From St. Paul, editor John Quincy Adams built ‘The Western Appeal’ into a national African American newspaper
Adams was an influential writer and a staunch Republican.
Molly Huber
Did Minneapolis architect Leroy Sunderland Buffington invent the skyscraper?
Buffington received US and international patents for his “cloudscraper” in May 1888.
How did 19th century Minnesota settlers deal with these winters? Saunas may have helped
Often the first structure Finnish immigrants they built on their new rural property was a sauna.
Electric pioneer: harnessing the Mississippi for power in Minneapolis
Centralized hydroelectric power came on for the first time in the United States in downtown Minneapolis on September 5, 1882.
When Minneapolis hosted the Republican National Convention
After three days of secret meetings, the convention culminated in the nomination of then US President Benjamin Harrison as the party’s presidential candidate.
Minnehaha Falls’ controversial sculpture: ‘Hiawatha and Minnehaha’
Jacob Fjelde’s sculpture Hiawatha and Minnehaha has stood in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis since the early twentieth century. Now a popular fixture of the park, its placement there was originally controversial.
State Fair rival: The Minneapolis Industrial Exposition
Minneapolis city leaders created their industrial fair, or exposition, to rival St. Paul’s agricultural one.
Farmer-labor collaborations before the DFL: Meet the Minnesota Farmers’ Alliance
An 1890 union between the Alliance and labor groups yielded several successful political candidacies.
Thomas Lowry brought streetcars to Minneapolis
Thomas Lowry was one of the most influential and admired men in Minneapolis at the time of his death in 1909.
The West Hotel in Minneapolis brought 19th century luxury downtown
The West Hotel formally opened on November 19, 1884, with a huge banquet. It was a match for the growing aspirations of the city.
Red Lake sawmill provided essential employment on the reservation
Since the first sawmill was built near Red Lake in 1856, the harvesting and processing of timber has been a significant part of the local economy.
Minnesota’s Schubert Club: One of the nation’s oldest arts organizations
The club has had a significant impact on the cultural life of St. Paul, supporting music education and hosting concerts featuring well-respected local, national, and international musicians.
Minnesota’s traveling libraries brought books to the people
In 1899, Minnesota’s legislature began funding a system of traveling libraries that were sent to underserved communities in all parts of the state for only the cost of shipping.
Minnesota’s first successful apple: the Wealthy Apple
Before 1868, only crab apples grew reliably in Minnesota.
Bicycling booms in Minnesota, 1890s
In the 1890s, after bicycles became more comfortable and affordable, bicycling swept the nation, Minnesota included.
October 5, 1869: St. Anthony Falls tunnel collapses
On October 5, 1869, water seeped and then gushed into a tunnel underneath St. Anthony Falls creating an enormous whirlpool. The falls were nearly destroyed.
Charles Alfred Pillsbury, 1842–1899
Charles Alfred Pillsbury’s Minneapolis company, Charles A. Pillsbury and Co., was among the largest milling firms in the world during the last decades of the nineteenth century.
