Author Archive
100 Year Old Church is a Treasure within 129 Year Old Legacy and 1500 Years of Welsh Culture
By Sue Hunter Weir Since at least the 1880s, what we now call the Phillips Neighborhood, has been home to thousands of immigrants and their families, many of whom are buried or have relatives buried, in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery. Their contributions to the city”'s early development are among the reasons why the cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Sites (the only cemetery in Minnesota honored with that designation). Many of those buried in the cemetery, quite literally, built the city of Minneapolis. Their presence is still visible throughout the Phillips Neighborhood most notably in many of the old churches which functioned not only as places of worship but as places where the language and culture of the “old country” was celebrated and preserved. Among those buried in the cemetery are several named Evans, Hughes, Jones, Morris and Williams””most of them the children of Welsh immigrants. (If your house is 100 years [...]
Food obsession: Gingerbread
By Jane Thomson Note: “Food Obsession” will be a column written by Jane Thomson often, if not regularly, in The Alley. I am not a “foodie”, but I like to eat and am also a constant dieter ”“ thus the obsession. I welcome anyone else”'s sending in his own food article, perhaps focusing on informed healthy eating or on world hunger (as related to neighborhood action), subjects which I am not exceptionally well informed about. Focus on gingerbread: Such a recipe calls for ingredients that are often already on hand, so you can make it on impulse. “Gingerbread” is also the word used to describe the wooden trim often seen on Victorian houses in the Phillips neighborhood. The first recipe is for a classic gingerbread. Clipped awhile ago from The Star Tribune, it is called “Gingerbread from 1930”. When you make it, you should be wearing a cotton housedress, an apron, thick cotton stockings, and tie shoes with Cuban heels [...]
Thinking Ahead Connecting a Midtown Greenway Streetcar to Lake Street
by Joyce Wisdom Thinking ahead to what the results would be of a new Streetcar system in the Midtown Greenway and envisioning strategies to meet those results before it becomes reality was the topic of a study by four CURA students from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. Blending Midtown Greenway Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Streetcar Traffic with existing Lake Street businesses, traffic and culture Jeremy Jones, Simon Blenski, Nicole Doran, and Kyle Weimann presented the results of their study recently to a combined meeting of the Boards of the Midtown Greenway Coalition and the Lake Street Council. Here are their recommendations on connecting a new Midtown Greenway streetcar line with the existing Lake Street and vicinity business community and activity: Small businesses must be actively engaged to ensure the business ecosystem is not disrupted so that businesses are not priced out of the market. Encourage and support more commerce in the Greenway [...]
