Robbinsdale Historical Society
Sharing Your Past To Build Our Future
From the Presidents Report to the Minneapolis Park Board of Commissioners in 1921: Probably the most outstanding event of the year was the dedication on June 11 of the memorial trees on Victory Memorial Drive … Read more
George Dover was an English immigrant of Jewish decent. He started the Robbinsdale Cab company in the early 1920’s. The business was a family affair. After George retired his son, David took over and  built … Read more
The late 1880s were busy wins for this area. Haakon Christensen ( Pictured above with his son George) was born in Oslo Norway in 1859. He first visited Robbinsdale to attend the laying of … Read more
The first railroad through Robbinsdale was called the Northwest Branch of the St. Paul Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad Company. In 1880 a flag station was established and if you wanted a ride all you had … Read more
Thomas H. Girling was born in Nottingham, England in 1865. He came to America with his parents in 1872. Thirty years later he opened a small printing business and began publishing a weekly called Picturesque … Read more
Beginning in 1942 a Twin City Rapid Transit feeder bus met the Penn Avenue streetcar in Minneapolis at a terminal near 42nd and Thomas and went to Robbinsdale along 42nd, Abbott, Noble and Vera Cruz … Read more
The Robbinsdale Airport opened in 1919, but civilian flying was halted during World War II. In 1942 the Robbinsdale Airport’s 23 planes were organized as part of the Civilian Air Patrol. Most of the … Read more
A streetcar stopped at the Modern Woodsman of America Park at on Johnson Road (36th Avenue) near the Southwest tip of Crystal Lake . In the early 1900’s, the lake came up to about where … Read more
Robbinsdale’s first school bus hit the road in 1924. Howard Hommes drove the kids in from as far away as Crystal, Brooklyn Center and New Hope. Early school buses usually had a wooden body attached … Read more