A Picturesque Village

“Soon after the creation of Robbinsdale the Car Shops and the Hubbard Manufacturing Company were destroyed by fire and Robbinsdale again became purely residential.” “Some boisterous characters who frequently drive through Robbinsdale on Sunday on … Read more

On Noble Avenue Then and Now

The Robbinsdale Village Council minutes record some street name changes in 1915. “County Road” (now Shoreline) was changed to Lake Street, to be a continuation of the then Lake Street (now 40th Avenue North) to … Read more

Through Service Streetcars

1914   The November 1, 1914, Minneapolis Tribune describes the new through street-car service just inaugurated. ‘It leaves Hennepin and Sixth Street and arrives thirty minutes later in Robbinsdale, at the end of a 3800-foot … Read more

Haakon and the Village Hall

1888 The late 1880’s were busy ones for this area. Haakon Christensen, born in Oslo, Norway, in 1859, first visited Robbinsdale to attend the laying of the cornerstone of the Seminary. He returned shortly after, … Read more

A Blacksmith on the Corner

  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

Progress in Robbinsdale Park

 During the 1920’s,Edith Robbins and her sister, Amy Robbins Ware, owned and operated the Robbinsdale Hy-Way Tea House, in addition to their regular real estate, insurance and loan business, as The Andrew B. Robbins’ Estate, … Read more

Crystal Lake

The relationship between Robbinsdale and the sparkling lake in the center of town has never been an easy one. In the 1880s, Crystal Lake Avenue (West Broadway) was used by farmers to bring produce into Minneapolis. The steep hill on the west side of the lake caused teams and carts to line up in caravans twenty deep.In 1893, a couple months after Robbinsdale was incorporated at a village, the council decided to use to use $1000 from the “Saloon Fund” to cut down the hill. The fill from the project was used to shrink the lake. William Randall and George “Don” Johnson started Robbinsdale Ice and Fuel Co. and began cutting ice on Crystal Lake in the 1890’s. A couple years later the Crystal Ice Company the Cedar Lake Ice Company began staking out territory on Crystal Lake. In 1903 Thomas Girling’s Picturesque Robbinsdale newspaper reported that the number of parties cutting ice on Crystal Lake was due to the “extreme clearness and purity, this ice is considered the best that can be had around Minneapolis.” Andrew B. Robbins believed Crystal and Twin would one day rival the popular chain of lakes in Minneapolis. Enthusiastic about the possibilities of Robbinsdale’s lakes, He claimed that “Crystal Lake in size would compare with the better known Lake Harriet of Minneapolis, while Twin Lake is twice that size. Its mate, upper Twin Lake connects with a chain of several lakes.” A canal between Crystal and Twin Lakes was proposed on a number of occasions.

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