Linden Hills History Study Group

Southwest of Lake Harriet: From Mrs. Thornton's Resort to the Fulton Neighborhood
2025-07-31 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Lake Harriet at Thomas Avenue, 4740 Thomas Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, United States
RESCHEDULED from July 23 due to inclement weather.
We will explore the evolution of this corner of the Fulton neighborhood from its beginning as a rural lake resort through the rapid extension south of Linden Hills. From the opening of Robert Fulton School in 1911 and the Xerxes Avenue streetcar line extension that soon followed, Fulton spread across both hills and former marshland. We will learn of early residents preceding 1911, including Black families, trace how public-school needs have been met in the Lake Harriet district, pass by the original building of Lake Harriet Methodist Church, moved in 1916 to 49th and York, and view the ongoing change in character of Fulton due to recently built houses replacing earlier ones.
The tours will begin at 6:30 p.m. from the corner of Thomas Avenue S. and W. Lake Harriet Parkway. The tour will be held rain or shine, except if an electrical storm is forecasted for the day of the event. Those wishing to attend should RSVP below.

Growing Up in Linden Hills: The Fine Boys and Their Families
2025-09-08 19:00 - 21:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
Bob Fine — and family members — will reflect on the people, places, and experiences of Linden Hills in the 1950s. Bob grew up hanging out at the library, the lake, and the parks. He graduated from Southwest High School and the University of Minnesota and came back to Linden Hills after law school in St. Louis. He raised his children in Linden Hills and lives just around the block from his childhood home.
What was it like growing up in Linden Hills post-World War II? What’s changed over the past 75 years? What issues has the neighborhood faced? What’s still worth celebrating?
Bob, a coach to more than a thousand children, a Minneapolis Park Board commissioner, a candidate for mayor, a Linden Hills Neighborhood Council board member, and more, is uniquely qualified to talk about the more recent history of the neighborhood and the city.

Finding Homes for Our Treasures
2025-10-20 19:00 - 21:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
Do you have material handed down from family? Letters, photos, maps of your hometown? Collections of Rosewood pottery? Ted Hathaway from Hennepin County Library-Minneapolis Central Library’s Special Collections, Yves Hoppie from Minnesota Historical Society Collections Dept., and Jonathan Campbell from H&B Gallery-antique shop will help us evaluate our possessions and learn what a repository or a business might be interested in acquiring, and what they have to offer in terms of preservation, sharing with the broader community, or resale.

The Most Competitive Passenger Corridor: Chicago—Twin Cities
2025-12-06 10:00 - 12:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
From the 1890s to the 1960s, the best passenger trains in North America traveled between the Twin Cities and Chicago. Until World War I, seven railroads competed for the business. Four continued to do so after World War II. Starting in the 1930s, the competition resulted in the Burlington’s Zephyrs, the Milwaukee Road’s Hiawatha, and the Chicago & North Western’s 400, the nation’s fastest trains. Author Aaron Isaacs will tell their story, based on his latest book.
An optional lunch at Hilltop Restaurant (5101 Arcadia Ave, Edina, MN 55436) follows the presentation. Please make your lunch reservation by RSVPing below, or call (612) 799-5141.

Modernist Monuments: Minneapolis Post-War Places of Worship
2026-01-26 19:00 - 21:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
Minneapolis became a hotbed of modernist religious architecture in the years after World War II. With illustrated slides, Bobak Ha’Eri will explain the rise of modernism, its arrival in Minnesota, and how it expressed itself through places of worship across the city. Mr. Ha’Eri is a board member of Docomomo US/MN where he created and researches the award-winning Minnesota Modern Registry, and is an expert on the history of Modernism in Minnesota.

History of Puppetry in the Twin Cities
2026-03-09 19:00 - 21:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
Local puppeteer and historian, Jennings Mergenthal, has just completed an extensive research project focused on the history of puppetry in the Twin Cities, exploring where puppetry came from and why it has been so enduring. The local puppetry guild, the Twin Cities Puppeteers, will display historically significant puppets as well as photos and ephemera.

Ghost of a Chance with Eric Roper
2026-04-27 19:00 - 21:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
Harry and Clementine Robinson were one of a handful of Black families who owned homes more than a century ago in what is now the whitest part of Minneapolis. When Star Tribune reporter Eric Roper moved into the same house where the Robinsons lived, he became determined to find out who they were and what happened to them. He spent nearly five years piecing together the Robinsons’ lives through genealogy records, old public documents, and fascinating tidbits from articles in local Black newspapers from the 1900s. He, with a team of other staff members and community members, wrote a series of articles published as a special insert in the Star Tribune. In addition, they created a six-episode podcast that takes listeners on an intimate journey into Minnesota’s past through the experiences of this one trailblazing couple.

Highlighting the Role of A. O. Hoyt in early Linden Hills: Walking tour with Peter Sussman
2026-07-08 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-07-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Corner of Linden Hills Blvd. and Queen Ave., 4290 Queen Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
Alphonzo O. Hoyt first viewed Lake Harriet in 1882 as a conductor on the steam powered Motor Line. Through 1923 he helped shape Linden Hills, initially with Henry Beard, then as manager of the first Lake Harriet pavilion in 1888 and finally in platting Hoyt’s Crestmont Addition to Minneapolis. Peter Sussman will share the origins and changes along the west side of Lake Harriet on our walking tour.
Meet at the northwest corner of Queen Avenue S. and Linden Hills Boulevard (4290 Queen Ave. S.)
The tour will be held rain or shine, except if an electrical storm is forecasted for the day of the event.

20th Century - Excelsior and the South Shore
2026-08-31 19:00 - 21:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
At the turn of the century, mammoth steamboats and tourism began to leave the lake and Excelsior township and village began to dissolve into five communities, with Excelsior taking its place as the downtown of the south shore. Served by the streetcar from the Twin Cities and home to the popular Excelsior Amusement Park for almost fifty years, tiny Excelsior’s history is still evident today. Joanie Holst with the Lake Minnetonka Historical Society will share Excelsior’s rich history.

It took Courage: Eliza Winston’s Quest for Freedom
2026-10-19 19:00 - 21:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
Dr. Christopher P. Lehman, author of It Took Courage: Eliza Winston’s Quest for Freedom, will talk about the life of enslaved woman Eliza Winston and her persistence in her pursuit of liberation. Born in 1817, she spent her childhood and early adulthood enslaved by President Andrew Jackson’s family in Tennessee. In 1860, after seven years in Mississippi, her enslavers took her on their vacation to Minnesota. There, she found allies who helped her successfully plead her case for emancipation. She became the first and only enslaved person freed through Minnesota’s courts.

Westgate Theater and John Gaspard's Held Over
2026-12-05 10:00 - 12:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
The Westgate Theater opened in 1935 as a neighborhood showplace in Edina, across Sunnyside Road from the Convention Grill. For decades it survived on second‑run features, long after bigger downtown houses had shown them. Yet this modest venue became legendary when it held Harold and Maude on screen for 115 weeks — an unprecedented run that turned a quirky comedy into a cult phenomenon. In Held Over, author John Gaspard traces the theater’s journey from its grand opening through its unlikely brush with history, capturing how one small movie house helped shape the legacy of a film and a generation of moviegoers.
