Historical Information about the Como Neighborhood in SE Minneapolis

Minneapolis City Directories from 1859 to 1891 are now available online.

Good news from the Hennepin County Libraries website:

Digitized City Directories
There are 22 Minneapolis City Directories from 1859 to 1891 that are now accessible online.  Search by keyword or browse for city residents and their addresses and occupations, plus city businesses. This project was made possible by a generous donation from the former Professional Librarians Union of Minneapolis.

Go here to start searching.  Be sure to share any interesting Como finds with us!

Circa 1900 photo of the frozen Silver Cascade emptying into the Mississippi River

Silver Cascade in Winter from the Minneapolis Photo Collection in Special Collections at the Minneapolis Central Library.
The cascade is completely frozen. River is still open at right. The Silver Cascade emptied into the Mississippi at about 13th-14th Ave. SE. It was on land owned by the pioneer lumberman Calvin A. Tuttle, and the creek it emptied was called Tuttle’s Creek, or Tuttle’s Brook, that originated in the marshes of the Como neighborhood in SE Minneapolis. Dinkytown and railroad development dried up this creek toward 1900. Part of the creek appears in the 1898 city atlas but by the 1903 city atlas, the creek is gone.

 

4 Como properties recommended for further study and research

Page 103 of the the CIty of Minneapolis’ 2011 historic re-survey report includes the 63 properties found in the Central Core Survey Area (including Como) that are recommended for further survey and research. Two residential and two industrial properties in Como are included on that list.

53) Blanche La Du house at 1075 14th Avenue SE (HE-MPC-3392)
58) General Mills Laboratories at 2010 E. Hennepin Avenue (HE-MPC-3360)
59) Woolery Machine (Manufacturing) Company at 2115 Como Avenue SE (HE-MPC-3357)
60) August Nimmer house (Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey residence) at 890 19th Avenue SE (HE-MPC-3367)
A quick survey of the list shows 18 properties identified in Marcy-Holmes, 3 in Prospect Park (though most of Prospect Park wasn’t included in this survey), 3 in Northeast Minneapolis, a few in North Minneapolis, and the bulk in Downtown Minneapolis.

Items of note found in the Central Core Survey Area (including Como and several other SE, NE, N & downtown neighborhoods):
Sixty-three (63) individual properties
Five (5) potential historic districts

More specific results will be shared at the October 25, 2011 Heritage Preservation Commission meeting (starts at 4:30 p.m.). All are invited to attend.
See agenda. Historic re-survey report is item number 3. Here’s the staff memo.

Star Tribune obituary for Como resident Valentyna Yermolenko

A Como neighbor brought in this Star Tribune obituary about a fellow Como-ite.  We’ve included an excerpt and a link to the whole article about Valentyna’s long and interesting life.

By Mary Jane Smetanka, Star Tribune

August 16, 2011

Excerpt –

“The Ukrainian-American’s instincts and education helped her overcome hardship in her homeland and become a force in her ethnic community in Minneapolis.
Even as a teenager in the Ukraine, Valentyna Yermolenko had a survivor’s instincts. Adults who heard her sing urged her to study opera. She chose architecture, a practical field that might protect her in a Stalinist country where sometimes people disappeared and were never seen again. The scrappy Yermolenko eventually talked her way across Europe and to the United States. She died at age 98 on Aug. 10 in Minneapolis, blind but still sharp and witty. . . .”

http://www.startribune.com/obituaries/127912128.html

The Central Core historic re-survey has been completed

OCTOBER 12, 2011 UPDATE: Brian Schaffer is on the 10/25/11 agenda of the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission for the 2010-2011 Historic Resources Inventory: Camden Area, Central Core, and Windom, Kenny & Armatage. Presentation of consultant’s final recommendations in the recently completed 2010-2011 Historic Resources Inventory prepared by Mead and Hunt, Inc. The commission meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Room 317 of City Hall, 350 S. 5th Street. The Historic Resources Inventory is item number three on the agenda.

August 2011: We’ve received word that the historic re-survey for the part of Minneapolis including the Como neighborhood has been completed on time. As soon as we receive access to the report results, we’ll share them here. Stay tuned!

City Directories

We hope you enjoy perusing these 1886/1887, 1922, and 1936 directory excerpts of Como residents & businesses. They are presented as PDFs and are searchable by name, house number, street name, etc. The effort to painstakingly cull out the Como addresses from the Minneapolis city directories was undertaken by Como volunteer Connie Sullivan. Thank you Connie!

Here are online versions of the 1859/60 St. Anthony & Minneapolis directory and the 1909 Minneapolis directory from other sources (both viewable by last name).

1922 directory

1886-1887MplsCityDirectory

Como 1936 directory with residents

Architecture

Como Architecture Styles: A guide
With homes and businesses from the 1870s to recent days, the Como neighborhood in Minneapolis offers fine examples of a variety of American architectural styles. It’s a heritage to treasure and preserve.

This 8-page guide presents architecture style and history information for a selection of notable Como houses and buildings (including the Donald Cattanach stone house located at 1031 13th Avenue SE). The guide includes thumbnail photos of the properties and could lead individuals on an interesting walking tour of the neighborhood.

Como Architecture Styles

History Calendars

“A Como History Calendar 2006”
The Como history group compiled “A Como History Calendar 2006”, publishing and selling more than 300 copies. You can find PDF versions of the different pages of the 2006 calendar at the bottom of the page.
Online Como history calendar
We built on the important dates in Como’s history that we included in the 2006 calendar and created an online Como history calendar. Important dates are set to repeat every year. For events that we didn’t know the exact date, we’ve used the “~” on the first of the month to indicate that it happened sometime that month. If you know of additional items that could be included, please let us know.

2006ComoHistoryCalendarAprilCharlotteandHoratioVanCleveandpark 2006ComoHistoryCalendarAugustGrainelevators 2006ComoHistoryCalendarcoverback 2006ComoHistoryCalendarcoverfront 2006ComoHistoryCalendardatesofnote 2006ComoHistoryCalendarDecemberCalvinTuttle 2006ComoHistoryCalendarFebruaryPetesComoBarberShop 2006ComoHistoryCalendarJanuaryPlacesofWorship 2006ComoHistoryCalendarJulyJamesTElwellComosfounder 2006ComoHistoryCalendarJuneTransportation 2006ComoHistoryCalendarMarchOaksHardware 2006ComoHistoryCalendarMayVarietyofhousinginComo 2006ComoHistoryCalendarNovemberMuseumServices 2006ComoHistoryCalendarOctoberTheRayvicCompany 2006ComoHistoryCalendarSeptemberGeneralMillsResearchLaboratoriesandColumbusSchool IndextoAComoHistoryCalendar2006

Historic Re-Survey
The City of Minneapolis has been conducting historic re-surveys of properties throughout the city over the last decade. These re-surveys build upon the original surveys of properties that were done in the 1970s. In the spring & summer of 2011, the Como neighborhood will be included in the last round of re-surveys. We’re part of the Central Core group that also includes St. Anthony West, Marcy Holmes, Sumner Glenwood, Bryn Mawr, Harrison, Near North and Prospect Park. The City has hired consultants at Mead & Hunt, Inc. to conduct the 2011 re-surveys.

Background

2011: CPED-Planning is conducting a historic resource survey in following neighborhoods: St. Anthony West, Marcy Holmes, Como, Downtown West, Downtown East, Sumner Glenwood, and portions of Bryn Mawr, Harrison, Near North, North Loop, and Prospect Park neighborhoods to assess the potential for historic properties.

This project is called the Central Core Historic Resources Survey. The City was first surveyed for historic resources in the 1970s and many of today’s designated landmarks and historic districts are a result of the original survey.

Since 2001, CPED has conducted a re-survey of historic resources in Minneapolis that has been funded by grants from the Minnesota Historical Society and matched by City dollars. The City has undertaken the re-survey because the aging of properties, changing attitudes about which types of historic resources need to be identified, e.g. historic landscapes, cultural and ethnic group resources. The survey will help achieve the City’s goal of documenting historic resources throughout the entire city over a ten-year period, which is scheduled for completion in 2011.

The purpose of the survey is to:
· Identify unknown historic properties;
· Recommend properties for further study;
· Make informed decisions about the significance and protection of historic resources;
· Develop goals and strategies for preservation as well as neighborhood planning.

The first public meetings on this project will be held in mid-February. The purpose of these first meetings is to introduce the survey project and offer an opportunity for the community to provide information and ideas about historic resources within the survey area.

More information can be found online at: www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/hpc/; the re-survey information can be found on their Current Preservation Projects page

Historic re-survey