Living New Deal / Twin Cities’ Canceled Freeways with Aaron Isaacs

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government under President Franklin Roosevelt undertook a major investment in public infrastructure to fight unemployment and keep the economy afloat. Although it has been over 80 years since those projects were completed, many are still in place, functioning for what they were designed to do. Aaron Isaacs will show us sites in Minnesota.

We all know how I-94 and I-35W displaced African American neighborhoods. The impact on the Twin Cities could have been much more pronounced had eight other proposed urban freeways been built. Learn where they were supposed to go and how close they came to happening.

An optional lunch at Hilltop Restaurant (5101 Arcadia Ave., Edina), follows. Please make your lunch reservation below or call (612) 799-5141. Everyone is welcome.

The Grand Meadow Chert Quarry: A Significant New Indigenous Site

Our speaker, Tom Trow, is the lead archaeologist for the effort to open to the public a long-
hidden archaeological and cultural site in Mower County, MN. For about 400 years, ending in
around 1400 CE, the Grand Meadow Chert Quarry was the most important place in southeastern
MN and possibly the whole state, at the time. Families and entire villages came here for the
stone called “chert” (flint is a type of chert), used for everyday tools including awls, hide scrapers,
spear points, and arrowheads. Tools made from this chert have been found at sites in 52 counties
in the state, including Hennepin.

Who Lived Here? Longtime Linden Hills Residents and their Homes

Through memories, research, and photographs, descendants of four families who put down
roots in different parts of Linden Hills will compare and contrast their personal experiences and
those of their forebears, building homes and navigating events of the Twentieth Century.
Politicians, writers, publishers, industrialists, developers, church elders, and neighbors: we’ll find
some of their challenges curious, and others very familiar.

The Unique Northwest Corner of Linden Hills: walking tour with Peter Sussman

This varied setting, initially platted in 1889, borders both the Minikahda Club golf course and
Saint Louis Park. Stately hillside homes transition to post-World War II housing built over
former wetlands. Uncover the circumstances of the adjacent two-block, 1922 Calhoun Terrace
Addition, the singular plat in Linden Hills that included racial deed restrictions.

The Unique Northwest Corner of Linden Hills: walking tour with Peter Sussman

This varied setting, initially platted in 1889, borders both the Minikahda Club golf course and
Saint Louis Park. Stately hillside homes transition to post-World War II housing built over
former wetlands. Uncover the circumstances of the adjacent two-block, 1922 Calhoun Terrace
Addition, the singular plat in Linden Hills that included racial deed restrictions.

Linden Hills History 101

Are you new to the Linden Hills area or a long-time resident who would like to know more
about your neighborhood? Enjoy an informative evening with an abbreviated version of Linden
Hills’s rich history: early Native American villages, Lake Harriet pavilions, streetcars, a vibrant
business district, and the interesting people whose efforts built this special place. We promise
you’ll leave with a greater appreciation of our wonderful community. Local historians, Aaron
Isaacs, author and historian at the Minnesota Streetcar Museum; and historian and popular
walking tour leader, Peter Sussman, will present a historical overview of Lake Harriet and the
Linden Hills neighborhood.