News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Thursday December 25th 2025
Transit: Reduced Schedules and Minimal Shelters
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON
Good news for Nicollet Mall bus riders: The Hennepin Avenue detour that has plagued you for the past two years finally ends the 2nd of December!
My primary topic this month is “Reduced Service” days, which vary from year to year but usually include Black Friday, Christmas Eve (or the day after Christmas if Christmas is on a Sunday), and either the 3rd or 5th of July, depending on what day of the week the 4th is. Last year there were also some reductions for New Year”'s Eve, which weren”'t as severe as for the other days. I don”'t know if that”'s intended to be a new, ongoing trend.
Usually, the Reduced schedule is a “Saturday plus” schedule, where most routes are on Saturday schedule, with a few extra buses on some routes, especially the rush-hour expresses, because some poor suckers still have to work. The 2016 New Year”'s Eve schedule, however, was more of a “weekday minus” ”“ regular schedule minus a few buses.
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THE CEMETERY”'S Eldest Morgan Jones – 60 YEARS A SLAVE, 41 YEARS FREEDMAN
Morgan Jones said, “In 1823, I moved with my white masters to Missouri. I then became coachman for the family and was with them until the emancipation proclamation. As coachman I was able to look about and take notice, and you may be sure that I watched the growth of the abolition movement. As soon as the slaves were pronounced free, I started for Minnesota and have been in Minneapolis ever since. There have been several negroes in the state that have lived to be over 100, but I believe that I am the oldest in the city now and probably in the northwest.”
BY TIMOTHY McCALL
Undoubtedly, Morgan Jones saw many changes in his long life and having passed away at the age of 101 years, he also has the distinction of being the oldest person buried at Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery.
Morgan was born into slavery on a Virginia plantation on August 10, 1805. We”'re fortunate to know the exact date of Morgan”'s birth because in 1904, Morgan”'s daughter had contacted his former owners, the Chappell family, in St. Louis, Missouri. The Chappell family were among the earliest Europeans to settle in America, arriving about 1635. They also must have been very prodigious record keepers, since they had kept and preserved many of the records from the old Virginia plantation where Morgan was born, including the record of his birth.… Read the rest “THE CEMETERY”'S Eldest Morgan Jones – 60 YEARS A SLAVE, 41 YEARS FREEDMAN”
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