Historical considerations

Community histories

A part of Rethinking I-94’s environmental review process is to evaluate the effects to historic properties. This evaluation is required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. One of the first steps in the Section 106 process is to develop historic contexts for areas impacted by a project. More information on this process is available on our Cultural Resources Unit website.

Previously, most studies left gaps in the history of neighborhoods, trends, and groups in the area. Most existing historic contexts stop shortly after World War II and do not address the resource types and architectural styles developed from the post-war period to the present. Existing studies also focus primarily on white, Euro-American history with little to no mention of other racial, ethnic, and social communities. A priority of the Rethinking I-94 historic contexts is to address those gaps, creating a more inclusive understanding of the area’s history and what resources may be eligible for the National Register. The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.

Report and summaries

We have written community histories that are more inclusive than past documentation. The community histories report is available for reading in individual chapters or short summaries. The contexts are separated into individual sections. Some are geographically based and discuss the historic development of specific neighborhoods. Others are thematic and cover a resource type or community history across the area.

MnDOT’s Cultural Resources Unit will be using the histories in future project review steps. We hope the community histories are also useful for the public, cities, counties, and others interested in better understanding the histories of the communities near I-94.

Some facts from the histories

The following items are just a few highlighted facts.

University Avenue at Vandalia Avenue in 1953, with four travel lanes and paired streetcar tracks set in cobblestone ("University Avenue at Vandalia Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota," 1953. Collection of the Minnesota Streetcar Museum

• At the dawn of the automobile era, a heavily used street in Minneapolis and Saint Paul might be surfaced with brick, concrete, asphalt, or cobblestone, but side streets might not be paved. The rapid rise of the automobile – from approximately 55,000 nationwide in 1904 to one-half million in 1910—helped to catalyze county, state, and eventually federal efforts to create better roads. Read more in the Transportation chapter.

• The Cedar Riverside neighborhood is historically one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. Originally the port of entry for an influx of Scandinavian immigrants, the neighborhood has maintained its status as an immigrant hub since the late nineteenth century. Today is home to a sizeable Somali population. Read more in the Cedar Riverside chapter.
• Union Park began not as a residential neighborhood but as an amusement park. In the early 1880s, businessmen Herman Grote and John O. Hinkel saw an opportunity to create a picturesque “pleasure resort” that “could be reached at any and all hours of the day, and which combined natural beauty and attractions with the conveniences of the city. The development had a 33-acre park with a dance pavilion, bandstand, and many attractions and events. At the height of its popularity, it boasted a one-day attendance of 10,000 visitors. Read more in the Union Park District chapter.
• The American Indian Movement—a nationwide civil rights movement was founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more in the American Indians in the Twin Cities chapter.
• Approximately 433 houses were demolished and 300 businesses were closed or torn down in the Rondo neighborhood for the construction of I-94, and 72 percent of those were owned or occupied by Black people. Read more in the Rondo chapter.

Rondo Commemorative Plaza (4RM+ULA)

• The Minnesota Historical Society nominated Milwaukee Avenue to be included on the National Register of Historic Places for significance related to architecture and social history. On May 2, 1974, the street was officially designated as a place of national significance as the Milwaukee Avenue Historic District. Read more in the Seward chapter.

House at 2125 Milwaukee Avenue in the Milwaukee Avenue Historic District, looking southeast, 2015. On the lefthand side of the image, two pedestrian walkways flank either side of what used to be East Twenty-second Street bisecting the district.

• By 1882, Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis was one of the largest Presbyterian churches in the United States at nearly two thousand members. Read more in the Places of Worship chapter.
• During World War II, the Saint Anthony Park area was vital in manufacturing and shipping wartime products. As the war ended, construction boomed once more. Glendenning Motorways opened a new truck terminal at Pelham and Wabash Avenues. By 1951, the Midway Club estimated that more than fifty motor freight companies were in the district, as well as garages and service facilities to maintain the truck fleets. Read more in the St. Anthony Park chapter.
• Most nineteenth-century development in the western part of the Study Area was single-family houses and or duplexes. Duplexes are widespread on the 1912 Sanborn maps. As the population of Minneapolis increased rapidly from the late nineteenth century onward, new higher-density apartment buildings helped meet demand. The apartment construction boom began around the turn of the century and continued until the start of the Great Depression. Prior to 1890, nearly 90 percent of Minneapolitans lived in single-family homes or duplexes; by 1930, the number of multi-family units had increased sevenfold, and more than 18 percent of the city’s residents lived in apartments. Read more in the Minneapolis Neighborhoods before the Interstate chapter.
• The funeral industry was a path for Black entrepreneurs to own their own businesses and become community leaders during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Multiple Black-owned funeral homes in Minneapolis and Saint Paul were operated by married couples, making this field one of the few avenues for Black women to lead businesses. Read more in the Black History in the I-94 Corridor chapter.

Bird’s eye view of South Minneapolis in 1879, looking southwest from a point above the University of Minnesota’s East Bank Campus across the Mississippi River toward the intersection of Franklin Avenue (green) and Cedar Avenue (purple), with Riverside Avenue (red) in the foreground; the approximate Study Area is shaded in yellow (J.J. Stoner, “View of South Minneapolis, 1879,” [Madison, Wis: Beck and Pauli, 1879].

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Rondo neighborhood historic field study

Purpose of historic field surveys

Federal laws require agencies to consider historic properties for any project using federal funds. You can learn more about this regulation by reviewing A Citizen’s Guide to Section 106 Review. For Rethinking I-94, MnDOT needs to know where the historic properties are along I-94. Historians identified the Rondo neighborhood as an area that needs more study due to its unique history and the impacts the construction of I-94 had on the community in the 1960s. The information collected during the historic field survey will help guide the development of alternatives for I-94. MnDOT’s Cultural Resources Unit (CRU) is leading this historic field survey.

Information for community partners and residents

Reconnect Rondo, the Rondo Roundtable, the Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, and Saint Paul public services were informed of the historic field survey. MnDOT staff mailed postcards to residents in the Rondo neighborhood and placed posters at community locations to raise awareness of the field survey.

Next steps

Architectural historians will use the information they gathered during this historic field survey to further develop a historic context, or a history of the neighborhood, for the area. The historic context will help us determine if the neighborhood is potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Understanding the neighborhood better will also help CRU staff inform the Rethinking I-94 process as alternatives are being evaluated.

MnDOT will not list properties on the National Register during this process. If you are interested in listing your own house or building, contact the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office. For local designation information, contact the Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission.

Contacts

For more information, contact Katie Haun Schuring with MnDOT's Cultural Resources Unit at katherine.haun-schuring@state.mn.us or 612-834-1195.