CHAPTER 2 Park Conditions, Analysis, & Opportunities

Location and Context the river and East River Parkway on the east side of the river. MGRP is located along the , consisting of land in both the City of and the City of Saint Paul (figure 2-1). The Gorge is characterized by steep The park is lined by several South and Southeast wooded bluffs overlooking the river, a connected system of Minneapolis neighborhoods, including Cedar-Riverside, parkways and trails, floodplain forests in the river flats, and Seward, Longfellow, Cooper, Howe, Hiawatha, urban parks on the bluffs and in the flats. It offers residents University, and Prospect Park/East River Road. Adjacent and visitors an opportunity to enjoy nature in the City and neighborhood land use character ranges from single- the ability to access the Mississippi River. The Gorge is family residential, to multi-family residential, to mixed-use/ unique as the only river gorge along the entire length of commercial, to large scale college/university buildings. the Mississippi River, and has geological, cultural, and The University of and Minneapolis Rowing Club historical significance in the Twin Cities region. both operate existing boathouse facilities within the park.

MGRP in Minneapolis encompasses approximately MGRP lies within a unit of the 132-acres and 5.5 miles of riverfront flanking both the system, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area east and west banks of the Mississippi River. It is part (MNRRA) - a 72-mile stretch of the river corridor reaching of a larger continuous regional park system along the from Dayton/Ramsey to just south of Hastings, MN. river, abutted by Central Mississippi Riverfront Regional MGRP is served by two National Scenic Byways – The Park to the north and Minnehaha Regional Park to the Grand Rounds and the Great River Road. It is also served south. It is bordered by Bridge No. 9 on its northern edge by the first and only state bikeway, the Mississippi River and Minnehaha Regional Park on its southern edge, and Trail. roughly bound by West River Parkway on the west side of

MISSISSIPPI GORGE REGIONAL PARK MASTER PLAN Park Conditions, Analysis, & Opportunities 2-1 Study Area Map

I-35

Bridge

Bridge

10th Ave

Bridge ¨¦§35W Number 9 LANGFORD TCF BANK BOHEMIAN FLATS PARK STADIUM PARK (PHASE 1 PARK) WEST BANK SOFTBALL FIELDS

19th Ave S UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA University Ave EAST BANK Washington Ave

Washington EAST RIVER St Oak SE Bridge 280 FLATS PARK CURRIE

PARK SE Huron Blvd Huron SE

Fulton St SE HAMPDEN PRATT PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Riverside Ave MISSISSIPPI RIVER LUSTON PARK TOWER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA RECREATION WEST BANK CENTER HILL PARK Cedar Ave S Ave Cedar ANNIE YOUNG SOUTH MEADOW LUXTON SAINT ANTHONY

(PHASE 1 PARK) Ave 27th PARK PARK RIVERSIDE I-94 Bridge SAINT PAUL SAINT

MURPHY PARK MINNEAPOLIS SQUARE Franklin Ave ¦¨§94

MERWYN Franklin Bridge TRIANGLE SAINT PAUL Franklin Ave Mississippi River Boulevard CHERGOSKY 280 PARK PARK

SEWARD 26th Ave S Ave 26th MONTESSORI WEST RIVER EAST SCHOOL ¦¨§94 MISSISSIPPI RIVER PHILLIPS MATTHEWS PARKWAY RECREATION PARK CENTER West River Parkway SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR MATTHEWS CHILDREN-TWIN CITIES PARK East 26th St CEDAR Minnehaha Ave AVENUE MINNESOTA DESNOYER TRANSITIONS PARK FIELD MIDDLE SCHOOL Rail Bridge

Pelham 55 WHITE MEEKER ISLAND SANDS LOCK & DAM ¦¨§94 BEACH HISTORIC PARK Boulevard MIDTOWN Cretin Ave S GREENWAY

ANISHINABE BRACKETT THE TOWN & ACADEMY FIELD COUNTRY CLUB East 28th St MERRIAM TERRACE

Cleveland Ave S MINNEAPOLIS PARK ROWING CLUB

Lake Street / Marshall Lake Street Marshall Ave Bridge

EAST RIVER Minnehaha Ave 36th Ave S PARKWAY MINNEHAHA UNIVERSITY ACADEMY LONGFELLOW OF SOUTH HIGH FIELD ALTERNATIVE 42nd Ave S (UPPER) HIGH SCHOOL ST. THOMAS HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC FIELDS

46th Ave S

COOPER PAUL SAINT COMMUNITY MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SHADOW FALLS LONGFELLOW ST. THOMAS BEACH PARK CORCORAN PARK THE Summit Ave SEVEN MONUMENT LONGFELLOW OAKS PARK OVAL “Oak Savanna” East 35th Street SANFORD THE SAINT PAUL

23rd Ave S Ave 23rd MIDDLE SEMINARY SCHOOL SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

Savanna FOLWELL Prairie SCHOOL MINNEAPOLIS Cretin Ave S

HOWE GROVELAND PARK ELEMENTARY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Mississippi River Boulevard SCHOOL GROVELAND East 38th Street PARK

36th Ave S

Cleveland Ave S

28th Ave S Ave 28th DOWLING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SIBLEY FIELD WEST RIVER

42nd Ave S PARKWAY Minnehaha Ave EAST RIVER ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL PARKWAY

46th Ave S

55

East 42nd Street HIAWATHA MINNEHAHA PARK ACADEMY HIAWATHA (LOWER & MIDDLE SCHOOL) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NORTHROP ST. CATHERINE UNIVERSITY LAKE ELEMENTARY WINCHELL HIAWATHA SCHOOL TRAIL HEAD

PARK Ave Nokomis MAP KEY SUNNY HOLLOW

MISSISSIPPI RIVER MONTESSORI SCHOOL

LAKE STUDY AREA HIAWATHA

CILAKETY OF MINNEAPOLIS BOUNDARY East 46th Street HIAWATHA GOLF Ford Parkway Ford Parkway MINNEHAHA Bridge

CREEK PARK SEA SALT HIGHLAND GROVELAND HILLCREST RECREATION MINNEHAHA EATERY MINNEHAHA PARK PARK CREEK PARK / PARKWAY LOCK LONGFELLOW 0 0&.5 GARDENS 1 WENONAH DAM #1 N TRIANGLE Miles MINNESOTA LAKE VETERANS FORD NOKOMIS HOME LITTLE LEAGUE FIELD Figure 2-1. Study Area Map

2-2 DRAFT Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Cultural and Historic bands of hunter-gatherers about 12,000 years ago, to denser settlements proficient in ceramic manufacturing Resources and corn-based horticulture by the 400s CE into the late 1700s. American Indians in what is now south-central This section provides an overview of the park area history, Minnesota demonstrated resiliency and a complex including cultural resources that have been identified within understanding of the ecological and social environments Mississippi Gorge Regional Park. Additional information in which they lived. The earliest Euro-Americans in the land about cultural resources within and adjacent to MGRP can that was to become Minnesota were French missionaries be found in Appendix A, including applicable legislative and fur traders during the mid-to-late 1600s, followed by requirements regarding cultural resource preservation and British, and later American, traders and explorers in the an overview of previous cultural resources investigations 1700s and 1800s. The arrival of Euro-Americans, who in the vicinity. The cultural resources of the area, and the within 200 years dramatically altered the environment and stories they evoke, informed the interpretive theme and social landscape through the fur trade, warfare, settlement, subthemes as a way of engaging visitors and enhancing and treaties, forced American Indians to find new ways their experience at MGRP. to adapt to an increasingly altered homeland. During the mid-1600s, the westward expansion of the fur trade and a Overview of Area History growing European presence, as well as conflict between tribes resulted in the migration of the Ioway and Otoe The lakes, rivers, and topography of Minneapolis are a south and west into Iowa and Nebraska. During this time, result of the movement of glaciers during a series of ice the Dakota more permanently settled in the area, due ages thousands of years ago. The Mississippi River once in part to the establishment of the Ojibwe in north and flowed through present-day South Minneapolis. The river central Minnesota, and maintained a strong presence until was diverted eastward to its present course because of treaties, war, disease, and forced removal diminished their a glacial advance some time before 35,000 BCE. MGRP numbers in the 1850s and 1860s. area has a long American Indian history and is tied to the industrial, recreational, educational, and residential development of Minneapolis and Saint Paul as well. The The pioneer settlers were drawn to the Mississippi river through the park area changed with the construction River and its potential to provide the power and access of the federal lock and dam system starting in the late to transportation for their developing industries. As a 1800s. Mississippi Gorge Regional Park and its associated result, they settled the first towns that would become St. parkways provide numerous views and experiences of the Anthony and Minneapolis on both banks of the Mississippi river and its bluffs and flats. River. Logs were cut in forests to the north and floated down the river to construct buildings as well as supply the burgeoning lumber industry. Additionally, waterfalls turned turbines that powered the flour mills, for which the area is well-known. The powerful St. Anthony Falls, however, proved challenging for steamboat navigation and hampered development of Minneapolis’ manufacturing industry. In the 1850s, industry and community leaders began talking about a lock and dam system. Shippers and civic boosters promoted the idea with the hope that such a system would make Minneapolis the Mississippi River’s head of navigation. However, the millers at St. Anthony Falls were concerned about competition from a new source of water power and lumbermen were worried they would no longer be able to float their logs down the river to booms above Saint Paul for collection. Meanwhile, Saint Paul businessmen and boosters were afraid their Painting of city would lose its stronghold of navigational power to Minneapolis. For thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans, ancestors of the Siouan people (including the Missouria, Otoe, Iowa, and Dakota) were living on the land that would After several decades of political debate and intercity later become known as Minnesota. From mobile, compact rivalry between Saint Paul and Minneapolis, in the 1890s, the federal government initiated the construction of a

MISSISSIPPI GORGE REGIONAL PARK MASTER PLAN Park Conditions, Analysis, & Opportunities 2-3 lock and dam system. One lock and dam would be located near Meeker Island, which was proximate to the Minneapolis city limits, and the other farther south near the mouth of Minnehaha Creek. The Meeker Island Lock and Dam (originally called Lock and Dam No. 2) was completed in 1906, but abandoned in 1912 and partially demolished because it was too low to support hydropower. At the same time, efforts were redirected toward building a high dam at the Minnehaha Creek location, which would be more conducive to hydroelectric power because of its steep slope and narrow gorge. This dam, known as Lock and Dam No. 1, was completed in 1917 with a deeper channel that would supply hydroelectric power less expensively and allow navigation as far as the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis.

Recreation and the Grand Rounds In 1883, shortly after the Minneapolis Board of Park Commissioners (MBPC; now the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board [MPRB]) was formed, it hired renowned landscape architect Horace William Shaler Cleveland to plan the city’s comprehensive park system. Cleveland’s plan was composed of a 20-mile loop of parkways to provide access to lakes Lock and Dam No. 1 and parks.

Map of Minneapolis Park System as recommended by Prof. H.W.S. Cleveland 1883

2-4 DRAFT Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board His plan became known as the Grand Rounds. parkway. Both East and West River Parkways follow the Cleveland’s early maps of the park system depicted a curve of the river, providing scenic views of the river for continuous ribbon of recreational space. The park system people driving, bicycling, or walking along the roads. was designed to highlight and connect Minneapolis’ dramatic natural features, such as the Mississippi River Gorge, and picturesque landscapes. As part of his plan, In addition to vehicular parkways, the Grand Rounds Cleveland encouraged the inclusion and preservation of also accommodated bicycle traffic, including along East the Gorge and its wooded banks to provide “beneficial, River Parkway north of Franklin Avenue. By 1907, the invigorating winds” during the summer months. MPBC converted the bicycle paths to bridle paths for Consequently, in 1892, the MBPC initiated the acquisition horseback riding; they were removed by the mid-1900s. of both banks of the river through the Minneapolis City Bicycles regained popularity in the 1960s, resulting in the Council to incorporate them into the park system and “to construction of new bicycle paths throughout the Grand prevent the contamination of the City’s water supply.” Rounds in the 1970s.

When Theodore Wirth became superintendent of the parks Cleveland’s original plan for the park system included system in 1906, he embarked on an ambitious plan to Riverside Park, along the west side of the river near add additional parkway land and significantly improve the present-day Franklin Avenue. The land for Riverside Park existing parks and parkways, including those near what was acquired in 1884 and was originally bounded by 6th is now Mississippi Gorge Regional Park. Horse-drawn and 8th Streets on the south, 27th Avenue South on the traffic gave way to automobile traffic, which led to paving west, and 29th Avenue South on the east. It was doubled the parkways and required more road maintenance. Wirth in size in 1911. To fulfill Wirth’s passion for recreation, a also initiated the construction of the Winchell Trail. This playground was installed in 1906 and athletic fields and pedestrian pathway runs from Franklin Avenue to Godfrey facilities were added in 1913. Parkway (at the northern edge of the of Minnehaha Regional Park) in between West River Parkway and the river. Built in 1912-1914, it is named for Minnesota state geologist Newton Horace Winchell. The trail was rebuilt in 1936-1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Despite the MBPC’s original intention to prevent contamination, by around 1920, the river had become quite polluted from the City’s sewage disposal, which caused reduced flowage and impacts to air quality. This problem was resolved through the construction of the interceptor sewage disposal system in 1934-1938, which conveyed sewage and stormwater to the Metropolitan Treatment Plant in Saint Paul instead of the Mississippi River.

In addition to securing parkland adjacent to the river, MBPC initiated plans in the late 1800s to develop parkways adjacent to the parkland. In 1899, East River Parkway between University Avenue Southeast and Franklin Avenue was built. In 1909-1910, the parkway was extended southward to the city limits. Limestone walls were installed at the edge of the bluff to the north of Franklin Avenue in 1940-1941 by the WPA. West River Parkway between Godfrey Parkway and Lake Street was constructed in two phases between 1903 and 1906. Between 1936 and 1939, following the river cleanup, the WPA extended West River Parkway from Franklin Avenue to just beyond 4th Street South. The WPA also modified the parkway to improve drainage and stabilize the slopes, and installed many of WPA staircase from Riverside Park to Annie Young Meadow (formerly known as Lower Riverside Park) the stone retaining walls and stone parapets along the

MISSISSIPPI GORGE REGIONAL PARK MASTER PLAN Park Conditions, Analysis, & Opportunities 2-5 Minnehaha State Park (today named Minnehaha Regional Park), which is sited around Minnehaha Falls and south of 46th Street in Minneapolis, was added to the municipal park system in 1889. The falls were identified by Cleveland as a key feature of the Gorge as well as the park system. The land for East River Flats Park, just south of the University of Minnesota, was also acquired in 1899. It was planned to be developed into a recreational area, particularly for “pleasure boating”. Formal plans to develop a playground, an arboretum, and athletic fields never came to fruition. Today, the University of Minnesota Boathouse is located near the east end of the park. Grand Rounds sign and map

In the early 1970s, the MPRB made significant changes throughout the Grand Rounds system, including narrowing roads, installing new walkways and bikeways, and updating benches, signs, and picnic tables.

Additionally, new lighting was installed and parking was added along East and West River Parkways. Intersections were also redesigned to maintain the continuity of the parkway system and signage was improved.

Today, the Grand Rounds remains one of the oldest, largest, and most intact linear park systems in the country. The Grand Rounds consists of 50 miles of parkways and nearly 6,000 acres of associated parkland, including Mississippi Gorge Regional Park. Grand Rounds sign University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota was founded in 1851 and was under construction on the east bank of the Mississippi River starting in 1854. Construction continued steadily as the University expanded, and the buildings generally reflected popular architectural styles. The University expanded across the Mississippi River to the west bank in the 1960s. This led to the reconstruction of the Washington Avenue Bridge, which is the only known double-decker bridge in the state and allows for pedestrian traffic on one level and vehicular traffic on the other.

View of University of Minnesota from Bohemian Flats Park

2-6 DRAFT Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Bohemian Flats Community

Bohemian Flats A community of immigrants formed across the river from the developing University of Minnesota on a low-lying river terrace beginning in the 1860s. Despite being referred to as “Bohemian Flats,” the community was home to recent immigrants from several European countries. The largest groups of immigrants were Czech, Slovak, Swedish, and Irish.

Recent immigrants to the Bohemian Flats around 1900 were only Slovak. Residents worked at nearby breweries and by gathering lumber and logs Bohemian Flats children playing that had floated downriver from the upstream sawmills to sell or use for heating and home construction. The land on which Bohemian Flats was located was owned by St. Anthony Water Power Company, which rented wood houses along dirt streets to residents for $12 per year in the 1880s. Because the river regularly flooded, the community did not have many large buildings except for a church, a few stores and saloons, and a brick apartment building.

This community, which had a population of 1,200 by 1900, was likely the largest of the river flats settlements along the Mississippi River. In the early Flooded Bohemian Flats community 1930s, the City cleared the land to build a municipal barge terminal. The last resident did not vacate the flats until 1963, and today the area is home to Bohemian Flats Park.

Bohemian Flats

MISSISSIPPI GORGE REGIONAL PARK MASTER PLAN Park Conditions, Analysis, & Opportunities 2-7 Cultural Resources Church Street Southeast to the southeast. Contributing properties include 12 buildings, a statue, a fence, a Cultural resources identified within or adjacent to MGRP fountain, and a monument. include four historic districts and associated contributing and noncontributing properties, five historic bridges, and the ruins of a lock and dam. There are also five The Northrop Mall Historic District is also listed in the archaeological sites within the project area. Please see NRHP and is located directly south of the University of Appendix A for additional information regarding the Minnesota Old Campus Historic District. It is roughly historical significance of each resource. bounded by East River Road on the west, Pillsbury Drive Southeast on the north, Union Street Southeast on the east, and Delaware Street Southeast on the south, and is Mississippi Gorge Regional Park is part of the Mississippi part of the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus. segment of the Grand Rounds Historic District, which is This district contains 16 contributing buildings, three eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places contributing landscape features, and one noncontributing (NRHP). This segment includes West River Parkway from landscape feature. Godfrey Parkway at the south end to Franklin Avenue; the extension of West River Parkway from Franklin Avenue to just north of the intersection with South 4th Street; Additionally, there are four individual properties that are the Winchell Trail, a historic pedestrian pathway along listed in the NRHP: the /Ford Bridge, the West River Parkway; Riverside Park north of Franklin Cappelen Memorial Bridge/Franklin Avenue Bridge, the Avenue; and East River Parkway from Emerald Avenue Cedar Avenue/, and the Meeker Island Southeast to University Avenue Southeast. Contributing Lock and Dam (Lock and Dam No. 2) ruins. All of these properties within and adjacent to the MGRP include West properties are located within or adjacent to Mississippi River Parkway, East River Parkway, the Winchell Trail, two Gorge Regional Park. There are also two NRHP-eligible parks, a restroom building, a limestone retaining wall, a bridges that cross the Mississippi River Gorge: the railroad bridge, and several commemorative boulders. Washington Avenue Bridge and the Northern Pacific The Cappelen Memorial Bridge/Franklin Avenue Bridge Railroad Bridge No. 9. is a to this district as well as individually listed in the NRHP; it is further detailed below. Noncontributing properties include three bridges and two Four archaeological sites, all of which are post-contact, boathouses, all of which were built within the last 50 years. have been documented within or adjacent to MGRP. One potential pre-contact archaeological site has been reported in MGRP, but has not been field-confirmed. The Minnehaha Historic District is listed in the NRHP There are no known traditional cultural properties. Further and located at the east end of Minnehaha Parkway near information about known historic properties and previous Hiawatha Avenue, Minnehaha Drive, and Godfrey Parkway, cultural resource investigations can be found in the to the west of the Mississippi River. This district contains Appendix. the ruins of Godfrey’s Mill, two historic houses, a train depot, and a landscape feature (the Minnehaha Falls and Glen). The Minnehaha Historic District is also part of the Grand Rounds Historic District. Contributing properties to the Grand Rounds Historic District that are within the boundaries of the Minnehaha Historic District include the five properties mentioned above, the entire Minnehaha Park, Godfrey Parkway, a park pavilion, bridges, and statues. Noncontributing properties include a picnic area, bandshell, and a garden.

The University of Minnesota Old Campus Historic District is also listed in the NRHP and is roughly bounded by University Avenue Southeast to the northeast, the Greenway to the northwest, East River Parkway to the southwest, Arlington Street and just south of Pillsbury Drive Southeast to the south, and just east of

2-8 DRAFT Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board 10th Ave. Bridge

MISSISSIPPI GORGE REGIONAL PARK MASTER PLAN Park Conditions, Analysis, & Opportunities 2-9