| THE HEART OF MINNEAPOLIS'S SKID ROW was Gateway
Park, a distressed little triangle of greenery formed by the intersection of downtown's busiest arteries: Washington, Hennepin, and Nicollet Avenues. By 1955, one of the last years the neighborhood remained intact, skid row proper stretched up all three streets to encompass nearly twenty-five city blocks. But the park itself, and the streets that faced it, formed a microcosm of the larger district. During mild weather, the park served as living room and clubhouse for the men who lived on skid row. They would spill out of the hotels and cafes until, on a typical summer day, more than a hundred men congregated in the park. They stood in small groups exchanging news, shined the fenders of parked automobiles with the seats of their trousers, or sprawled out on the grass. On any given day, about a fifth of them were likely to be drunk, according to one city report. In I955 six missions on Nicollet and Hennepin overlooked the park: the Faith, the Union City, the Christian Workers, the Gateway Gospel, and the Minneapolis Revival missions, and the Christian Mission Retreat. The men's section of the division of public relief stood nearby. Of the more than sixty hotels and flophouses in the neighborhood, thirteen faced onto Gateway Park, including the St. James, the Pilgrim, the Pioneer, and the Phoenix hotels. Nine bars and five liquor stores accommodated thirst; eight lunch counters and cafes satisfied hunger; a barber college provided cheap haircuts. A handful of used-clothing stores and wholesale concerns completed the streetscape. |
