June Tours
Midtown: A Place to Call Home
When: Saturday, June 1, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Guides: Joyce Wisdom and Shari Albers
Starting point: Midtown Exchange (Lake Street & Chicago Avenue)
Cost: $8
Buy tickets on Eventbrite.
In the late 1870s, throngs of Scandinavians began making their way to Minneapolis. This influx helped to guide the pattern of urban growth of South Minneapolis, particularly around Lake Street. See how Lake Street has, both historically and today, been a home to the city’s new immigrants, including the small businesses and cultural organizations they established in their pursuit of the American Dream.
This tour will walk approximately 25 blocks.
Hennepin Avenue Theater District
When: Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Guides: Christopher Yaeger and John Smoley
Starting point: State Theatre Box Office, 804 Hennepin Avenue
Cost: $8
Buy tickets on Eventbrite
Experienced guides lead you in exploring the elegant interiors of the State, Orpheum, and Pantages theaters—the dressing rooms and backstage corridors not typically open to the public. We’ll highlight architecture and historical facts and stories, and describe the city’s theater restoration efforts along “Theater Row.”
This tour will walk about 5 city blocks.
Lowry and Walker Legacies Biking Tour
When: Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 1:00 PM
Guide: Peter Sussman
Starting point: Smith Triangle Park, at W. 24th Street and Hennepin Avenue
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A BIKING TOUR AND IS LIMITED TO 20 PEOPLE
Cost: $8
Buy tickets on Eventbrite
Thomas Lowry and T. B. Walker stand out in Minneapolis history as representatives of “an era of constructive civic optimism.” From sculptor Karl Bitter’s 1915 Lowry Memorial to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, we will trace their contributions in shaping the Minneapolis neighborhoods, parks, and institutions we know today. In addition to the former site of the Lowry-Walker home (now the Walker Art Center), our tour will pass the 1894 home of architect F. B. Long and view the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church.
This tour will bike about 3 miles, and will walk bikes up steep hills.
Uptown: The Lakes District
When: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 6:30 PM
Guide: Cara Letofsky and Thatcher Imboden
Starting point: Humboldt Avenue & West Lake Street (Wells Fargo parking lot)
Cost: $8
Buy tickets on Eventbrite
As the City of Minneapolis grew, the lakes began to attract people seeking relief from the central city—from day-tripping fishermen to visitors of the area’s posh resorts on the shores of Lake Calhoun. You’ll learn about the crucial role rail travel played in enhancing Minneapolitans’ access to the lakes, with the laying of the Minneapolis, Lyndale, and Lake Calhoun railway from downtown to Calhoun in 1879.
This tour will walk about 25 city blocks.
Como-Harriet Streetcar Line Walking Tour
When: Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 1:00 PM
Starting point: 34th Street and Irving Avenue South (2 blocks east of Lake Calhoun)
Cost: $13 (PLEASE NOTE that this tour costs slightly more than our typical tours, but your ticket also includes a trolley ride!)
Buy tickets on Eventbrite
Explore the abandoned and reconstructed streetcar line. The tour will include remnants of the original Twin Cities Rapid Transit streetcar line, the former Lyndale Hotel site, the Museum’s car barn, and the Linden Hills business district. Includes a stop for ice cream (cost not included) and a vintage streetcar ride.
This tour will walk a total of 1 1/2 miles, and ride the streetcar 1 1/2 miles.
The Edwardians of Lowry Hill East: Downton Abbey Meets Bryant Avenue
When: Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 6:30 PM
Guide: Kathy Kulberg
Starting point: The Pavilion at Mueller Park, 2509 Colfax Avenue South
Cost: $8
Buy tickets on Eventbrite
Who lived in the beautiful Victorian homes of Lowry Hill East? In 1900, the hot spot to build and locate for upwardly mobile middle class entrepreneurs and businessmen were the newly platted lots between Lyndale and Hennepin avenues. Boulevards, lakes, and the fast, efficient Minneapolis Street Railway system made the area very desirable. Local historian Kathy Kullberg will bring to life the individual families that entertained and made society happen in Edwardian-era Minneapolis (1900-1914).
This tour walks approximately 3 blocks.
The Lost Gateway District of Minneapolis
When: Saturday, June 29, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Guides: Kirsten Delegard and James Eli Shiffer
Starting point: The Gay ’90s, at 408 Hennepin Avenue
Cost: $8
Buy tickets on Eventbrite
During the early twentieth century, the Gateway, or Lower Loop, was the largest skid row in the Upper Midwest, including flophouses, missions, and bars mixed with a variety of other businesses that needed cheap rents and a central location. Between 1959 and 1963, in an effort to clean up the area, Minneapolis demolished 25 blocks, or almost 40 percent of its historic downtown—turning this part of the city into a wasteland of surface parking lots. Revisit the seedy history of the Gateway District and its unfortunate redevelopment, and learn about current proposals to return street life to this formerly bustling area.
This tour will walk about 1.5 miles.