Archive for the ‘Minnesota Digital Library’ Tag
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Annual Reports and Proceedings Online
Something I’ve been meaning to do for some time: publish a list of and links to the annual reports and proceedings (minutes) of the Minneapolis Park Board that can be found online. These were scanned and published by Hathitrust and Google Books.
Here’s the really great news: the Park Board, Hennepin County Library and Minnesota Digital Library are talking seriously about scanning and publishing online more of the annual reports, even beyond those that are in the public domain (pre-1923). If that is done, it could include many of the maps, plans and images that have been skipped or scanned poorly in already published efforts. It could also include the informative and insightful reports of the 1880s and 1890s not yet scanned and listed below. That would be a marvelous service to historians interested in local parks as well as those investigating national and international park developments.
The list below corrects some labeling errors on the various sites. If you find any errors remaining in this list or know of any other sites that provide additional information, please send it to me and I will post it in comments or as a follow-up.
Year | Document | Site |
1883 | 1st Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1888 | 6th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1890 | 8th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1892 | 10th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1893 | 11th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1895 | 13th Annual Report | Google Books |
1895-1902 | 13th-20th Annual Reports | Hathitrust |
1896 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1897 | 15th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1897 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1898 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1899 | 17th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1899 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1900 | 18th Annual Report | Google Books |
1900 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1901 | 19th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1902 | 20th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1903 | 21st Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1903-1909 | 21st-27th Annual Reports | Hathitrust |
1905 | 23rd Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1906 | 24th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1907 | 25th Annual Report | Google Books |
1907 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1908 | 26th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1909 | 27th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1910 | 28th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1910-1913 | 28th-31st Annual Reports | Hathitrust |
1910 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1911 | 29th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1912 | 30th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1913 | 31st Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1913 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1914 | 32nd Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1914-1916 | 32nd-34th Annual Reports | Hathitrust |
1914 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1915 | 33rd Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1915 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1916 | 34th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1916 | Proceedings | Hathitrust |
1917 | 35th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1917-1921 | 35th-39th Annual Reports | Hathitrust |
1918 | 36th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1919 | 37th Annual Report | Google Books |
1920 | 38th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1921 | 39th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
1922 | 40th Annual Report | Hathitrust |
Observation: these reports come from many libraries, but my favorite stamp is in the 1919 Annual Report from the library of landscape architect Warren G. Manning. Manning’s work around the country included several projects for the Minneapolis park board. Look in the 1899 annual report for Manning’s recommendations on the Minneapolis park system.
A note on using the annual reports and proceedings: search the annual reports first to find the years of acquisitions or improvements in specific parks, then go to the proceedings from those years to find more detail. Using the multi-year reports list above can speed general searches, but it’s easier to find specific references in the single-year reports.
Perhaps within this year many more park board records and images will be available online. Research will be so much easier!
David C. Smith
© 2015 David C. Smith
Comments on Lyndale Pond comments (and a very hard quiz on Minneapolis parks)
If you’re interested in the subject of a pond near Lyndale and Franklin, you might want to check out “comments” on the subject posted a few days ago. Some good information. Thanks to readers who responded and to Cheryl Luger for posing the questions in the first place.
I wanted to add that while investigating another subject I found an 1897 Minneapolis map produced by the city engineer that shows elevations. (A small section of that map is pictured below.) It’s also interesting to see where in the city you could get running water and why the city was installing water lines from a reservoir in Columbia Heights. Note the highest elevations in the city. To keep things in perspective the population of Minneapolis in 1900 was already more than 200,000. The 1890s was the first decade in four in which the population of Minneapolis didn’t nearly triple. Likely due to the depression set off in 1893.

Detail of 1897 Minneapolis map that shows parks, elevations, water lines and street car lines. (James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library, Hennepin County Library)
The complete map, as well as dozens more from around the state, are available at the Minnesota Digital Library, an excellent resource for researchers or the curious.
Unfortunately, this map has less topographical detail than the map suggested by Bill Payne in his comment on the previous article. It shows no remnant of the pond on earlier maps at Lyndale and 22nd, nor the depression that is noted there on the 1901 map Bill found. The 1897 city map shows elevation increments of 25 feet; the 1901 map shows increments of 20 feet, which may account for the difference.
Here’s the quiz
Many, many properties were added to the Minneapolis park system after this map was made in 1897. For instance, notice that there is no West River Parkway, nor a St. Anthony Parkway, nor a Victory Memorial Drive, and on and on. Most of the Grand Rounds hadn’t been built. (This map doesn’t even show Stinson Parkway, which did exist in 1897!) But there are three significant park properties on this map that are no longer park properties. Can you name them?
Click on “complete map” above, then zoom into various sections of the city to find the long-gone pieces of the park system. All were no longer park property by 1905. (Note: The island at the south end of Lake of the Isles is a good catch, but doesn’ t count because it’s still part of the lake and park. The same goes for the northern end of Powderhorn Lake, which once extended north of 32nd; it’s still part of the park. Same for Sandy Lake in Columbia Park; the lake is gone, but it’s still a park.)
Winner gets a free subscription to minneapolisparkhistory.com!
David C. Smith
NOTE (June 1, 2012): The contest is now over and Adrienne was the winner. She named Meeker Island in the Mississippi River as one park property on the map that is no longer. The other two were Hennepin Avenue South and Lyndale Avenue North. Both were parkways in 1897, but were given up by the park board in 1905. The city subsequently took responsibility for them as ordinary city streets.