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Community: History

BOOKS

Twin Cities by Trolley
by John W. Diers and Aaron Isaacs
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Year: 20047
Available: Online and in stores
List: $39.95

"The recent development of light rail transit in the Twin Cities has been an undeniable success. Plans for additional lines progress, and our ways of shopping, dining, and commuting are changing dramatically. As we embrace riding the new Hiawatha light rail line, an older era comes to mind—the age when everyone rode the more than 500 miles of track that crisscrossed the Twin Cities.

"In Twin Cities by Trolley, John Diers and Aaron Isaacs offer a rolling snapshot of Minneapolis and St. Paul from the 1880s to the 1950s, when the streetcar system shaped the growth and character of the entire metropolitan area. More than 400 photographs and 70 maps let the reader follow the tracks from Stillwater to University Avenue to Lake Minnetonka, through Uptown to downtown Minneapolis. The illustrations show nearly every neighborhood in Minneapolis and St. Paul as it was during the streetcar era. 
   
"Inspiring fond memories for anyone who grew up in the Twin Cities, Twin Cities by Trolley leads readers on a fascinating and enlightening tour of this bygone era in the neighborhood and the city they call home."


Uptown Minneapolis
by Thatcher Imboden and Cedar Imboden Phillips
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Year: 2004
Available: Online and in stores
List: $19.99

"One of Minneapolis’ most celebrated communities, Uptown is a distinct group of four vibrant neighborhoods that have long offered a host of cultural treasures to residents and visitors alike. In addition to the entertainment provided by the area's nightspots and lakes, Uptown also has a long history of presenting its residents with a wide range of housing choices, schools, churches and temples, parks, restaurants, and stores. This book uses rare photographs to document and celebrate Uptown’s development from a 19th-century summer retreat and agricultural area into a thriving metropolitan business, entertainment, and residential district."


The Lake District of Minneapolis: A History of the Calhoun-Isles Community

by David Lanegran and Ernest Sandeen
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Year: 2004
Available: Online and in stores
List: $19.99

"The Minneapolis lake district, which includes Lowry Hill, Kenwood, Lake of the Isles, and East Calhoun, has always attracted a unique mix of people. Some came to make their fortune, others to live a splendid life in what was then open country. Some came to build comfortable family homes, others to promenade along the lake shores or to revel in outdoor sports and recreation. No matter the year or the season, the lake district has always taken center stage in Minneapolis’s urban life. David A. Lanegran and Ernest R. Sandeen give us the complete history of the area—from the early Native American villages and pioneering missionaries, through the era of the grand resort and the coming of the streetcars, to the park board’s remaking of the lakes and the landscape in 1911. With many vivid photographs and illustrations, the book concludes with historical walking tours of the Lowry Hill, Kenwood, East Lowry Hill, Lake of the Isles, East Calhoun, and Cottage City neighborhoods."


The Como-Harriet Streetcar Line: A Memory Trip through the Twin Cities

by Aaron Isaacs and Bill Graham
Publisher: Donning Company Publishers
Year: 2002
Available: Online and In stores
List: $12.75

"Until 1954, Twin Citians depended on electrically powered streetcars to take them to work, school, and shopping. The big yellow wooden trolleys provided frequent reliable service to every neighborhood. One of the streetcar lines, the Como-Harriet, was itself a tour of the best of the Twin Cities. Beginning in downtown St. Paul, it traveled past the state capital, Como Park, the State Fair, Dinkytown, downtown Minneapolis, Uptown, and the lakes of southwest Minneapolis on its way to Edina and Hopkins. A small piece of the Como-Harriet survives today at Lake Harriet, operated by the Minnesota Transportation Museum. With vintage photos and childhood memories, The Como-Harriet Streetcar Line offers an intimate tour of the everyday Twin Cities, as they were in 1950. Much has changed since then - but much has not."

 
   
     


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