I thought I'd try a little something different today. A lot of you that know me also know that I enjoy reading up and researching most things associated with Minneapolis History. And a lot of you know that I was born, raised, and currently reside in the Kingfield neighborhood.

But Kingfield hasn't always gone by that name. And when I did find out what the original name was, I started digging around to see how and why it took that moniker. Which lead me down even more paths of discovery about some of the older neighborhood institutions.

As you might expect, Kingfield was farm country in the latter half of the 19th century. According to this abbreviated history of the neighborhood:

In 1885, the southern border of the city of Minneapolis was 38th street. By 1887 the city had expanded its borders to 54th street, and thus the area which is now Kingfield became part of Minneapolis. Kingfield Neighborhood is named after Colonel William S. King, ex-congressman and a prominent figure in national affairs who lived in Minneapolis in the 19th century and was active in the anti-slavery struggle.

The neighborhood was not initially named Kingfield, but rather Rosedale, which was the name of the plat addition. Combing through old newspapers and other archival material, I haven't quite determined why they took that name. One theory I have is that Rosedale was also the name of a prized bovine that Col. King kept on his farmstead. Another is that it was taken from the name of a popular play at the time.

(sorry about the lack of academic rigor)

However it came about, it stuck. The name was affixed to a church, a school, an orphanage, and a hospital. The hospital, located on 44th and Nicollet, was also home to one of the first radio stations in the Twin Cities. Using the call letters WHRM (for "Rosedale Hospital"), the broadcast studio remained at the hospital until 1930. The frequency was eventually renamed WWTC, which had many formats over the years including news, weather, oldies, and, currently, uh, right wing talk.

The building remained a hospital for some time, and was eventually turned into an assisted living facility. (my Grandfather passed away while living their in the late 90s) It is now a very nondescript apartment complex.

The school was built near the corner of 44th St and Wentworth Ave in 1895, where it remained part of the Minneapolis Public School system for decades. After it closed, it was reopened as a Catholic school. The building was finally shuttered for good in the late 1970s and razed. It was replaced by a half-block of townhomes.

I honestly am not all that intrigued by the history of the church that took the Rosedale name. But if you are, you can read a little bit about it in that abbreviated history link I posted above.

But the one thing that really prompted me to research all of this is the one thing I haven't been able to get a lot of information on: the Orphanage. I discovered it years ago when rummaging through the MN Historical Society's visual resources database (which, by the way, has been down for maintenance for the better part of a year).

Known as Rosedale Cottage, it was located at 39th St and Blaisdell Ave. A news article from 1920 describes it as

[...] a temporary boarding home, for social agencies doing case work with children. It consists of three attractive houses, an apple yard with sand boxes, swings and teeter totters, airy dormitories, and a home atmosphere. The isolation cottage provides for emergency cases, where children, who may be court charges for instance, are housed for two weeks pending the settlement of their affairs.

Other articles have described the cottage hosting pageants and demonstrations on housework. It also seemed to have enjoyed the attention of certain society women of the time, who often made clothing for the children who resided there.

I plan to revisit and revise this as time permits. My hope is to someday tighten up a bit and submit it for publication somewhere. Nobody needs to twist my arm to go down these rabbit holes; and I enjoy the research immensely. Documenting it and staying on task, on the other hand, is a bit more of a challenge. Here's to balance!

m u s i c b r e a k

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who like Krautrock, and those who haven't heard it. I'm a big fan of Can, but only recently took a shine to other bands of the era, like Amon Düül II. They were born out of a 1960s West German commune that also spawned future members of the noted urban guerrilla group the Red Army Faction.

"You're Not Alone" is a good song, but it's a great "I feel like staring at the ceiling for 7 minutes" song. It's the kind of song to put on when you have a lump in your throat and want to come down from it.

And you dance until the morning
All by yourself
And somehow you know
You're not alone

'til next time

-AG