pleasant, Pillsbury, Blaisdell, and icollet avenues. After some of the heights of Lowry Hill and the ridges along Franklin were cut down by Lowry and others, a "topographical zoning" of lots took place. The higher elevations of the

Wedge, unlike some of the low-lying lots of the Blaisdell Farm to the east, provided primari ly well-drained

3~For early market gardening, sec Kendra Dillard, "Fanning in the Shadow of the Cities: the Not-so-Rural History of ~ose Township Farmers. 1850- 1900," in Ramsey County History (vol. 20, no . 3).

0Lanegran and Sandeen, 31.

Lowry Hill East N eighborhood Associatio n I Wedge Historic Conrext Study II

building sites. The tier of additions and subdivisions north of W. 261h Street-especially the Sunnyside (1882), Lyndale Avenue (1882) and 26th Street Additions (188 1)--attracted builders of high-styled houses.

The large lots of Franklin Avenue would eventually collect a cluster of mansions, and choice highland lots on Pillsbury would be similarly developed in the early 20th century. Many of the low-lying lots on Garfield and Harriet near the Lyndale streetcar route would be developed with duplexes and apartments.

Sunnyside and Lyndale Avenue Additions

- Edmund and Kate Brewster platted the Sunnyside Addition to Minneapolis in 1882.36 The Sunnyside name persisted for many ..$..,,,~""' '-.....; ' -:.~~ years and lent itself to an improvement association and an

apartment building, and was in general use as a place name. In - addition to the Brewsters, the third owner on the plat was listed

as the Bishop Seabury Mission. The mission, along with the ~ Seabury Divinity School and Shattuck School, was part of the ;~ Episcopal Church, Diocese of Minnesota. The relationship ., between the Brewsters and the diocese is unknown. ;

Brewster, a native of New York, was a partner in the Minneapolis Paper Mill. In 1879, he owned 60 acres between present-day Franklin Avenue and W. 24th Street; paper mill partner Calvin N. Warner owned 45 acres south of W. 24th

Street. 37 Unlike Roswell P. Russell, these investors did not reside on their holdings; in 1880 Brewster lived at 33 S. Seventh Street S. with Kate and their two sons, while Warner resided at 227 Seventh Street S.38 Portions of the Brewster and Warner holdings were sold to other investors, including J.M. Williams who platted the Lyndale Avenue Addition in 1882.39 L.F. Menage's Addition occupied a single block between Hennepin and Dupont avenues, including nine lots fronting Hennepin.40

2122 Aldrich Ave. S. in Sunnyside, razed (HCH)

Sunnyside's lots were slightly larger than those in many other Wedge additions, and unlike the others did not provide alleys. (By 1885, Brown 's Rearrangement of two half-blocks of Bryant and Aldrich subsequently added a few lots near W. 22nd St.) Lot sales in Sunnyside and the Lyndale Avenue Addition began within a year but house construction proceeded very slowly. The 1885 atlas shows a total of seven houses, most near the intersection of Bryant Avenue and W. 24th Street; the number rose to only 27 by 1892. A group of likely agricultural buildings still straddled blocks 2 and 7, near Bryant Avenue and W. 22nd Street.

36Sunnyside Addition to Minneapolis, 1882. Hennepin Co. Recorder's Office. See, for example real estate advertisements such as "For Quick Sale-Sunnyside Bargain,"' Minneapolis Journal, March 6, 1910, Real Estate Section. 37 G.M. Warner, Map of Hennepin County , Minnesota, 1879. 381880 Federal Census Schedule, Minneapolis. Hennepin, Minnesota, page: 2, Enumeration District 243 39Lyndale Avenue Addition, 1882. Hennepin Co. Recorder's Office. 400n L. F. Menage, see Richard Broderick, 'Erased from Memory," The Rake (June 2005).


South of W 25th Street in 1885

The area south of W. 25th Street was only slightly more developed by 1885. About 26 houses were erected including six on the 2500 block of Aldrich. The somewhat narrower lots in additions such as Pitman's_an_d Penny's along W. 28th Street were sold to the builders of a variety of "workers" houses. Although bu~ldmg on speculation was not confined to this southern half of the Wedge, two or more houses were often ~mlt at the same time for future sale or rent. The mixed pattern of building south of W. 25th Street resulted m blocks that might contain a several large, stylish houses with broad porches, a short row of inexpensive houses, and a brick apartment building or two. Many of the workers houses-which were owned and rented by teachers, clerks, teamsters, railroad employees , carpenters, painters, and laborers had a gable or hip roof, a small front porch with turned posts, and depending on the budget, decorative sawn trim at the gable end. Plans usually came from lumberyards and builders and similar houses were seen in similar areas across the city. Many examples of the late 19th-century "Wedge vernacular" are extant and a number retain good historic integrity.

2632 Emerson Ave. S. (ca. 1884?), in ca. 1920 (HCH)

Typical of the 1880s vernacular houses of the Wedge; 2610 Emerson Are. S. ; at right. a pair of speculative(v-built houses at 2621 and 2823 Colfax Ave. S. Photos ca. 1920 (HCH)

This area was also the recipient of a few early houses moved from other locations. Most notable is Roswell P. Russell's claim shanty and farm house. Reportedly moved from their original location near Hennepin and

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Sntdy 13

W. 28th Street, these buildings were apparently placed on one of Russell 's outlots at W. 26th St. and Bryant Ave. S.41

The 1880s census lists a number of farmers and fruit raisers in the Wedge. Despite limited transportation, some in the sparsely settled area had more urban employment. George Wells, living on the east side of Hennepin opposite Russell's house at W. 28th Street, was a watchmaker. Nearby, George Tullock, a native of Scotland, and his family resided at became 2639 Colfax Ave. S. Tullock owned several parcels of Russell's Outlots. He listed his employment as a carpenter. His wife was a confectioner and his sons were employed as teamsters and harness makers.

Sunnyside and North of W. 25th Street in 1903

The "Lake Harriet" line streetcar on Hennepin at Colfax Ave. S., ca. 1895; at right. a Sunnyside streetscape at W. 22nd and Colfax Ave. S .. ca. 1910.

The late 1880s and early 1890s brought a surge of new construction in the Wedge, before the nationwide Panic of 1893 resulted in mortgage foreclosures and bankruptcies. With recovery, however, construction resumed and by 1903 the area acquired much of its current form. Not only were spacious brick or frame houses erected in the Sunnyside Addition, which now totaled about 85 houses, but the new Franklin Heights apartments were prominently sited at the Hennepin and Franklin Avenue intersection. Lots in Sunnyside were advertised at premium prices: in 1902, for example, a corner lot on W. 25th Street sold for $1,500, three times the price of a lot at Grand Ave. and 32nd St.42 Turn-of-the-century construction was hampered by materials shortages and a steep increase in the cost of building.43 However, advertisements for Wedge houses highlighted their fine construction and good location:

$6,500 for No. 2510 Bryant Av. S., built about two years ago; the outside elevation is strictly up to date; the inside arrangement and finish could not be better. It contains 11 rooms besides a hall and bicycle room, finished in cherry and quarter-sawed oak with all hardwood floors, fine hardwood panel work, a number of built-in seats, sideboards, mantels and expensive mirrors; lavatory on first floor; very expensive decorations in oil; built in icebox; water meter, gas fixtures and shades, finest of plumbing; combination heat, sewer connections.

J .B. Tabour Co. advertisement, Minneapolis Journal, May 7, 1902, Real Estate Section

41 David Wood, "Early Pioneers in the Lake Area," Lake Area (December 1982), 1; Bob Taylor, "Lowry Hill East Claim Shanty." Wedge (Dec. 1988-Jan. 1989), I , 21. 42

"Why Pay Rent Asks Badger," Minneapolis Journal 12 April 1908, Real Estate Section. 14; David C. Bell Investment Co. ad., Minneapolis Journal, 14 May 1903, Real Estate Section, 9. 43

"How Prosperity Has Hit the Builders," Minneapolis Journal I July 1899, 1.


About 58 houses were completed in the Lyndale Addition by 1903, including large houses along Colfax, Bryant, and Dupont avenues, and similar density was achieved to the south in the 25th Street addition. In contrast, the King's and Anderson Douglas & Co. additions along a low-lying portion of Hennepin Avenue at W. 26th Street were generally undeveloped. Hennepin Avenue attracted the builders of large, stylish houses, but its boulevard status was abandoned by the Minneapolis Park Board in 1905; Lyndale's boulevard status was also vacated but the avenue was macadamized over an 18-inch gravel base in 1899, which suited its heavy use. 44 One early resident of Hennepin Avenue, whose father erected a house there in 1898, remembered that Hennepin Avenue ... "from the Thomas Lowry home at the top of Lowry Hill to Lake Street, was the main thoroughfare through a fine residential district." 45

To the south of W. 25th Street, Russell's Outlots were divided by at least a dozen investors. Most were small subdivisions containing two to four blocks. The largest, south of W. 28th Street, was Windom's Addition (1882). It provided 32 blocks, each with 12 small lots, which edged Lake Street and by 1884 was bisected by the CM & St P rail track. There were a number of large, stylish houses erected in this area, but most were of modest size and design. A national campaign to encourage home ownership among the working classes was reflected in the real estate pages of Minneapolis newspapers, which promoted a variety of small houses like those built between W. 26th and Lake streets. "Why Pay Rent?" asked the Badger Realty Company in 1908, noting, "rent is an endless drain on one's income." 46

2925 Girard. in 1900 (HCJ/j

44Lanegran and Sandeen. 28. 45Lanegran and Sandeen. 34. 46

"Why Pay Rent Asks Badger," Minneapolis Journal 12 Apri l 1908, Real Estate Section, 14.

Lowry Hi ll East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Study 15

The construction of the CM & St P Railroad along W . 291h Street introduced a series of hazardous grade crossings at the southern edge of the Wedge. After years of debate, a 1912 project remedied the crossing with grade separation and concrete bridges.47 At that time, one real tor called for abandonment of the rails and the construction of a parkway, but the grade separation project proceeded and industries continued to locate along the rails.

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1880s. They were among the leaders of the 1890s boom that produced the neighborhood 's collection of Queen Anne and Classical Revival dwellings, and their designs showed off the products of the city's millwork and architectural specialties dealers. The builder-contractors often built on speculation, and at least a few of the six houses in the 2100 block of Bryant Ave. S. completed by P. C. Richardson are probably exemplary of this practice. ;

The clients for builder.-contractors such as Richardson included business owners such as E. C. Beardsley at 2648 Emerson Ave. S. (1892). Beardsley was the president of Phelps Well & Windmill Co. In 1892 Richardson also built a house at 2105 Ifryant Ave. S. (1892) that was purchased by Charles H. Hood (1860-?), the owner of the Hood and Penney insurance agency. 49

Theron P. Healy, a native of Nova Scotia, built at least 30 houses in the Wedge and many in adjoining Lowry Hill. He was regarded a master of the Queen Anne as well as the Classical Revival styles. Healy was in the maritime shipping business in his native Halifax, but turned to contracting after arriving in Minneapolis in 1884.50 His exuberant middle-class Queen Anne houses were typical of plan book designs of the period, but presumably were modified to suit his client's budgets well as the dimensions of the lot. Healy also built higher-end houses for the city's leading architects. Healy is credited with about half of the houses on the 2400 block of Bryant Ave. S., and Henry Ingham with the other.51

J. L. Smith, president of the Minnesota Savings Fund and the J. L. Smith Land Co., was the owner of the Healy-built house at 2323 Bryant Ave. S. (1894). 2424 Colfax Ave. S. (1894) is also an exemplary Healy design.52 Healy's name was highly regarded after his death, as evident in a Minneapolis Journal real estate advertisement for a "Sunnyside bargain" in 1910, which noted that it was "Healy-built." In 1914, "a splendid modem ten-room home built by Healy for over $20,000" was offered for $15,000 by realtor Issac N. Smith. Purchase terms were $3,000 to $5,000 cash, balance $1,000 per year at 5 percent interest.

Wedge Architects

Aldrich Avenue resident Warren B. Dunnell is among the group of architects who designed houses for Wedge clients. Other designers include William C. Whitney; Edward S. Stebbins; Harry W. Jones; the Orff Brothers; Louis A. Lamoreaux, and William Kenyon.

Kenyon's work included the J.V. Gedney House at 2420 Colfax Ave. S. (1898), completed for a pickle manufacturer. The Gedney and Kenyon's other houses such as 2320 Colfax Ave. S. contributed to the pleasant Wedge streetscapes created by the interplay of finial-crowned towers, balustraded porches, and bowed windows aligned down boulevard-lined avenues. Brewer John G. Gluek commissioned Kenyon for a prominent comer house at 2447 Bryant Ave. S. The $10,000 Georgian Revival house was completed in 1902. Gluek's triple-lot site also featured a large, well-detailed carriage house by architects Boehme and Cordella.53 Most of the lots of the area were too narrow to accommodate such buildings, although a variety of smaller barns and sheds were built throughout the area; most were converted to garages.

491900 Federal Census Schedule, Minneapolis Ward 5, Hennepin, Minnesota, page: 14B, Enumeration District 64. 5Trilby Busch Christensen, "Legacy of a Master Builder: Theron Healy's Dream of Minneapolis Lingers in his Queen

Anne Architecture," Twin Cities (November 1972), 74-80. 51Lanegran and Sandeen, 85. 52Trilby Busch Christensen, Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association Calendar (Minneapolis: LHENA, 1978). 53Lanegran and Sandeen, 85.


The Cook, Dunnell, and Dodge Houses

Historic photos show tum-of-the-century Wedge families resting on the front porches of handsome houses surrounded by smooth grass terraces. Young trees shade the yards, and new concrete steps lead from the sidewalk. The federal census provides a sketch of some of the families shown in the photos, and available building permits provide information about construction and subsequent remodeling.

George H. Cook, 2219 Bryant Ave. S. and 2400 Bryant Ave. S.

George H. Cook House, 2219 Bryant Ave. S.; at right, the Cook parlor at 2400 Bryant Ave. S.

The photograph at left is labeled as that of the George H. Cook family on the front porch of their house in the Sunnyside Addition. The photograph at right is reportedly the elaborate interior of their subsequent residence (1901) at 2400 Bryant Ave. S. in the Lyndale Avenue Addition. Cook (1854-?) was born in New York and was a lumber dealer. The household included George's wife Clara and three grown daughters. 54

Another Cook family , that of George ( 1861-?) and May Belle resided a block away at 2400 Colfax Ave. S. Cook was a native of Canada who worked as a contractor and builder. In 1900 the Cook household also included 16-year-old Robert, as well as Edith Anderson, a Swedish-born servant. By 1920 the household included John Lefenberich, a retired singer, and Matilda Fuhlstrom, a Norwegian servant. George F. another son, was a student at Dartmouth College. In 1930 George and May Belle still resided at 2400 Colfax; Cook listed his occupation as a contractor. Anna Blomberg was their servant.55

55 1920 Federal Census Schedule, Minneapolis Ward 8, Hennepin, Minnesota, page: 48, Enumeration District 155.

Lowry Hi ll East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Study 19

Warren B. Dunnell, 2408 Aldrich Ave. S. and 2400 Aldrich Ave. S.

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W.B. Dunnell House. 2408 Aldrich Ave. S. (1890). Note the vacant comer lot at right. Photo: Northwest Builder and Decorator.

Warren B. Dunnell (1851 -193 l) was a native of Portland, Maine and spent part of his youth in Owatonna, Minnesota. He was the son of attorney Mark Dunnell and Sarah Dunnell. He attended the University of Minnesota, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Ecole des Beaux Arts.56 Warren designed high-styled residences as well schools and hospitals for the State of Minnesota. His extant institutional designs include the Administration Building at the State School for Dependent and Neglected Children, in Owatonna (1887) the Fergus Falls State Hospital (1888), Minnesota State Training School in Red Wing ( 1889), and the Minnesota Soldier's Home in Minneapolis. Among his Minneapolis public school buildings was the Douglas School (1894, razed) on Franklin Ave. S., near Hennepin Ave. He also designed Pendergast Hall (1889, razed), a dormitory on the University of Minnesota' s St. Paul campus .

In 1890, Dunnell completed his family 's Queen Anne style house in the Sunnyside Addition at 2408 Aldrich Ave. S. The design featured a prominent rounded bay with a conical roof. Warren and Ida Dunnell had four children, and in 1900 the household included his brother Mark, a lawyer; a maid, and a nurse for the Dunnell ' s infant daughter. In 1905 Dunnell offered the family house for sale through the E.F. Lambert realty company:

The magnificent residence of Mr. W.B. Dunnell, the architect, comer Aldrich Avenue S. and Twenty-fourth Street, with fine barn, three large lots, facing east. Slate roof; 12 rooms, strictly modern and up to date; hot water heat; hardwood. It is simply fine, built by day work and best materials. Cost the owner $19,000, who is going to coast to live. Will be slaughtered. $1 l ,500 buys it. Same as finding at least $5,000.

Minneapolis Journal, May 27. 1905. I 0.

In 1909 Dunnell erected a 6-unit apartment building next door on his vacant lot at 2400 Aldrich Ave. S. By 1910, having sold the 2408 house to William Bingham, a lawyer, the Dunnells resided in the apartment building with their four children, ages I 0 through 17.57 Their tenants included several salesmen. Although prices mentioned in the ad seem high, Dunnell 's experience of building an expensive home, and finding 15

56Landscape Research, University of Minnesota Preservation Plan. Prepared for the University of Minnesota ( 1997),

130. 57

A sidebar to this advertisement and the reference to the "coast" may have had something to do with the Dunnell' s son Warren W. (ca. 1893-?). ln 1920 he was married and living in ew York City and listed his occupation as an engineer. In 1930. however, the same person was apparently incarcerated in the Los Angeles County Jail.

Lowiy Hill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge H istoric Context Study 20

years later that the value declined was probably one increasingly shared by some of his neighbors. Warren apparently remained at 2400 Aldrich until his death in 1931.

Louis L. Dodge, 2000 Aldrich Ave. S.

Louis L. Dodge (1858-1932), a lawyer, was the Secretary and Treasurer of the Winston Bros. Co. railroad contracting firm. Dodge was a native of Wisconsin; his wife Mattie was born in New York. In 1900 he was a 41-year-old bachelor residing with his father in rented quarters on 9th Ave. S; in 1901 ~e married the 25-year old Mattie and acquired 2000 Aldrich Ave. S. in Sunnyside. Henry Ingham was the builder. The Dodges lived at 2000 Aldrich Ave. S. until about 1931; they had one servant but no boarder. Most of the block had become rental housing by this time, with few owner-occupants.58

Jn 1900, the 2100 block of Bryant Avenue (and adjoining Aldrich Avenue) was home to business owners and professionals. Many households employed servants and even a coachman. As noted in the fourth column from the right. most heads of household were owners.

581900 Federal census schedule, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, Ward 5, page l 5A; Enumeration District 62; 1930 Federal census schedule, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, page l 2A, Enumeration District 150; Trilby Christensen. Lowt)' Hill East Neighborhood Association House Tour (Minneapolis: LHE A, 1978), Dodge House notes.

Lowiy Hill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Study 21

The Age of Improvement

In December 1894, the National Municipal League held its Second Annual Convention in Minneapolis. Representatives of 50 American cities discussed the problems that faced city government. The Saturday Evening Spectator noted that the population of Minneapolis had soared, along with St. Paul 's, and that "the powerful political influences, the great floating element, the liquor and dive influences, the army of vice and the army of discontent, have been moving into the city with the same rapid strides."59

The call for good city government was reflected in municipal reform leagues, civic federations, law enforcement organizations and other clubs. This era of public interest, what the Spectator called "the era of municipal house cleaning, new patriotism and political purity," focused on Home Rule. At the neighborhood level, this sentiment was expressed in improvement associations that sought to encourage the convenience and beautification of their areas. Several neighborhood improvement associations or leagues were founded in and around the Wedge by the tum of the century. In 190 l, a group of residents of the Sunnyside Addition organized the Sunnyside Improvement Association to lobby for improved streetcar service on Lyndale and Hennepin avenues; 60 the group later was involved in petitioning for streetcar service on Franklin Avenue, although their efforts were unsuccessful. Across Lyndale to the east, Blaisdell Addition residents organized in 1908 to make the district, "sightly, convenient, and healthful."61 Meanwhile, as evident in the real estate pages of the Minneapolis Journal, realtors were among those promoting the development and maintenance of stable residential areas for all income levels, and the notion that homeowners made good citizens.

City planning advanced during this period, and the Civic Commission of Minneapolis was established in 1910. The Commission hired Chicago architect Edward Bennett to create a city plan. The thick volume of the Plan of Minneapolis was published in 1917, but most of its grand principles were not adopted.62 However, the Minnesota Residence District Act (1913), and the Minneapolis zoning ordinance of 1924 addressed building height and density.63

59Saturday Evening Spectator, 15 Dec 1894, 1. 6City column, Minneapolis Journal 6 Nov 1901.

6 1" ew Improvement Association is Ready for Business," Minneapolis Journal 12 April 1908, Real Estate Section, 13.

62Edward Bennett and Andrew Crawford, Plan of Minneapolis (Minneapolis: The Civic Commission, 1917); Balcom, I 0-1 1. 63Matthew B. Seltzer, "Zoning by Eminent Domain in Minneapolis, 1912-1925." Presented at the 5th National Conference on American Planning History, Chicago, Nov. 19, 1993; " Housing Meeting to Hear Greater Minneapolis Plan, Minneapolis Journal 3 October 1915, 10.


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Build-out: the Wedge south of W. 2l Street in 1914. (Minneapolis Real Estate Board).

Lowiy Hill East eighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Study 23

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Chapter 3 Apartment Buildings

Life in apartments is popular in a city where detached houses for rent are scarce and where so many people like to live at the suburban lakes during the summer season. The flat offers many advantages in the way of conveniences which some houses do not possess, has the merit of affording opportunities for neighborliness and society, and more than all that gives people who want to be near the center of the city homes of reasonable cost. For small number of adults who do not care for lawns, gardens, or trees, for businessmen who must be much out of the city, for many people of many pursuits, the apartment is the ideal living place.

"Fine Apartment Buildings," Minneapolis Journal, May 2, 1902, p. 4

The Wedge has been a popular location for apartments and other multiple-family buildings, beginning with an 8-unit brick and stone-trimmed rowhouse erected by William Barber at 2500-2514 Lyndale in 1886. The buildings typically ranged in size from two-story four-plexes to four-story, forty-unit buildings; interiors included utilitarian as well as elaborately finished units that featured fine millwork trim and built-in cabinetry .

In 1903, when a 9-room house in a good Wedge location could be purchased for $3 ,500, monthly apartment rent in the Wedge ranged from $20 to $100.64 Proximity to the streetcar line was key in siting the buildings, and many of the neighborhood's earliest were located along Franklin and Hennepin avenues. The duplex (or "two-flat") was also popular with builders. Comfortable front and rear porches, hot water heat, modem plumbing, tile and hardwood floors, and generous amounts ofmillwork made the duplex interior comparable to single-family construction in the area.

Although the Wedge enjoyed a decade-long building boom after 1900, the general demand for middle-class housing near downtown began to decline as many new areas south of Lake Street were opened to development. Lynnhurst and Heatherdale , on the east side of Lake Harriet, for example, were among new additions that probably drew households from the Wedge. Depending on location and appointments, apartments appealed to a wide range of residents. Single workers-including salesmen, teachers, nurses, and clerks- were very well represented. This employment rose steadily: by 1920 there were an estimated 13, 707 clerks and salespeople, and 11,000 clerical workers. 65 In 1923 the Minneapolis Journal reported that the Wedge averaged rents of $45 to $70 per month; and incomes of $2,500 to $4,000 per year.66

Sherbrook Apartments (1923). a 24-unit building at 2003 Aldrich A1'e. S.. in 1925 (HCH)

64Minneapolis Journal rental classified section, 22 August 1903, 15-16. 65

Buy ing Power: A Study of the Automobile Market within the City of Minneapolis. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Journal, 1923, n.p. 66suying power, n.p .


While Minneapolis would never approach the density of apartment construction enjoyed by cities such as Chicago and New York, there were 1,377 apartment buildings in the city by 1912; an_o_ther 942 wer~ constructed by 1927 .67 Apartment hotels, where meals, maid service, and _other amemhe~ w,ere provided, were especially popular around Loring Park. 50 l Groveland (1927) remams one of the city s finest

1 68 examp es.

Apartment house construction in the Wedge was encourage_d by the Restricted Re_sidential Distric~ legislation, which after 1913 prohibited apartments in certam areas-such as portions of Lowry Hiii West-while allowing it elsewhere.69

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The Vermont Apartments, 902 Franklin and 1927 Hennepin. Photo/acing north, ca. 1925. The Franklin Heights apartments are in the background.

Virginia Apartments, 1775 Hennepin. ca. 1900 (ra:ed)

Flat, apartment, and duplex building is going on at a terrific rate. Minneapolis Journal, August 2, 1914, Real Estate Section, p. 5

Between 1900 and 1925, a dense zone of impressive apartment buildings was constructed around the Franklin-Hennepin intersection. Buildings such as the Hennepin Court ( 1915 Hennepin); Aldrich Court (1914 Aldrich); the Vermont (902-04 Franklin; 1907); Aberdeen Court (1937 Bryant) and Franklin Heights (909 Franklin; 1902) anchored the area. E.O. Mead's 36-unit building at 902 Franklin cost $100,000 in ca. 1907. Designed by Lindstrom and Al mars, it reflected the tradition of well-furnished buildings that extended from Loring Park across Lowry Hill and included the luxurious Belmont at 1000 W. Franklin. A row of columned four-plexes included the Eldon Apartments at I 924-30 Aldrich Ave. S. The northern apex of this apartment zone- at Douglas, Hennepin, and Lyndale avenues-terminated at Virginia Triangle Park and the Virginia Apartments. This part of the Lowry Hill East landscape was completely removed with the construction ofl-94 in 1969.

Many of the first large buildings edged Hennepin and Franklin: the Sunnyside Flats at 2431 Hennepin (1900) and the Mount Royal (1906), at 2633 Hennepin, were wedged on triangular parcels. By 1910, however, masonry apartment buildings also filled vacant lots on many blocks, and existing Wedge houses were razed for apartment construction. The Wedge follo wed a citywide pattern: in 1907, there were 51 apartment and

67 See Michael Koop. "Living Downtown," Hennepin History (Summer 1994). 17; Carole Zellie, Landscape Research, "Stevens Square," . ational Register of Historic Places Registration Form. 1993, 8-24. 68 Koop, 21. 69 Zellie, "Stevens Square," 8-24.


flat buildings; in 1910, 76. In 1912 the number of apartments reached 127. 70 A 1911 Minneapolis Journal feature that illustrated Wedge buildings such as the Vermont, Franklin Heights, and Aberdeen Court proclaimed "apartment buildings are modern yet homelike."71 The number of multi-family buildings continued to rise: by 1914, 3,000 new apartment units were put on the Minneapolis market. Civic leaders were concerned that the city would lose its prestige as a city of homes. The Civic and Commerce Association conducted a study to find out why "the family hotel, the apartment building, and the flat are swallowing up the people of Minneapolis."72 Association members were puzzled as to why people with "sufficient means to maintain fine homes prefer to live in family hotels? Why do people with money enough to buy suburban lots prefer to pay rent for a downtown flat?" They surmised that factors might include problems with servants, the ability to maintain social prestige in an apartment as well as in a detached home, and the aversion of the "man of the family" to maintain the furnace and shovel the sidewalk.73

The fireproof construction of some new apartments was a selling point, along with convenience to stores and shops along Hennepin and Lyndale avenues. The building's exterior design reflected simplicity and, in some cases, refinement. The Italian Renaissance city palace was the architectural inspiration for the earliest designs, with the suggestion of a broad cornice, classical detail at the entry and windows, and a three-part division of the fa9ade into a prominent base, a central masonry zone, and the upper cornice area. Some 1920s buildings exhibit a variety of terracotta Arts and Crafts detail. Some of the larger buildings were arranged in a U-shape around a landscaped entry court, as evident at the Franklin Heights (1902) and Lorraine Court at 2633 Girard Ave. S. (1922). Many of the buildings had names evocative of other places: the Algonquin; the Carlisle; the Bay View, and Iverness Court.

2937 Fremont Ave. S: typical of thefour-plex unit: at right, rhe U-shaped 2617 Emerson Ave. S (1912). Photos ca. 1920 (HCH)

Certain contractors and architects, such as Perry Crosier and O.K. Westphal, and the Louis Fleischer Company (usually with architect Casper Rank) specialized in apartments, and the units were widely advertised for sale to investors. Lindstrom & Almars, authors of the plan book Duplex and Apartment Houses ( 1923), were the architects for a number of buildings in the Wedge.

7''Flat Life Growth of 400 Percent Stirs Civic Body," Minneapolis Journal 18 March 1914, 5.

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1"Apartment Buildings Are Modern Yet Homelike, Minneapolis Journal 13 April 1911. 82.

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73"Flat Life Growth of 400 Percent Stirs Civic Body," 5.

Lowry Hill Ease Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Comext Study 26

Through the period of apartment development, many houses in the Wedge were still advertised as dignified single-family homes; in 1915 one example on Aldrich was called "one of the desirable, older homes close in." In "good condition," the five-bedroom house with a garage and finished third floor was priced at $11,000. Realtors seem to have stressed that properties were "above" W. 24th or 25th streets, emphasizing the proximity to the Franklin-Hennepin intersection and the past status of the Sunnyside and Lyndale Avenue additions.

Lowry II ill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge Historic Context Study 27

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Some single-family construction continued on some of the remaining lots after ca. 1910, and included a variety of Foursquare houses and Arts and Crafts bungalows. The adoption of the first citywide zoning ordinance in 1923-4, which designated the area as multiple family, did little to change the dense pattern already in place. By 1934, more than half of the residents in Lowry Hill East were tenants, a pattern typical of much of the larger area north of W. 3 6th Street and east of Lake of the Isles. 74

2752 Aldrich in ca. 1920 (HCH); the sign exclaims, "the price of this splendid duplex will surprise you."

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In 1930, the 2100 block of Bryant was home to many apartment dwellers, as 1el/ as a few households who lived in large single-fam ily houses. As noted in the sixth column, hm1ever, all households were renters.

74 Schmid, Chart 15 1, "Dwelling Units Rented: 1934."

Lowry Hill East eighborhood Association / Wedge Historic Context Srudy 28

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Chapter 4 Non-Residential Land Uses

The Wedge has been always been framed by the busy Lyndale, Franklin, and Hennepin commercial corridors and the industrial zone surrounding the CM & St P rail tracks along W. 29th Street. By 1900, the streetcar hubs at the Lake and Lyndale and Lake and Hennepin intersections included substantial shopping districts with many types of services including grocery stores, laundries, liveries (and later gasoline stations and garages), and theatres. Tum-of-the-century houses as well as many apartment buildings lined the length of both avenues from Franklin Avenue to Lake Street, and conversion of former dwellings to commercial use was common. Within the neighborhood boundaries, however, small groceries were the primary non-residential land use.

Harry Franklin Baker Greenhouse Co., 2929 Emerson Ave. S. (razed); photo ca. 1930; Dupont Food Market, 2401 Dupont Ave. S; photo 1958.

At least three small shop buildings were erected within the residential blocks of the Wedge, at 2401 and 2800 Dupont Ave. S., and 2657 Colfax Ave. S. Small groceries appear to have been their primary use, one that continues today. Gasoline station locations included 2801 Dupont Ave. S. and 2601 Aldrich Ave. S .

St. Paul 's Episcopal Church

St. Paul ' s Episcopal Church was moved (reportedly in five sections) from its original downtown location to 2001 Bryant Avenue S. in 1902, and then enlarged in 1908. St. Paul's was in use until ca. 1957 when the congregation relocated to Logan Avenue S; the bui lding was razed in 1965. 75

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 2001 Bi)ant. in 1911 (ra::.ed)

75 Lawrence Clark, A Community in Christ: a Centurv at St. Paul's Parish 1880-1980 (Minneapolis: Boloer Printino

1980). ' ' "' ''"

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association I Wedge H istoric Context Srudy 29

Schools

Miss Wood's Kindergarten and Primary Training School was operated by Stella L. Wood (1865-1949) in a house at 2017 Bryant Avenue S. 76 The house was owned by Margaret Sterrett, who operated a kindergarten on the site. Wood 's was a well-known teacher-training school and later affiliated with Macalester College. The Wedge's other private school was the Blake Junior School (ca. 1912?) at 2201 Colfax Ave. S. , which served as a grade school between 1915 and 1940. Jefferson Junior High, the only public school erected in the Wedge, was built on the low-lying area at the intersection ofW. 26th Street and Hennepin Avenue in 1923. The three-story building was designed by the Board of Education's Bureau of Buildings. The Calhoun (1887) and Douglas (1894) elementary schools and West High School ( 1907), all outside the boundaries of the Wedge, served the area.77

Blake Junior School. 2201 Colfax Ave. S., (1915); razed Jefferson Jr. High (1923), photo ca. 1923

Other public buildings

The Walker Branch Library at 2901 Hennepin Avenue was opened in 1911. The prominent Beaux Arts building by architect Jerome Paul Jackson was sited at the edge of the grade separation above the CM & St P rail tracks. (The library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.) The Fifth Precinct Police Station was completed at 2917 Bryant Avenue S. in 1921. The station was designed by Bertrand and Chamberlin. The building also housed the Calhoun Post of the American Legion. 78

Fijih Precincr Minneapolis Police Station, 2917 Bryan/ Ave. S.. in 1921.

76Marguerite . Bel l. With Banners, a Biography of Stella L. Wood (St. Paul: Macalester College, 1954). 77Zellie, Minneapolis Public Schools Historic Context Study. Appendix. 78 Thatcher Imboden and Cedar Imboden Phillips, 54.


Chapter 5 The 1920s and Beyond

The number of owner-occupants in the Wedge began to shrink after World War I, as many boarders and renters found apartments in the large, formerly single-family houses. While some potential Wedge homeowners might have been attracted to the new crop of luxu~ apa~ment buil?ings, _the middle class of the 1920s could also find much newer houses with modem convemences m developmg neighborhoods to the south and southwest, and especially near the parkways and lakes. Many professionals still resided in the Wedge. A growing number were European immigrants, unlike the previous generation.

The trend toward the division of houses into rental apartments and rooms would continue for decades, as it did in other central-city neighborhoods. In the 1920s, national campaigns that encouraged remodeling of "obsolete" houses were part of"Better Homes Drives" Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce, presided over the Be~ter Homes in America Movement launched i? 1925.~~ Whi~e t~~ houses of the Wedge were still illustrated m the real estate pages, they were often described as bargams.

Bryan/ Avenue S. looking north toward Franklin A v~nue S. and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in 1950; al right, Hennepin and Colfax Avenue S. in 1955.

After World War II, aging Minneapolis neighborhoods including the Wedge were studied by the Minneapolis Planning Commission. In the early 1960s, at about the same time as downtown Gateway, other urban renewal projects, and 1-94 freeway planning were underway, Lowry Hill East was evaluated in the Calhoun-ls/es Community Analysis and Action Recommendations (1965). The study noted that East Lowry Hill had a "concentration of apartments, rooming houses, and generally higher densities" that differentiated it from West Lowry HilI.80 This study followed a 1963 rezoning that resulted in the demolition of an estimated 100 houses and the construction of apartment buildings; some were nearly a half-block in length. Another 16 houses were demolished in 1970 by the Minneapolis Park Board for the construction of Mueller Park, a new development bounded by Bryant, Colfax, and W. 25th and W. 26th streets.81 An estimated 600 children lived in the Wedge neighborhood at that time.

79"Hoover Stresses Better Homes Needed," Minneapolis Journal 10 May 1925.

80Minneapolis City Planning Commission, Calhoun-isles Community Analysis and Action Recommendations (Publication No. 163 Community Improvement Program Series No. 19, 1965), 6. 81

"Board Airs Plan to Raze Homes for E. Lowry Hill Mini-Park," Minneapolis Star, 7 July 1970.


At left, 2631 Colfax Avenue in ca. 1900; at right, the apartment building that replaced it in 1964 (photo 2005).

2100 block of Aldrich: 1960s apartments frame a turn-of-the-century house; photo 2005

By the early 1970s, many Wedge houses had gone through several cycles of conversion into multiple-family units and suffered exterior changes to features such as porches, trim, and siding. In 1970, the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association (LHENA) was founded , with the goal of "increasing the stability and quality of life in Lowry Hill east through the betterment of single and multiple housing stock, by improving public safety, and physical environment, by encouraging neighborliness and sociability, by retaining the best of the past with contemporary consciousness."82 By the 1970s the term "Wedge" was in common use and corresponded to the beginning of reinvestment in the area's historic properties. A 1975 down zoning was intended to halt multi-unit construction in certain portions of the area. Walking tours published by LHENA were evidence of this trend, as was local heritage preservation designation and 1990 National Register listing of the John and Minnie Gluek House at 2447 Bryant Ave. S. (1902).

A traditional Wedge streetscape, 2005

82 Trilby Christensen, Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association House Tour (Minneapolis: LHENA, 1978), introduction.


Sources Consulted

Atwater, Issac, and John H. Stevens, eds. History of Minneapolis and Hennepin County. 3 vols. New York and Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co., 1895.

Balcom, Tom. "Mills, Monuments, and Malls: A Century of Planning and Development in Downtown Minneapolis," Hennepin History (Spring 1988). 8-14.

Bell, Marguerite N. With Banners, A Biography of Stella L. Wood. St. Paul: Macalester College, 1954.

Bennett, Edward and Andrew Wright Crawford. Plan of Minneapolis. Minneapolis: The Civic Commission, 1917.

Borchert, John R., David Gebhard, David Lanegran, and Judith A. Martin. Legacy of Minneapolis: Preservation Amid Change. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press, 1983.

Buying Power: Study of the Automobile Market Within the City of Minneapolis. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Journal, 1923.

Clark, Lawrence. A Community in Christ: a Century at St. Paul's Parish, 1880-1980. Minneapolis: Bolger Printing Co., 1980.

Community Improvement Program Series No. 19, Publication No. 163, Calhoun Isles Community Analysis and Action Recommendations. Minneapolis: City Planning Department, 1965.

Dillard, Kendra. "Farming in the Shadow of the Cities: the Not-so-Rural-History of Rose Township Farmers, 1850-1900, in Ramsey County History (vol. 20, no. 3).

Hudson, Horace B., ed. A Half Century of Minneapolis. Minneapolis: Hudson Publishing Co. , 1908.

Imboden, Thatcher and Cedar Imboden Phillips. Uptown Minneapolis. Charleston South Carolina: Arcadia, 2004.

Kane, Lucile, and Alan Ominsky. Twin Ciries: A Pictorial History of St. Paul and Minneapolis. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1983.

Koop, Michael. " Living Downtown."' Hennepin History (Summer 1994).

Lanegran, David A., and Ernest R. Sandeen. The Lake District of Minneapolis: A Hisrory of the Calhoun Isles Community. St. Paul: Living History Museum, 1979.

Lowry, Goodrich. Streetcar Man: Tom Lowry and rhe Twin City Rapid Trans it Company. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1979.

Mead & Hunt. Lowry Hill East Neighborhood of Minneapolis Historic Resources lnvenrory. Prepared for Lowry Hill East eighborhood Association. 2005.

Nelson, Charles A. "Minneapolis Architecture for the Elite." Hennepin His tory 52 (Winter 1993), 4-1 7.

Parsons, E. Dudley. The Swry of Minneapolis. Minneapolis: Colwell Press, 1913.

Pearson, Marjorie. "South Minneapolis: An Historic Context ... Hess, Roise and Company, August 2000.

Schmid, Calvin F. Social Saga of the Twin Ciries: rln Ecological and Statistical Study of Trends in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Council of Social Agencies, Bureau of Social Research, 193 7.

Shutter, Marion D., ed. History of Minneapolis: Gateway to the Northwest. Chicago: S.J . Clark Publishing Co., 1923.

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association t Wedge Historic Context Study 33

Sources, continued

Stevens, John H. Personal Recollections of Minnesota and its People and Early History of Minneapolis. Minneapolis, Minn.: Tribune Job Printing Co., 1890.

Trimble, Stephen C. 'The First Hundred Years: Loring Legends and Landmarks." In Berlowe, et. al. Rejlecrions on Loring Pond. Minneapolis: Citizens for a Loring Park Community, 1986.

______ .Jn the Shadow of the City: A History of the Loring Park Neighborhood. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Community College Foundation, ca. 1988.

Vermeer, Andrea and Will Stark ( 106 Group Ltd.). "Phase I and II Architectural History Investigation for Lake Street Improvement Program." 2004. On file, Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office.

Vermeer, Andrea and Will Stark (106 Group Ltd.). "Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Grade Separation Historic District." ational Register of Historic Places Registration form. 2005. On file, Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office.

Warner, George, and Charles M. Foote, eds. History of Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis. Minneapolis: North Star Publishing Co .. 1881.

Wirth, Theodore. Minneapolis Park System 1883-1944. Minneapolis: Board of Park Commissioner, 1945.

Zahn, Thomas R. and Associates. Preservation Plan for the City of Minneapolis, Phase 1 and JI. Minneapolis: Heritage Preservation Commission, 1990.

Zellie, Carole. "Stevens Square Historic District." National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 1993. On file, Minnesota Historical Society.

_____ . "1 eighborhood Commercial Centers, 1885-1 963." Prepared for the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission, 1993.

_ _____ ."Harmon Place Historic District Study." Prepared for the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission, 2002.

______ ."Minneapolis Public Schools Historic Context Study." Prepared for the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission, 2005 .

. Maps

Map of Hennepin County. Minnesota. St. Paul: Rice & Co., 1873.

Map of Hennepin County, Minnesota. Minneapolis: Warner & Foote, 1879.

Complete Set of Surveys and Plats of Properties in the City of Minneapolis, Minn. Philadelphia: G. M. Hopkins, C.E., 1885.

Map of Ramsey and Hennepin Counties: with adjacent portions of Anoka, Wright, Carver, Scott, Dakota & Washington Counties, Minnesota. Minneapolis: C.M. Foote & Co., 1890.

City of Minneapolis. Minneapolis: C.M. Foote Publishing Company, 1892.

Atlas of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Real Estate Board, 1903.

Minneapolis Fire Insurance Maps. New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1912-51.

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association Wedge Historic Context Study 34

Sources, continued

Atlas of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Real Estate Board, 1914.

Minnesota Work Projects Administration. Atlas of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesora. Minneapolis: 1940.

Map of Wedge Neighborhood. Prepared by Community Planning and Economic Development Department, Minneapolis, 2004.

Directories

Dual City Blue Book. St. Paul: R.L. Polk & Co., 1885-1923.

Minneapolis City Directory. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Directory Company, 1931.

Photo Collections

Hennepin County History Museum Minneapolis Board of Education Minnesota Historical Society

Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association ' Wedge Historic Context Study 35

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the wedge neighborhood of minneapolis lowry hill east historic context study

Documents

todays neighborhood

urban neighborhood

wedge arrow

lake street

south minneapolis

minneapolis middle class

golden age of minneapolis

franklin avenue