Exploring the Knob and Kettle Landscape of Oliver Park with Peter Sussman
The portion of Linden Hills west of Xerxes Avenue including Linden Hills Park was platted as the Oliver Park Addition in 1885.
The low-lying land south of Lake Calhoun/Bde Maka Ska was known as “Fern Valley” and homes were initially built on the hills west from Zenith Ave. Our walking tour will follow the progression of home dates and styles as the neighborhood filled in and recently has experienced significant upgrading and replacement.
The tour will depart from the LHHSG table at the Linden Hills Fall Festival.
Westgate Theater and John Gaspard’s Held Over
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.
It took Courage: Eliza Winston’s Quest for Freedom
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.
20th Century – Excelsior and the South Shore
Learn about the streetcars that connected Lake Harriet with Lake Minnetonka and more. At the turn of the century, mammoth steamboats and tourism began to leave Lake Minnetonka, and Excelsior township and the village began to dissolve into five communities. Joanie Holst, of the Lake Minnetonka Historical Society, will share Excelsior’s rich history as Excelsior became 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.
Highlighting the Role of A. O. Hoyt in early Linden Hills: Walking tour with Peter Sussman
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.
Highlighting the Role of A. O. Hoyt in early Linden Hills: Walking tour with Peter Sussman
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.