On This Date in Minnesota History: November 30

November 30, 1996 — “While playing ‘Tiptoe through the Tulips’ at a gala benefit at The Woman's Club of Minneapolis, singer Tiny Tim [suffered] a heart attack on stage and [died] later at Hennepin County Medical Center.”

http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2008/07/part-3-150-minnesota-moments-wed-just-soon-forget

Tiny Tim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TinyTim.jpg

On This Date in Minnesota History: November 29

November 29, 1995 – Almost 20 years after shooting Lake City, Minn., Mayor Wilmer Strickland and his wife Verona to death in their home, former next-door neighbor John Claypool’s guilty conscious caused him to confess that he had murdered them when he was 14-years-old because he wanted to see what it was like to kill. “Under state guidelines, Claypool [would] serve about 10 years in prison.”

Sun-Journal; “Neighbor confesses to mayor’s murder 20 years ago”; Lewiston, Maine; November 30, 1995; p. 8A.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5183/5889577402_57df0b5eaf_d.jpg

On This Date in Minnesota History: November 28

November 28, 1905 - A single storm “damaged 29 ships, fully one third of which were the uninsured property of the [United States Steel’s] company fleet. Two of these carriers foundered on this rocky coastline [on the North Shore of Lake Superior], which some called "the most dangerous piece of water in the world." A delegation led by the steamship company president descended upon Washington, D.C., and in early 1907, Congress appropriated $75,000 for a lighthouse and fog signal in the vicinity of Split Rock.”

http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/srl/history/history.htm

Split Rock Lighthouse

http://assets.byways.org/asset_files/000/012/932/Split_Rock_Lighthouse.jpg

On This Date in Minnesota History: November 27

November 27, 1960 – Minn. Governor Tim Pawlenty was born on this date in St. Paul, Minn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Pawlenty

Minn. Governor Tim Pawlentyhttp://www.askthegovernors.com/MN-governor~26/Tim+Pawlenty.html

On This Date in Minnesota History: November 26

November 26, 1922 – Charles Schultz, American cartoonist and creator of Peanuts, was born in Minneapolis on this date, and raised in St. Paul.

“Peanuts on Parade has been St. Paul, Minnesota’s tribute to its favorite native cartoonist. It began in 2000 with the placing of 101 5-foot-tall (1.5 m) statues of Snoopy throughout the city of St. Paul. Every summer for the next four years, statues of a different Peanuts character were placed on the sidewalks of St. Paul. In 2001, there was Charlie Brown Around Town, 2002 brought Looking for Lucy, then in 2003 along came Linus Blankets St. Paul, ending in 2004 with Snoopy lying on his doghouse. The statues were auctioned off at the end of each summer, so some remain around the city, but others have been relocated. The auction proceeds were used for artists' scholarships and for permanent, bronze statues of the Peanuts characters. These bronze statues are in Landmark Plaza and Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_M._Schulz

Lucy




Peppermint Patty

Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Nov. 26, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.  

On This Date in Minnesota History: November 25

November 25, 1969 – The Minnehaha Historic District was added to the list of National Register of Historic Places on this date.¹ In addition to the infamous Minnehaha Falls, some historic structures are located in the park²:

Minnehaha Falls
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain November 25, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.  

The John Harrington Stevens House, built in 1849 or 1850 near St. Anthony Falls, was moved to Minnehaha Park in 1896. According to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the home has the distinction of being the first wood-frame dwelling built west of the Mississippi. It was in this home that the name Minneapolis was suggested, and the government of Hennepin County was organized. In 1896 over 10,000 school children helped pull the house to Minnehaha park and in 1982, the home was situated in its current location.2

John Harrington Stevens House
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain November 25, 2013, as long as acknowledgement included.  

A small train station officially named Minnehaha Depot but also known as "the Princess Depot" was built in 1875; it was a stop on the Milwaukee Road railroad and provided easy access to the park from Fort Snelling, downtown Minneapolis, and downtown St. Paul. The depot handled as many as 39 round trips per day; it was once integrated into the region's streetcar system. In 1964, title was transferred to the Minnesota Historical Society. The Minnesota Transportation Museum has assisted in the restoration of the building. The depot is open on Sundays from 1:30 to 4:30. The 50th Street / Minnehaha Park station of the Hiawatha light rail line currently serves the park.²

Minnehaha Depot
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain November 25, 2013, as long as acknowledgement included.  

A building known as the Longfellow House is also on the park grounds and provides some history of the park. It houses a small collection of historical photographs and is the main informational site for the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, a 50-mile (80 km) automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian parkway (a designated National Scenic Byway) that circles through the city. The house was built in 1906 for Robert "Fish" Jones, who owned and operated Longfellow Zoological Gardens, which succeeded the original zoo in the park. The home is a 2/3 scale replica of the Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, the long-time home of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jones donated the Gardens to the Park Board in 1924.2

Longfellow House

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longfellow_House

¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Hennepin_County,_Minnesota

²http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnehaha_Falls

On This Date in Minnesota History: November 24

November 24, 1971 – Thomas J. Williams was acquitted of the first degree murder of Susan Poferl of Cloquet.¹ She was strangled to death in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 21, 1971, after a night of drinking and dancing at the Cloquet Labor Temple. Her nude body was discovered on March 25 in the “icy waters of Otter Tail Creek along the Moorhead Road about three miles southwest of Cloquet. Authorities said the frozen body was discovered by a school bus driver” as he drove through the area.²   Poferl had danced with Williams that evening, and according to witnesses, had been seen with him the morning she disappeared. 

¹Duluth News-Tribune; “Williams Acquitted of Poferl Murder By Carlton Jurors”; November 25, 1971; p.1.

²Duluth News-Tribune; “Autopsy Slated Today on Body of Cloquet Girl”; March 26, 1971; pp. 1 & 11.

Cloquet Labor Temple

Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain March 25, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.

Murder of Susan Poferl; see March 21, 2013 blog

Body of Susan Poferl discovered; see March 25, 2013 blog

Thomas Joseph Williams indicted for Poferl murder; see April 29, 2013 blog