Robbinsdale Historical Society
Sharing Your Past To Build Our Future
The parks and green spaces between Robbinsdale, Golden Valley, and Minneapolis have fascinating histories. Take Sochacki Park, for instance: when a firm requested a permit in 1961 to turn a low, swampy area along the … Read more
A Civil War veteran, Jay Elijah Nash, moved to Minnesota in 1869 and established a 40-acre dairy farm on the eastern shore of Crystal Lake in 1880. Driven by his experiences in war, Jay became … Read more
Let’s take a journey through the history of Twin Lake, a chain of three connected lakes stretching across Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Center. The story begins with Andrew B. Robbins, the visionary founder of Robbinsdale, … Read more
For more than a century, the Girling and Ambrose families have been woven into the history of Robbinsdale. Thomas Herbert Girling was born in Nottingham, England, in 1865. He arrived in Minnesota in the late … Read more
While Andrew B. Robbins began platting and developing subdivisions in the 1890s before racial covenants became common, restrictive clauses began appearing in Robbinsdale around 1915. They became widespread in the 1920s. These covenants were written … Read more
Kathryn Leigh Scott , born Marlene Kringstad in 1943, grew up on a small farm jsut a few blocks from Robbinsdale High School. Her Norwegian immigrant parents created a warm, creative household where hard work, … Read more
Let’s tell the tale of Captain Billy Fawcett, whose unlikely publishing empire began in Robbinsdale and eventually reached national and international prominence. Born Wilford Hamilton Fawcett in Canada in 1885, Fawcett was restless from an … Read more
ROBBINSDALE GROWS WHILE WAITING FOR REINCORPORATION Making Big Strides Despite Handicap—Becoming One of Important Communities TAX RATE IS CUT AS IMPROVEMENTS GO IN Robbinsdale, a residential suburb bordering the northwest city limits of Minneapolis on … Read more
On September 5th, 1937, a tragic airplane crash near the Robbinsdale Airport claimed the lives of Harriet Frost, 39, manager and vice president of the Frost Paint & Oil Company of Minneapolis, and her flight … Read more