Florence Barton Loring
Charles Loring was married to Emily Crossman for 38 years, to Florence Barton for only 27, but he probably knew Florence longer than he knew Emily. The “Father of Minneapolis Parks” likely met Florence...
View ArticleKeewaydin Park Before and After — 1928
Like a lot of other people I’m curious to see the new look of Keewaydin Park and School. Construction is underway. It has to be an improvement over what was there a few years ago. Keewaydin Park before...
View ArticleCharles Loring’s Memorial Arch
In 1908 Charles Loring commissioned young architect William Gray Purcell to design a memorial arch. That project, revealed in Purcell’s papers at the Northwestern Architectural Library (a fabulous...
View ArticleLost Minneapolis Parks: Virginia Triangle
Can you tell where this photo was taken? The land in the foreground is a lost Minneapolis park: Virginia Triangle. Virginia Triangle 1938 (Minnesota Historical Society) Virginia Triangle was at the...
View ArticleMinneapolis Park Hero: Alice Dietz
Early in my research of Minneapolis park history for City of Parks, Alice Dietz caught my attention. She had a forty-year career in Minneapolis parks, 1916-1957. She rose to prominence in the park...
View ArticleLongfellow Field: The Park that Bombs Bought
If any park in Minneapolis should be a “memorial” park, perhaps it should be Longfellow Field, because it was bought and built with war profits. It would be hard to explain it any other way. The...
View ArticleMore Park Mysteries
I haven’t been able to write much here for the last month, because I’ve been working on other writing projects. Gotta make a living! I have plans to write very soon on the politics of the purchase of...
View ArticleThe True Story of Sibley Triangle, by Robin Russell
I started tending this garden in 2006, but really took it on in 2007. In 2007, I was living in St. Anthony East neighborhood, and I lost my home to foreclosure. I didn’t want to leave my perennials...
View ArticleMinneapolis Park Memory: Ode to Webber Pool
I am an ex-competitive swimmer. I bought my house in 1996, a half block up the hill from Webber Park on Colfax because it was close to the pool. At that time I was working second shift, so I was able...
View ArticleCharles Loring: “We must control the lake.”
If you have read my history of the Minneapolis park system, City of Parks, you may recall that Charles Loring’s efforts to acquire land around lakes Harriet, Isles and Calhoun remain a subject of...
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