Robbinsdale Historical Society
Sharing Your Past To Build Our Future
For more than a century, the Girling and Ambrose families have been woven into the history of Robbinsdale. Thomas Herbert Girling, born in England in 1865, arrived in Minnesota in the late nineteenth century and … Read more
75 Years From hand-carried buckets of water used by bucket brigades to fight fires in the early history of Robbinsdale, the Robbinsdale Volunteer Fire Department has grown into a modern department with sophisticated equipment available … Read more
“It was called Parker Station because the station was right on the railroad tracks there…and Parker was really the first guy who had really put some time and effort into it…” Earl Johnston, Robbinsdale Historical … Read more
On April 19th, 1893, Robbinsdale was organized as a village, consisting of parts of three sections of the original twenty-four of the township, one third of the territory of Crystal, with ten miles of improved … Read more
1938 Many complaints had been received by the Council about the water quality (which was being obtained from Minneapolis) so the Village purchased land from Mrs. Edith Robbins Daniel for $18,000 on July 12, 1937, … Read more
1915 In 1914 under the auspices of George 0. Johnson, Arthur L. Jones and J. H. Morse, many money-raising events were held for a bandstand for Robbinsdale Civic Club Band. These included events such as … Read more
1905 Robbinsdale pioneer, Alfred Parker passed away on April 7th. Compass Lodge 265 A. F. & A. M. was organized September 6. George Swift, Sr. as first master. The charter was granted in January, 1906. … Read more
1870 The population of Crystal Lake township was 718. Besides farming, a few industries developed. The first was a shingle mill at Shingle Creek, built in 1852 (everyone needed shingles!) and then a flour mill … Read more
1862 Following a cold spring in 1861, hard times came along. The Dakota War of ’62 did not affect the settlers here except to make them nervous. Horartio Stillman bundled his family into his wagon … Read more