Walking in "Nordeast" Minneapolis

Nordeast? That's northeast spoken with a German/Scandinavian accent. Saturday, April 26 was cool -- when I started this walk I wished for my gloves, but I figured the day would continually get warmer.

This walk started from a restaurant. The route map said this area of Minneapolis is full of churches and bars. I have pictures of churches, didn't worry about the bars.

The first thing I saw as I walked along University Avenue NE was another Little Free Library.

They are really popping up everywhere.

This area of Minneapolis is very much a working class neighborhood. In the 19th century it was where the immigrants from Central Europe settled, being unwelcome in the areas where the New England money type people lives. (In fact, right I am reading the book, Stillwater, by Nicole Helget. Helget has her characters who have lived in the Minnesota territory for their lifetime speak about their resentment of the New England money types arriving now in the mid-1830s, telling everyone else what to do.)

The houses here look much different from those one would find along the lakes in Minneapolis.

My walk route took me past Holy Cross Church.

This church is the heart of the Polish-American community in Minnesota. I saw someone enter the church as I was crossing the street and hoped that I could slip in to see it, but it was locked up.

The route took me past the church where I saw the steeple of a different church.

The onion dome made me think it was an Orthodox church, but because this walk was already a 11K route I wasn't inclined to walk off route even for a couple blocks, just to satisfy my curiosity.

The map said I was entering the Arts District. Don't know if other cities have these, but there is also one in Saint Paul. These are places where rents are low and it's possible for artists to find less expensive places to live and less expensive places for work or galleries. What was in the windows of the shops made the next few blocks an interesting stroll.

In this area I found two interesting murals.

The above mural was painted on a building along side an alley. Someone had the sense of humor to add a street sign (see green rectangle on the upper left) that said Easel Street.

Here's part of another one -- I could only get part for there was nowhere to stand to take a photo of the entire mural.

The writing under the horse reads, "You were wild here once, don't let them tame you."

In the distance I could see another church spire -- and I had to remind myself I wasn't in Central Europe, for it surely looked like it.

Here's the sign on the church.

I wondered what language included Vitajte. At home later in the day with the help of Mr. Google I found it is Slovack. I was also clueless about SS. Cyril and Methodius, as well as why both are together. Well with the help of Mr. Google I learned they were brothers from the Orthodox tradition. Cyril is the one from which we get Cyrillic language letters. That's one thing I like about doing these walks -- I see things I never would have noticed and learn new things about what I see.

And before leaving this location -- now Mass is said here in Spanish! How's that for a reflection of the changing times.

Soon in the distance I could see a large building:

 I was sure it was a brewery and I was right -- Grain Belt. Now the beer is actually produced in New Ulm, MN. In the photo there are things piled up covered by a tarp. This is for an apartment building project. A trip through the Internet shows a lot of interest among potential renters, but the developer seems to be having problems getting funding in place.

The next destination on the route was Boom Island. Heard about this place many times but never have been there. First, I learned it is no longer an island. One of the channels of the Mississippi River became silted shut and so Boom Island is firmly attached to Nordeast Minneapolis. Boom Island apparently got its name from the numerous pulley systems that were here in the heyday of lumbering. The pulleys were used to remove logs from the river and then move them along to the sawmill.


Much of it is parkland.

The gray skies in this photo may help readers understand why I had wished for my gloves -- but by this time the temperature had risen and I also was warmed up from walking.

Soon I came to a bridge.

 This pedestrian only bridge took me over a small channel of the Mississippi River.

Then I was faced with steps.

Now I was on Nicollet Island. Nicollet Island is a real island, the last of the six original islands in the river at the time of European settlement. The remainder have joined the river shore as did Boom Island or totally destroyed by the type of settlement and industry conducted in the 19th century.

First I came into an area of old houses.

If the house was mine, I think it would be painted differently.

Another group was a bit more like their original colors.

In a bit of time I was walking along the main river channel again and found a duck that wanted to pose quite nicely.

 Next I was to find a checkpoint -- a Japanese Bell monument.

 This monument resembles what is called a Dotaku, a mold for making a bell. The monument is called Bell of Two Friends and is the work of Karen Sontag-Sattel. It was installed in 2001 and is a gift of the city of Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan.

Soon I was walking around the Nicollet Island Pavilion.

When searching some history about this I was amazed to learn it started out in 1893 as a boiler works. The walk along the pavilion took me to a bridge which crosses the same back channel of the river that I crossed on Boom Island. This took me to the area called St. Anthony Main.

This area really does like a late 19th century main street -- these are original buildings. In this area is one of my favorite coffee shops. I stopped there for a rest and good cup of coffee with a cinnamon roll.

The walk route then took me a bit further east to the Water Works Park. I followed a path back to a view of the St. Anthony Falls.

This is/was the only waterfall on the Mississippi River and became highly prized for European settlers for hydro-power. The American Indians in this area regarded it as a sacred site. The falls, in their natural state, were destroyed when an industrialist tried to dig a tunnel under the waterfall. The falls were later somewhat restored.

Next I walked up some stairs to 2nd Street and along to the Ard Godfrey House.

This is the oldest surviving wood frame house in Minneapolis.

Then my route took me downhill back to the bridge over the river channel, along the river again and then back through Boom Island. From Boom Island it was a long 2K or so through a residential area without anywhere to sit down for minute. Enjoyed this walk very much and amazed I could walk 17K in two days. Not too bad for a grandmother of four!