City of Parks

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City of Parks

The Story of Minneapolis Parks

David C. Smith

Table of Contents

PRESS
Minneapolis Observer Quarterly review

$39.95 cloth/jacket
ISBN: 978-0-6151-9535-3

Minneapolis has long been known as the “City of Lakes.” But all the city’s major lakes are, in fact, parks. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board also owns significant stretches of the banks of the Mississippi River and tributary streams within the city. Neighborhood parks and playgrounds dot the landscape as in few other cities. Encircling them is an extensive system of parkways, the Grand Rounds. In reality, Minneapolis is not just a city of lakes, but a city of parks.

This vast system of open spaces was acquired by a park board largely independent of the rest of city government. The park board was created by the Minnesota legislature and ratified by Minneapolis voters in April 1883. The vote that created a park board with extraordinary powers culminated years of effort by a handful of park visionaries—and marked the beginning of a celebrated municipal park system.

City of Parks tells the stories of many people who helped create Minneapolis parks and manage the turning points in park history. Among them were Horace Cleveland, the eloquent proponent of preserving land for public use, Charles Loring, known as the “Father of Minneapolis Parks,” and William Folwell, the first president of the University of Minnesota, who was a staunch advocate of park expansion. These extraordinary men were followed by an energetic superintendent of parks, Theodore Wirth, who managed the expansion and reshaping of parks, Clifford Booth, who helped establish an active park recreation program, and Eloise Butler, who created a wild flower garden of world renown.

With foresight and determination the stewards of Minneapolis’s parks have adapted to evolving public demand for parks and for recreation programs—nearly always with an eye on the future. City of Parks is the story of how the people of a city not only met their own needs, but anticipated those of future generations.

“[A] thoughtful and comprehensive history of our park system.” —Minneapolis Observer Quarterly

David C. Smith is a Minneapolis resident who has enjoyed the city’s parks for more than thirty years. He has been a freelance writer for many publications and corporations for more than two decades. This is his first book.

256 pages | 96 b&w photos, 43 color plates, 4 maps | 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 | 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Preface

Three Extraordinary Men

Try, Try Again

Victory at Last

A System Takes Shape

A Turn to the Lakes

The Mythical Falls

Folwell Joins the Fray

Dreams Deferred

The Main Attraction

Let the Games Begin

The Legacy of Horace Cleveland

Man of Action

Man of Structure

A Man of His Time

Earth Mover

The Rise of Recreation

A Critical Evaluation

Postwar Progress

The Bigger City

A Man on a Mission

Freeways, Parkways and Public Action

Rise of Conservation

Return to the River

Fragmentation

What Endures

Park Commissioners and Superintendents 1883-2008
Selected Sources
Index

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City of Parks *The Story of Minneapolis Parks* David C. Smith Table of Contents PRESS Minneapolis Observer Quarterly review		$39.95 cloth/jacket ISBN: 978-0-6151-9535-3
Minneapolis has long been known as the “City of Lakes.” But all the city’s major lakes are, in fact, parks. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board also owns significant stretches of the banks of the Mississippi River and tributary streams within the city. Neighborhood parks and playgrounds dot the landscape as in few other cities. Encircling them is an extensive system of parkways, the Grand Rounds. In reality, Minneapolis is not just a city of lakes, but a city of parks. This vast system of open spaces was acquired by a park board largely independent of the rest of city government. The park board was created by the Minnesota legislature and ratified by Minneapolis voters in April 1883. The vote that created a park board with extraordinary powers culminated years of effort by a handful of park visionaries—and marked the beginning of a celebrated municipal park system. City of Parks tells the stories of many people who helped create Minneapolis parks and manage the turning points in park history. Among them were Horace Cleveland, the eloquent proponent of preserving land for public use, Charles Loring, known as the “Father of Minneapolis Parks,” and William Folwell, the first president of the University of Minnesota, who was a staunch advocate of park expansion. These extraordinary men were followed by an energetic superintendent of parks, Theodore Wirth, who managed the expansion and reshaping of parks, Clifford Booth, who helped establish an active park recreation program, and Eloise Butler, who created a wild flower garden of world renown. With foresight and determination the stewards of Minneapolis’s parks have adapted to evolving public demand for parks and for recreation programs—nearly always with an eye on the future. City of Parks is the story of how the people of a city not only met their own needs, but anticipated those of future generations. “[A] thoughtful and comprehensive history of our park system.” —Minneapolis Observer Quarterly David C. Smith is a Minneapolis resident who has enjoyed the city’s parks for more than thirty years. He has been a freelance writer for many publications and corporations for more than two decades. This is his first book. 256 pages \| 96 b&w photos, 43 color plates, 4 maps \| 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 \| 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments Preface Three Extraordinary Men Try, Try Again Victory at Last A System Takes Shape A Turn to the Lakes The Mythical Falls Folwell Joins the Fray Dreams Deferred The Main Attraction Let the Games Begin The Legacy of Horace Cleveland Man of Action Man of Structure A Man of His Time Earth Mover The Rise of Recreation A Critical Evaluation Postwar Progress The Bigger City A Man on a Mission Freeways, Parkways and Public Action Rise of Conservation Return to the River Fragmentation What Endures Park Commissioners and Superintendents 1883-2008 Selected Sources Index