Downtown Robbinsdale – Robbinsdale Historical Society

Whiz Bang Band!

In the early 1900s, Robbinsdale was a small community on the northwestern edge of Minneapolis. Its citizens were eager for the city to grow, and decided to form a band as a force to promote … Read more

A Trip Back in Time Along the Jefferson Highway

If you grew up around these parts, you may have heard of the Jefferson Highway, an early north-south auto trail that extended all the way from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. A portion of … Read more

The Century Turns

1900 Census 520 The first decade of the Twentieth Century was a busy one for our “small town.” A library club was formed. An official volunteer fire department was organized. There was an active Commercial … Read more

More Than Just a Barber!

O.T. (Otto) Beaudoin, pictured here with Frank Dillenberg in 1937, was born in Quebec in 1871. He came to Robbinsdale in 1927. Beaudoin operated two barbershops in town and was in business for over thirty … Read more

Our Old Village Hall

Robbinsdale’s Village Hall was originally built for the Village of Crystal in 1888. The dedication ceremonies included a banquet with foods furnished by everyone in town. Forty-seven years later Mrs. Horatio Stillman still remembered the … Read more

The Crystal Theater

In 1916 William J. Muller opened his first drug store in a little wooden building next door to Gus Urban’s Meat Market. Ten years later, he built a new brick front drug store and the … Read more

MacDonald & Russ

The MacDonald and Russ Grocery on the southwest corner of 42nd and West Broadway. Pictured from left to right are Everie Russ, Ross Wiley, Allan MacDonald and Herbert Clasen. After Nathan Russ retired he turned … Read more

No Place to Get Thin!

The Chase family owned the Hamburger Inn in Robbinsdale. The little building, seen on the right hand side of this postcard was torn down in 2013 to make way for the new Travail restaurant. Sam Chase and Ma Chase are pictured behind the counter below. Sam worked at Ewald Dairy. He started deliveries with a horse and buggy and eventually drove a truck. The family operated the restaurant on West Broadway for 35 years.

If you were a swinging teen back in the 60s, dance halls provided a great all-ages option. When rock ‘n’ roll was young, so were the people listening to it. Twin City bars weren’t interested … Read more