Energetic Edith

edithRobbins1
Edith Robbins

“The will of Andrew B. Robbins made his wife and his daughter, Edith Robbins,
Joint executrices of his estate. This action was in recognition of the long-time
coopera­tion of his life partner, and the active participation for many years in
his real estate and allied interests, of his eldest daughter, Edith Robbins,
whose work in carrying forward plans for developing the beautiful suburb which
bears her father’s name, along lines he approved, has fully justified his faith.
She is helping the children of her father’s customers of the early ’90s to build
substantial homes in the shade of his trees, which she has cared for and guarded
through all the intervening years.

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America’s Finest Theatre

In 1951, when the Terrace opened on a small hill above Crystal Lake, the building was one of the most dramatic and elegant theaters ever built in the Twin Cities. The International-style exterior was made up of a series of rectangles and a towering marquee, topped by the theater’s name. Inside the front doors, beyond the lobby, the Terrace was equipped with sweeping foyers overlooking a rolling lawn and enormous parking lot.

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The Lutheran Church of Redeemer

In 1923 construction began on a Lutheran mission church at 41st and Regent Avenue North. A dedication ceremony took place on Sunday, April 20th, 1924. Rev. H.L. Paul was called to serve the mission congregation. … Read more

A Bad Name for a Bar?

Here’s a an old photo of Adolph’s Bar on West Broadway. Flo Ann (Jullie) Tauber’s husband opened the bar before the war, but Flo was probably running the place when this photo was taken. She … Read more

Congregational Falls

In 1961 the old First Congregational Church was sold to another church group. In 1965 the church was demolished to make way for a filling station that later became Pilgrim Cleaners. One of the area’s … Read more

The Crystal Bath

Floyd E. Nash opened his bath house in 1916. The Crystal Bath opened with 24 lockers, 12 for women and 12 for men. In 1923 a larger building was built. Business boomed and Nash found … Read more

Souvenir Robbinsdale

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It can be conservatively predicted that within a few years the village of Robbinsdale, located just north of the city limits of Minneapolis will be noted as the choicest of its suburban beauty spots, remarkable for splendid residences, situated amid picturesque surroundings of woodland and lake.

Already the certainty that Minneapolis is destined to become a great metropolis has enhanced the values of land adjacent to the chain of lakes within its limits. Calhoun, Harriet, Lake of the Isles and Cedar to the extent that only people of considerable means feel they can afford home in their vicinity. Soon it will be only the rich whose mansions will mark the sites of the present pretty bungalows and the modest dwellings.
Today the conviction is being forced upon those who desire to enjoy the delightful combination of city and rual life, made possible by electric roads and the automobile, that location of their homes to insure permanency, must be in a new direction and where too, there will be more exclusiveness than along the boulevards and driveways which constitute the playground of the city.
The village of Robbinsdale, which nestles between two gem-like lakes, with dells and groves just off its main street, possesses just this ideal location, coupled with the same charm of natural scenery which is now beguiling to the Calhoun and Harriet district. In time Robbinsdale too will become the home of millionaires, but this period is farther remote. This is certainly foreordained as it is that the business district of Minneapolis is to be doubled, tripled and quadrupled in area.
It requires no stretch of imagination to prophesy this. The present rate of growth of Minneapolis and the natural distribution of its population will bring these changes about. The man is not infrequently met who can tell when he could have bought business sites now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for a few hundreds; who recollects when there were frame dwelling houses where now are sky scrapers, mammoth department stores and splendid office buildings. Most of these changes have come within ten years, with in which time too, whole districts of suburban property have been built up from farms and pasture lands…what then of the future…the next ten years or even five?

-Robbinsdale Souvenir, Suburban Minneapolis
1911

The Honor Roll

During World War II, a billboard was erected on West Broadway to honor American Armed Forces overseas. The names of Robbinsdale’s own were place under blue and gold stars. A gold star indicated the soldier … Read more