Our Little Boomtown

1889

 

Mr. Robbins’ second business in Robbinsdale was a street car factory. It was near the car barn on Hubbard Avenue. The new factory began work on October 15, 1889, and by December 19, there were six cars ready to ship to Ohio. Expansion soon was needed and an addition was built in 1891, but on May 7, 1892, it burned down and it was thought best not to rebuild. The Northern Car Company manufactured street railway and other cars, employing 150-200 men and could manufacture seven cars per week. The cars were equal to, if not superior to, any in the country. Mr. Robbins was president of the company.

The first religious services in what is now Robbinsdale were held in the Village Hall by a band of Salvation Army workers from Minneapolis. On May 5, 1889, the Congregational Sunday School was organized with 70 members. 0. W. NeweII was the Superintendent, and the teachers were Mrs. J. P. Shumway, N. F. Russ, Elder Woodworth, L. C. Roth. The church was called the First Congregational Church of Parker and was organized June 16, 1889 with 28 charter members. The Christian Endeavor Society was started July 22, 1889; and the Ladies Aid on July 8, with 16 charter members. The Ladies Aid met at the home of Mrs. H. W. Downs. Their first meeting was in the new Village Hall, July 31. 1889.

During the early days, the children came an hour each time to learn to sing. The first disbursement was $11.00 for singing books. A Pulpit Bible, carpet for the platform, and dishes were among the first purchases.  At the twentieth anniversary party held at the Shumway home in 1909, Mrs. Shumway, the first president, presided and eight of the sixteen charter members answered roll call. In twenty years they had raised $3,000, and met every week, rain or shine. Rev. Votaw was the acting pastor until 1891 when Rev. A. D. Fanning became the regular pastor. In 1890 the congregation voted to erect a church building. It was built on land donated by John Shumway at 42nd Avenue and  Bottineau Boulevard after the building was ready for occupancy the church was dedicated on May 24, 1891. An impressive dedication service was held, with the Silver Lake Choir furnishing the music, and four pastors doing the preaching. Pastors with long service records were Donald G. Colp (later an M.D. practicing in Robbinsdale),  James E. Ball, W. W. Dale, George Macauley and Wayne B. Robinson.The First Congregational Church of Parker later became the First Congregational Church of Robbinsdale  In 1961 the church building was sold to another church group (demolished in 1965) and a beautiful new church was built at 4200 Lake Road. Other property was platted. Mr. Alfred Parker platted Parker’s Addition to Robbinsdale Park and Mr. Brimhall platted Brimhall’s Addition to Robbinsdale Park. The business tact and persuasive powers of these men and others attracted several institutions to the community: The Northern Car Shops, near the present water tank site; Hubbard Specialty Manufacturing Company, north of the Car Shops, along the tracks, which made wheelbarrows, furniture, awnings, and so on; and Luther Seminary.

The Luther Theological Seminary Seminary, was situated on a ten-acre tract on College, now Regent Avenue, on land donated by Brimball, Parker, and Robbins. The school stood at 4001 Regent. It was a Seminary of the Norwegian Lutheran Church and was dedicated on September 8, 1889, before an audience of 5,000 people, programs in those days demanded a rugged audience; there were addresses by Governor Merriam, Senator Knute Nelson, University President Cyrus Northrop, sermons by the Seminary faculty and others. German, Swedish, Norwegian, and English were used in the talks. The buildings were planned to accommodate 700 students eventually, but 45 was the enrollment for most of its existence. The lodging and instruction were free—board was $1.50 to $2 a week. Mrs. Etta Gates described the school as a massive brick building, imposing with its towers, stone trimming, and curving drives, beautifully landscaped with trees and shrubs. The Ylvisaker home, later the Swift home, was nearby. The basement of the Seminary housed the eating and cooking facilities; the president of the Seminary had his apartments and library on one of the upper floors. The Luther Theological Seminary was destroyed by fire on the very cold morning of January 11, 1895—in less than one hour. It was later rebuilt on Como Avenue in St. Paul.

Mr. Robbins was also president of the Hubbard Manufacturing Company. Hubbard had sold out to the Sweatt Manufacturing Company which enlarged the plant and made grocery boxes, wooden wheelbarrows, camp furniture and wooden washing machines. In 1891 William R. Sweatt also invested $1,500 in the Electric Thermostat Company which made a control connecting a thermostat to a motor to operate home “dampers flappers”. He became a director of the company. After the fire in 1892 in Robbinsdale, Sweatt expanded his office on East 26th Street to include the Sweatt Manufacturing Company. By 1902 Sweatt owned the EIectric Heat Regulator Company, and changed the name to Minneapolis Heat Regulator Company in 1912. In 1927, it merged with Honeywell Heating Specialties Company Sweatt as Chairman of the Board and Mark C. Honeywell as president- This is.included in our history because it is often said that Sweatt Manufacturing Company was the forerunner of Honeywell. That’s not really correct, but William R. Sweatt was certainly involved.

This post is part of a series based on the book Robbinsdale Then and Now by Helen Blodgett. Thanks to Jeff Vick for the old map of the church at the top of the post.