HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF FATHER HENNEPIN BLUFF PARK University Ave SE
Nearly 60 years of aerial photos of Father Hennepin Bluff Park from the Minnesota Historical Aerial Photographs Online (MHAPO). These photographs show the change from structure to vacant lots, to parking lots, to the park space we recognize today.
6th St. S E
5th Av e
SE
Jordan Hedlund
2nd St. SE
Near North Northeast
SE Main St.
Well Drained Somewhat Poorly Drained Southeast Steam Plant Hennepin Island
University
Central
Father Hennepin Bluff Park
Stone Arch Bridge
Mississippi River
Minnesota
Father Louis Hennepin, a Frenchman, was the first European to see the The Falls at St. Anthony in 1680, naming it after the Patron Saint Anthony of Padua. In 1977 the land was acuired by the park board and in 1981 2.4 acres of land were donated by the Pillsbury Company to what we know today as Father Hennepin Bluff Park. A plan to redevelop the park based on its historical significance would be essential to paying homage to the multiple Native American tribes that saw The Falls and the mined islands as sacred.
Minneapolis
Sioux Native Americans sitting in front of their tepees with a line of headdresses hanging over them between 1865-1875. This sterograph was taken near Hennepin Ave facing south with the Mississippi River behind the photographer
Father Hennepin Bluff Park
The “discovery” of St. Anthony Falls in 1680 by Father Louis Hennepin. Upon further observations Hennepin noticed the spiritual nature of the falls and its impact on the local Dakota, Ojibwa, and Sioux Native American tribes.
Revolutionary proposed park system by Horace Cleavland, not showing a park at the current Father Hennepin Bluff Park site.
1938
http://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/historyculture/upload/River_Ch_3.pdf
1947
1956
1961 http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/mpls/id/354/rec/32
Painting of The Falls at St. Anthony by Albert Bierstadt. An American artist best known for his landscape paintings of the West, this painting shows the three islands that were mined in the mid 20th century. Including Spirit Island, that was held holy by the Dakota Native Americans.
1967
1970
1974 https://minneapolisparkhistory.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/horace-clevelands-map.jpg
Sterograph of the construction of the Pillsbury A-Mill before it’s completion in 1881. This mill was located along the east side of the Mississippi River banks.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bierstadt_Albert_The_Falls_of_St._Anthony.jpg
Extents of Minneapolis fire response in 1881. No hope for rescue outside of the highlited box.
Minneapolis park system 10 years after Horace Cleavland’s death.
The Spanish Influenza hits Minneapolis from the east coast in 1918, forcing a nearly two month quarantine from September - November of the city. In neighboring St. Paul a fraction of the cases were recorded, causing a political backlash, also pointing the blame at out-of-towners. Panic spread across Minneapolis while St. Paul remained calm and refused to close schools and businesses. 1978
1983
1993
http://bridgenumber9.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bricklayers_2.jpg
http://umedia.lib.umn.edu/zoom/zoom.php
http://umedia.lib.umn.edu/zoom/zoom.php
http://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-minneapolis.html#
https://www.lib.umn.edu/apps/mhapo/