Longfellow, Minneapolis

Infobox neighborhood
official_name = Longfellow
native_name =
nickname =
motto =


imagesize =
image_caption =


image_

image_shield =


mapsize = 200px
map_caption = Location of Longfellow within the U.S. city of Minneapolis
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1= State
subdivision_type2= Counties
subdivision_name= United States
subdivision_name1= Minnesota
subdivision_name2= Hennepin
subdivision_name3= Minneapolis
established= Founded
established_date= 1849
area_magnitude =
area_total =
TotalArea_sq_mi =
area_land =
LandArea_sq_mi =
area_water =
WaterArea_sq_mi =
area_water_percent =
area_urban =
UrbanArea_sq_mi =
area_metro =
MetroArea_sq_mi =
population_as_of = 2000
population_total = 27,776
population_density =
population_density_mi2 =
population_metro = 3,502,891
population_density_metro_km2 =
population_density_metro_mi2 =
population_urban = 387,970
population_density_urban_km2 =
population_density_urban_mi2 =
population_footnotes=cite web| title=Twin Cities Region Population and Household Estimates, 2006| url=http://www.metrocouncil.org/metroarea/2006PopulationEstimates.pdf | format=PDF | date=2006-04-01 | publisher=Metropolitan Council | accessdate= 2007-07-24] cite web |title=Table 2: Population Estimates for the 100 Most Populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas Based on July 1, 2006 Population Estimates: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |url=http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb07-51tbl2.pdf | format = PDF | date = 2007-04-05 |accessdate=2007-04-16]
timezone= CST
utc_offset= -6
timezone_DST= CDT
utc_offset_DST= -5
latd=
latm=
lats=
latNS= N
longd=
longm=
longs=
longEW= W
longs=
elevation_m=
elevation_ft=
postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 55404, 55406, 55417
area_code = 612
website =
footnotes =
demographics = Longfellow is a defined community in Minneapolis, Minnesota which includes five smaller neighborhoods inside of it: Cooper, Hiawatha, Howe, Longfellow, and Seward. Grouped with South Minneapolis along the city's eastern border with the Mississippi River, Longfellow takes its name from Longfellow neighborhood which in turn is named after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The renowned American poet incorporated elements into his Song of Hiawatha from Henry Schoolcraft's accounts of native Dakota lore in Minnesota which included Minnehaha Falls in Longfellow's southern tip. The early reference of Highway 55 as Hiawatha Avenue, along the west border, may have influenced the naming decision when community borders were drawn in the 1960s. Hiawatha Avenue is the main thoroughfare leading north into Downtown Minneapolis and south to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport.

Longfellow is home to the Danish American Center, Minnehaha Academy, and the Longfellow House. The area is typically recognized by bungalow style homes made popular by ready-to-assemble houses. Minnehaha Falls was once a national attraction and still is an important cultural node of the Twin Cities. [ [http://www.fruitfromwashington.com/History/railroad_images/nprr6x640.jpgNorthern Pacific Railway brochure] ] The west border was once an agri-industrial and milling processing center served by the Northern Pacific Railway. Today the mostly abandoned tall grain silos and factories along the length of the highway are a reminder of the area's history.

History

The city did not acquire land south of Franklin Avenue until 1881 and 1883 with the last half of Longfellow annexed in 1887 from Richfield. [cite web|url=http://www.mpls.lib.mn.us/history/cg1.asp|title= A History of Minneapolis: Governance and Infrastructure|date=2004|publisher=Minneapolis Library] However the area was not largely built until 1906 to 1920 when streetcar and residential rail became accessible. Also the advent of ready-to-assemble homes such as Sears Catalog Homes made homeownership accessible to the primarily immigrant population of the city who could not afford the carpentry or craftsmanship to build single-family homes (or mansions) of the era. Most of these early homeowners were first and second generation Scandinavians who moved out from Cedar Riverside. Even by 1930, the south area was still a major immigrant hub compared to the southwest area with a high foreign-born or second generation population. [cite web| url=http://www.mpls.lib.mn.us/history/re3.asp| title=A History of Minneapolis: 20th Century Growth and Diversity: Maps, 1930s | date=2004|publisher=Minneapolis Library]

Longfellow's popular Song of Hiawatha spurred national interest in Minnehaha Falls and his name became associated with the area. The poet's name would be further emphasized when the Longfellow House was built in 1906. A local businessman, Robert Fremont "Fish" Jones, commissioned the 2/3 scale replica of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's original home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The house was placed as part of the Longfellow Zoological Gardens at 4001 Minnehaha Parkway East, which Jones ran. Jones died in 1934 and the house was deeded to the city. For a short period it was a Minneapolis public library serving the community until it was moved and restored by the Park Board in 1994 to its current location near Minnehaha Falls. [cite web| url=http://www.historichomesofminnesota.com/2008/03/longfellow-house.html | date=Friday, March 14, 2008|title=The Longfellow House |publisher=Historic Homes of MN] It is presently an interpretive and information center for the Minneapolis Park System. [ [http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=271 Longfellow House at Mpls Park site] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.longfellow.org/ Longfellow Community Council]
* [http://www.bungalowclub.org/ Twin Cities Bungalow Club]