McNair Manor was named for attorney and businessman William McNair. Born in 1836, McNair served as county attorney and mayor of St. Anthony from 1869 to 1871. He was highly regarded as a defense attorney and formed a variety of legal partnerships with local political figures. In 1883 he declined the nomination to run for governor. He became the Democratic nominee for United States Representative in 1876, but lost to Jacob H. Stewart. Among his many real estate holdings in Minneapolis was a 1,000-acre farm that stretched across north Minneapolis and down to Brownie Lake. Shortly before his death in 1885 he made arrangements with the Minneapolis Park Board for a land donation that would create a four-mile parkway from Fairview Park in North Minneapolis to Cedar Lake.
After World War I the Ewald Brothers purchased five acres of the old McNair farm and built a dairy pasteurizing plant on Xerxes Avenue and Golden Valley Road. The Ewalds built a horse barn across the street that later became the parking lot for their milk delivery trucks. In 1923, the Ewald family left the McNair farm. Over 170 acres were acquired by the City of Minneapolis as park land and the rest was purchased by The Metropolitan National Bank of Minneapolis. The land was divided into building lots that were promoted and sold by Dickinson & Gillespie Realtors.
If you look through covenants inserted into the deeds of McNair Manor properties on the University of Minnesota’s Mapping Prejudice website, you’ll notice when the seller is listed as the Metropolitan National Bank of Minneapolis, the language contained is often;
no person or persons other than of the Caucasian race shall be permitted to occupy said premises or any part thereof
Racial covenants like this can be found in the deeds of properties throughout the city of Robbinsdale. These discriminatory clauses were inserted to prevent people who were not white from buying or renting homes. These covenants were legally-enforceable and anyone who challenged them risked forfeiting their claim to the property. They were designed to keep neighborhoods segregated. Developers often worked with park commissioners to make land adjacent to racially-restricted neighborhoods into public green space. The use of racial covenants was legal in Minnesota until 1953
The Robbinsdale Historical Society and Robbinsdale Human Rights Commission are committed to researching and sharing the history of racial covenants and their impact on our community. Resources are available to promote a greater understanding and build networks of people who wish to get involved and address how racial covenants impact our cities today.
Just Deeds is acting now to help homeowners and cities by providing free legal and title services, along with access to online tools and volunteer opportunities.
Mapping Prejudice is a team of historians, geographers, librarians, digital
humanists, and community activists seeking to expose structural racism. You can see the 26,000 racial covenants Mapping Prejudice volunteers have found so far, and download shapefiles, spreadsheets, and static cartography on their website.
Over 250,000 dollars was spent on the development before any houses were built. Streets were laid and a 50,000 gallon water tower was erected at the corner of Parkview Boulevard and 27th Avenue North. In 1924 McNair Manor developers suffered a public relations blow when they offered to sell their water to the Village of Robbinsdale and the village rejected the offer due to the poor quality of the well.
Dickinson & Gillespie used every trick in the book to promote the development and attract buyers. They had free picnics, parades, stunt flyers and parachute drops. They gave away free thimbles, and electric irons to prospective housewives. Drawings were held for thousands of dollars worth of prizes and a 1929, 6-cylinder Chevrolet Coach.
Despite their efforts and the advantages of location, Dickinson & Gillespie failed to fill the subdivision. A couple dozen homes were built, mostly along Zenith and York Avenues, but the area remained largely vacant. In 1931 residents in Robbinsdale and Golden Valley petitioned the City of Minneapolis to annex the area. Services eventually improved. The water tower was torn down in 1935. The area remained largely undeveloped until after World War II.
