All in History
Most travelers have either heard of a Radisson Hotel or stayed in a Radisson hotel. I did not realize until just recently that before there was a worldwide chain of more than 1400 hotels, the very first Radisson Hotel was built right here in Minneapolis and is named for an icon of Minnesota history.
When the Justus Ramsey house was nominated for historic landmark status in 1974, the owner and local preservationists did a lot of research into who had lived in the house and added to its historic value. But they only researched up to a certain point - from the original owner and builders to who rented and lived in the house in its prime. Now that the house is being talked about again, a new round of research has revealed a much richer history.
From the 1920s through the 1960s, Motels (or motor hotels) blossomed across the country. Two motels in South Minneapolis have survived longer than most. The Aqua City Motel and the Metro Inn Motel were first built on the side of Highway 65, are soon to be resurrected for the next chapter in their long history.
The Saint Paul Historic Preservation Commission had a meeting on Monday afternoon to decide whether to approve or deny the Burger Moe’s application to demo the Justus Ramsey house. If you ever thought that city council meeting would be boring, than you are wrong!
The Linden Hills Congregational Church (LHCC) that sits at the corner of 42nd and Upton in Linden Hills will soon be demolished and replaced by new construction. After being a part of the community for 120 years, the news of the purchase agreement was sad news for the people in the neighborhood.
There were a lot of headlines on social media last week that the owner of Burger Moe’s filed permits to demolish the little stone house that sits in the corner of his patio. A lot of people were REALLY MAD. Lets find out why.
How do you link bundt cakes to grain elevators to a downtown park to a horse fountain to Lake Minnetonka to golf AND baseball? Read on to find out!
Which park feature still stands in honor of Frank H. Peavey that we HAVEN’T already talked about? We’ve covered Peavey Plaza and Peavey Field Park. This last one is much, much smaller, but there is a chance that you’ve driven past it many times without even seeing it.
In previous posts, I introduced you to the history of the Bundt Cake pan and Nordic Ware. The landmark grain silo on the Nordic Ware campus (the Peavey-Haglin Experimental Grain Elevator) led us to the Peavey family. I left you with the question: “Why does that name sound so familiar?
If you are driving anywhere near the intersection of Highway 100 and Highway 7, you’ve seen the tall tower emblazoned with the Nordic Ware name and Viking logo. I always assumed that the concrete structure was a smokestack, water tower or chimney of some sort. I was surprised to learn that it’s not only a grain elevator, but a historical landmark AND a marvel of engineering!
Growing up in Iowa, I’ve had my fair share of Bundt cakes. My mom also used her Bundt pan to bake pull-apart “monkey bread”. In high school, when we performed the annual Madrigal Dinner, the not-so-historically accurate Figgy Pudding was suspiciously Bundt-shaped (even with a flaming cup full of sterno filling the center hole). The fruitcake was also suspiciously sterno-flavored after being carried by distracted teenagers trying to walk, sing, and carry an open flame at the same time. I didn’t know that the Bundt was born in Minnesota! Or was it?
In my previous post, “Frank Smith & Grace Ledbeter”, I explained how the criminal trials of Frank Smith and Grace Ledbeter are connected to the movie “You’ve Got Mail”. Would you be surprised to know that that isn’t the only famous trial from Minnesota with a link to the movie?
