The area known today as Old Highland was originally part of the Fort Snelling Military Reservation, which was claimed for the United States in 1809 by Lt. Zebulon Pike. In 1857, the area immediately north of Bassett Creek was separated from the…

HISTORY: Located north of 17th Avenue between Dupont and Bryant Avenues, Ascension Church has played a major role in the life of Old Highland since 1890, when the original church was built as a spiritual home for the many Catholic immigrants…

HISTORY: In 1897 three Sisters of St. Joseph Carondelet, along with Father Harrington, began the Ascension School in a three-room building housing 160 students. The Sisters initially lived in the Holy Angels Academy on 4th Street and walked back and…

HISTORY: In 1894, this Romanesque Revival church was built to serve a growing population of German immigrants living in North Minneapolis. Minnesota was home to many German immigrants, and it was a widely-spoken language until World War I. Sermons…

HISTORY: Now a private home, this building was the first parsonage for the Church of the Ascension. Records show that it was moved twice: First from the corner of 18th Street and Bryant Avenue, where it was built in 1890 (the site of the present…

HISTORY: Imagine a school with three teachers, three classrooms...and 160 students! That was the original Ascension School, founded in 1897. Unfortunately, no pictures have been found of the original building. The first building pictured here…

HISTORY: The exterior of the Ascension Club is a monolith in the truest sense, providing weight and presence in the community for countless children and families. Built in 1921, this building was for many years the heart and soul of the Old Highland…

HISTORY: Built in 1907, this two-and-a-half story Prairie Style/American Foursquare was first owned by Peter and Mary Eminger. Peter Eminger was a co-owner of Drews and Eminger wholesale meat firm at 34 Central Market. Sadly, Peter died in November…

HISTORY: Vincent Schuler, founder of the Schuler Shoes chain popular in Minnesota, had this home built by Joseph Lang Contractors in 1905, for $5000. It included gas light fixtures but was also wired for electricity. Schuler lived here with his wife…

HISTORY: In the Minneapolis City Directory of 1886-87, the original owner of this home, Frank Kost, is listed as a "band leader" and lived a few blocks away at 1709 North Second Street. By 1888-89 Kost was listed as a North Side realtor…

HISTORY Frank Raidt, the first owner and a local contractor, built this Colonial Revival home in 1903 with central heating. The home had no fireplace, which was unusual, but the rooms are highlighted by prominent, highly-decorative radiators. Raidt…

Norwegian architects and immigrants Diedrik Omeyer and Martin Thori designed this home built in 1889. Omeyer and Thori designed a number of other structures currently on the National Register of Historic Places, including courthouses, seminaries, and…

HISTORY This Classical Revival frame duplex was constructed in 1899 at 1837 Bryant Avenue North. In 1986, it was moved to its current location on Dupont to make room for off-street parking for businesses on Broadway. This has happened several times…

HISTORY Built in 1886, this stately Queen Anne was first owned by an A. Massolt, who operated a brewery on Plymouth Avenue and North 2nd Street (where Standard Heating and Air Conditioning is currently located). During the Prohibition era, Massolt…

HISTORY The incised letter "L" you see on the cartouche above the front porch stand for "Lohmar"--original owner John Lohmar, a German merchant and milliner who owned and operated a dry goods store on Washington Avenue North.…

HISTORY Associated with one of Minneapolis’ pioneering merchants and farmers, the Case-Lang House is a key surviving example of a first-generation Minneapolis residence. Its first owner, Emanuel Case, was one of the original homesteaders in the…

HISTORY The current owners, already residents of the neighborhood, purchased this apartment building in 2010. They then completed a year-long preservation and renovation project of the interiors of the building, including installing modern kitchens…

HISTORY Constructed in 1888 for John Young, treasurer of a Minneapolis gas company, and designed by Charles Sedgwick, this is a beautiful example of the classic Queen Anne style. According to Fred Neet’s Local Heritage Preservation Designation…

HISTORY Lumberman Frederick S. Stevens owned a sawmill on the river at Plymouth Avenue, and chose prolific Minneapolis contractor Theron P. Healy to build this home for him in 1890. This block was on the edge of residential construction in 1890, and…

HISTORY Neoclassical architecture, derived from the architecture of Rome and Greece, was very popular in public buildings, especially in the first half of the 20th century. This popularity did sometimes spill over into residential structures like…

HISTORY After she moved from "Twin Pillars" (1012-1014 17th Avenue), which you saw earlier on this tour, Dorothy Lundstrum owned and rented out this home while she lived next door at 1416 Emerson. Dorothy, who became a North Side legend,…

HISTORY Built in 2003, this Prairie School style building serves as an excellent example of a compatible infill structure, meaning that the new architecture blends well with the already-existing neighborhood. The building is currently occupied by…

HISTORY Although an owner of the Model Clothing House at 3rd and Nicollet in Minneapolis, and the Standard Clothing House at 6th and Nicollet, original homeowner A.M. Nordstrom was not related to the founder of the national department store…

HISTORY The first owner of this two-and-a-half-story home with Classical Revival and Victorian influences was John W. Pauly, a cigar manufacturer who also served as a state senator. The home was built in 1901. Pauly's daughter discovered his…

The first owner of this Prairie School home was Frank Gross, the second Minneapolis Parks Commissioner (after Theodore Wirth). As parks commissioner, Gross had access to several species of ornamental tree. The gingko located between the front…

HISTORY This home was built for F.S. Thompson, a member of the Minneapolis Real Estate Board, in 1902. Like the St. Jane House at 1403 Emerson, this building is owned by the Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis. This urban monastery is a unique…

HISTORY The estimated building cost was listed as $6,000 on the building permit when this house was built in 1900. The original owner of this home owned a dairy on Golden Valley Road, on the western edge of the city limits. This dairy was…

HISTORY The historical building permit notes that the first owner was Nellie D. Webster, and that the house was built in 1910. The home's current owners are only the third owners of the home in its entire history of over 100 years. They have…

HISTORY This 1904 two-and-a-half-story Classical Revival home was built as a duplex and was apparently intended to be used as a rental property. It has belonged to three generations of one family since 1951. The current owners' grandparents…

HISTORY In 1890, at the request of the North Minneapolis Improvement Association, a horse-and-buggy tour sang the praises of the North Side to Minneapolis librarian Herbert Putnam. Putnam reputedly had said that only six books had gone “north of the…