Roads & Routes

Visitors and natives alike will find something new in this historical guide to Minneapolis’ many landmarks, figures, events and more.

Minneapolis began at the Falls of St. Anthony, the sole waterfall on the Mississippi River. The cataract, the great hydrological engine, propelled the city's economic growth and physical expansion, and two distinct municipal identities emerged. A city of seasons, Minneapolis celebrates winter flurries and chills with ice skating and hot chocolate at the annual Holidazzle Festival. In the sultry midsummer heat, the Aquatennial brings swimmers and boating enthusiasts to the Chain of Lakes and the river. Landmarks, too, define the topography—Spoonbridge and Cherry, the Stone Arch and Hennepin Avenue Bridges, the Foshay Tower and the IDS Center.

Join local authors Sherman Wick and Holly Day on a trip beyond the typical guidebook as they explore the architecture, parks and historical figures of the Mill City.

Camp Ripley is the successor to Minnesota's first formally established National Guard training facility, Camp Lakeview, which was located on the shores of Lake Pepin and south of the town of Lake City. The new post took its name from Fort Ripley, a U.S. Army frontier fort that opened in 1849. The fort's original site with its remaining ruins are encompassed within the current boundaries of the
Camp Ripley Military Reservation. Since the camp was expanding its facilities during the Great Depression, numerous individuals employed by federal New Deal programs participated in the building of Camp Ripley. In words and images, Camp Ripley: 1930-1960 documents the history of the camp during the first three decades of its existence. The images in this book have been selected from the archives of the Minnesota Military Museum as well as the Minnesota Department of Military Affairs and private collections.

Every city has a neighborhood that housed its earliest founders and their successors, an enclave of local power and financial success. For Rochester, Minnesota, this neighborhood is personified by a ten-block stretch of tree-shaded street originally platted in 1855 as West College Street, now designated as 4th Street Southwest. In the span of 150 years, two and sometimes three generations of remarkable buildings have come and gone in this neighborhood. Under the direction of movers and shakers like George Head and Dr. William J. Mayo, the street helped shape the city's architectural legacy and define its purpose. Join architectural historian Ken Allsen on a stroll down this storied street.