Thursday, August 30, 2012

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 30

August 30, 2005 – “The Minneapolis Central Library was completed on [this date].” 1  “The top of the building features three prodigious green roofs totaling 18,500 square feet that help the library stay cool inside. The roof serves as a huge sponge during the rainy season, when it infiltrates and cleans storm water. The roof also provides natural habitat right in the middle of downtown and reduces the dreaded heat island effect, keeping the local environment from overheating on a mid-summer day. Underfloor displacement cooling technology adds 20% running efficiency, and the entire building is 27% more energy-efficient than code.”2
1
http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=232
2http://inhabitat.com/green-roofed-minneapolis-central-library-is-a-civic-lesson-on-eco-design/minneapolis-central-library-3/




Minneapolis Central Library


Minneapolis Central Library - green roof view from 2nd floor

Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain August 30, 2012, as long as acknowledgement included.  

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 29

August 29, 1919 – According to the annual report of mining inspector W. H. Harvey of Eveleth filed with the county auditor, a total of 33 fatalities occurred in the mines of St. Louis county “during the fiscal year prior to June 30, 1919. Eighteen of the fatal accidents occurred underground and 15 were in connection with surface operations. St Louis county shipped 31,828,809 tons of ore during the year from 117 mines in operation.”
The Duluth News-Tribune; “33 Lives Year’s Toll in County Iron Ore Mines”; Duluth, Minn.; August 30, 1919; p. 3.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 28

August 28, 1907 – “Disregarding his mother’s warning not to go into the water,” a 28-year-old man “drowned while bathing within sight of a dozen companions” near Brownsville, Minn. The man’s “brother was drowned in the identical spot just twenty years ago to the day.”
Tower Weekly News; “Drowned in the Same Spot, Brothers’ Deaths are Twenty years Apart to the Day”; August 30, 1907; p. 3.

Monday, August 27, 2012

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 27

August 27, 2007 — “Roll Call breaks the story that Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested in June for indecent exposure in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.”
http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2008/07/part-3-150-minnesota-moments-wed-just-soon-forget



Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Larry_Craig_official_portrait.jpg


Sunday, August 26, 2012

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 26

*August 26, 1980Listed simply as “Finnish Sauna,” this former public bathhouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on this date. It was built in 1912 “to serve Finnish immigrant miners and their families” in Virginia, Minn.
http://nrhp.mnhs.org/NRDetails.cfm?NPSNum=80004360



Finnish Sauna, Virginia, Minn.
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain August 26, 2012, as long as acknowledgement included.  

Go to www.forvo.com/word/sauna to ensure that you are pronouncing sauna correctly. The vast majority of versions listed are correct, including the first English version; the bottom three English versions are incorrect.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 25

August 25, 1975 – The Forum cafeteria was closed on this date by its operators, Forum Restaurants, Inc., Kansas City, Mo. “In its heyday in the 1950s the Forum was feeding 8,000 customers daily compared with about 1,500 daily in recent months.” Once a theater, the interior was “said to be the best living example of Art Deco in Minnesota.”
Minneapolis Tribune; “Forum Cafeteria is closed”; August 29, 1975; p. 10B.

See photos at: http://www.startribune.com/blogs/92149074.html



When my sister and I were younger (much, much younger), my grandparents would drive us to downtown Minneapolis from northern Minn. every Christmas to look at the Dayton’s and Donaldson’s holiday windows. We always ate breakfast at the Forum, and I would get their fried corn meal mush (yum); I have never been able to find it on any other restaurant menu. The Forum brings back so many wonderful memories.

Friday, August 24, 2012

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 24

August 24, 1978 – “Thayer’s Hotel [in Annandale, Minn.] was put on the National Register of Historic Places [on this date]. As a result of being on the Register the outside configuration of the building cannot be changed. The only thing that can be changed on the outside of the building is the color. Being on the Register also protects the building from being moved or demolished. Since Thayer’s Hotel sits right on MN HWY 55, if it were not on the Register the state would have widened the highway into the living room of the hotel.”

“Aside from its historical value, Thayer’s Bed n’ Breakfast is also listed 5th in the United States as one of the most haunted places to stay. This is what draws many of the guests to stay here, as Thayer’s offers ghost tours, psychic readings, and murder mystery dinners. The murder mystery dinners are ranked 3rd in the nation. Guests visit from all over the country as well as around the world.”

“Thayer’s Bed n’ Breakfast was originally called the Annandale House. It was constructed as a railroad hotel with funding from the Soo Line Railroad Company. It functioned as a railroad hotel because they served beef and oyster and not everyone could afford the dinner, which cost $2.50 (today this would be equal to about $65).”

“Thayer’s Hotel was more technologically advanced than most businesses in the area at that time. They were the first building to have gaslights and electricity, which came in 1905.”

http://ithappenedhere.pbworks.com/w/page/36723266/Thayer's%20Bed%20n'%20Breakfast



Thayer’s Bed n’ Breakfast, Annandale, Minn. 

Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain August 24, 2012,
as long as acknowledgement included.


Other Haunted Places in Minnesota:

Forepaugh’s Restaurant in S.t Paul; see July 8, 2013 blog

The Jackson Hotel, now Billy’s Bar & Grill, Anoka, Minn.; see December 8, 2012 blog

LeDuc House, Hastings, Minn.; see October 30, 2013blog