Thomas Lowry's Ghost

Thomas Lowry was the founder of the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company. At one point it stretched from Minnetonka in the west to Stillwater in the east. A serial speculator, he managed to develop the still-largely intact transit system that us Twin Citians use to this day...and lots of valuable real estate. This is not an ode to Lowry, but a site that will be mostly Minneapolis history-centric. (BTW: my name is Andy, and you can email me at andygifford75 at gmail dot com)

[thomaslowrysghost]

Do you like Minneapolis? Do you like alleys? Then you’re in for an underwhelming treat!

I’ve been photographing alleys around town over the past number of years and posting over at Zuck’s Fotomat. But now I have a dedicated account just for these intriguing urban nerve networks. Stop over at Alleys of Minneapolis and give me a howdy and a follow. (and don’t mind the typo)

Alleys of Minneapolid (@alleysofminneapolis) • Instagram photos and videos

39 Followers, 28 Following, 6 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Alleys of Minneapolid (@alleysofminneapolis)

[thomaslowrysghost]

Does anyone still use this app?

[thomaslowrysghost]

It was fully my intention to write a book, as I had a contract with a publisher and was actively doing some writing. Was.

But, as is often the case, life gets in the way. Life that does not give you the leeway or the bandwidth to devote your time and energy to such an undertaking. A brain that doesn’t cooperate with your heart. Circumstances.

I got about halfway through writing this damn thing and decided it wasn’t going to pan out; at least not in the way that appease both my abilities and my editor’s expectations. It’s something I’ve dreamed of doing for years. To be able to document and research a passion of mine: Minneapolis history. I reckon I’ll still do that as I did before in a less formal way.

So, that’s been mothballed. I’ll continue to do other things: work, rest, what I will. Pictured are some of the things I came across in my research. Maybe it’ll actually happen someday.

[thomaslowrysghost]

Hi. Yes, it’s been a while. I don’t have any good excuses or reasons as to why I haven’t posted in ages.

BUT, I did want to mention that I am working on my first book! As you’d might expect, it’s about Minneapolis history. Specifically, it will be about some of the gone but beloved restaurants that once held court here in Aqua City. No ETA on the book, but I’ll try and update my page more regularly as it gets closer. If you want to reach out with any suggestions or anything, feel free to message me or find me on Twitter. ( @tomlowrysghost)

PS: you guys look great!

image is of the dining room at Cafe DiNapoli, 8th & Hennepin, 1961 (via the MHS)

[thomaslowrysghost]

  Ads and paraphernalia from defunct Minneapolis record stores.

(via)

[thomaslowrysghost]

The German Dachshund at Longfellow Gardens is chained to his kennel!

He is whimpering a bit, but R.F. Jones says that he will have to let him whimper for a while. It is necessary to teach him a lesson.

“Why, the fool pup thought that he owned the whole place,” explained Mr. Jones in declaring the series of events which occurred yesterday and forced him to adopt severe measures.

The root of the trouble, in Mr. Jones’ opinion, was the food supply. The Dachshund, with plenty of bones of his own, aspired to those of the Russian wolfhounds, who occupy an adjoining kennel.

But he also scared the French ducks who set up a terrible quacking.

The English fallow deer did not notice him so much until he began growling at the Belgian hares who occupy the same grassy enclosure. Even the Chinese pheasants, so their keeper stated, had a grievance against the short-legged doggie.

Mr. Jones rather suspects that the 20 big new American flags which were raised over the zoo had something to do with frightening the pugnacious puppy into submission.

(newspaper article, published in the May 13th, 1917 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune via, images via)

[thomaslowrysghost]

Dayton’s Department Store Basketball Team, circa 1943

[thomaslowrysghost]

Advertisement for Grain Belt Beer from the December 18th, 1911 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune

[thomaslowrysghost]

Macy’s Tells City It Intends To Close Nicollet Mall Store

Macy’s flagship here was once the headquarters of Dayton Hudson Corp., which, in addition to Dayton’s, Hudson’s and Marshall Field department stores—owned Target Stores, Mervyn’s and B. Dalton Bookseller. The store’s upper floors, once filled with buyers and management, are now mostly empty. Retail operations at the store have also been scaled back; Dayton’s once offered furniture, carpeting, appliances, books, electronics and high-fashion women’s couture. Dayton Hudson changed its name to Target Corp. in 2000. A year later, it rebranded all its department stores as Marshall Field’s, after the Chicago department store group it purchased in 1990. Target Corp. sold its department store holdings to St. Louis-based May Department Stores in 2004. May flipped its portfolio to Macy’s a year later in a massive consolidation of American department stores under the Macy’s brand.

(postcard image, date unknown, via)

(newspaper ad, from the June 30th, 1903 Minneapolis Tribune, via)

[thomaslowrysghost]

The Metropolitan (Guarantee Loan) building, shortly before its demolition (1961)

(images via Floyd Kelley Collection)

[thomaslowrysghost]

From the 11/6/1916 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune. The newspaper created this elaborate way of notifying the public-at-large by spotlight of local and national election results. They advised readers to cut out this key and look skyward over the course of the evening.

And for those that chose to venture Downtown to the newspaper’s offices on 4th Street, they could see tallies displayed on the outside of the building. The Tribune boasted of having a reporter at every polling station in Hennepin County that would quickly relay voting numbers by telephone.

[thomaslowrysghost]

Sorry for the prolonged absence, gang. I suspect you hardly noticed. But I’m an over-polite Minnesotan and feel obligated to explain:

Well, I really don’t have an explanation. I’ve gotten wrapped up in life or killing time in different, less productive ways. I still do some (very) amateur research on local history and stuff. Don’t think I’ve lost the passion for that

It’s entirely possible that, like lots of other folks, this election season has absolutely worn me down to a nub. I’m trying to tune out as much of it as possible without becoming an apathetic, apolitical know-nothing. For me, that means spending less time on social media. Or at least the kinds where I have to do a lot of interaction with other...even those I agree with.

Anyway, here’s a few pictures I’ve taken over the year. I’m on Instagram if you’d like to follow along there as well or instead. Hope you’re well, and feel free to bug me if you’d like!

[thomaslowrysghost]

Another article from the August 21, 1906 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune.

This one caught my eye because of Hall’s Island, where seminal dad band Wilco performed last night. And has, of late, become the go-to outdoor concert venue in Minneapolis, after years of industrial/non-use.

Second, the use of the term ‘Gerber Baths’. Public baths were a common, but I’d never heard that term before. A quick Google search yielded this:

City officials did what they could to try and keep boys from swimming in dangerous waters.  In 1905, the city created the Gerber Baths on what was formerly known as Hall (sic) Island.  The bath, which was named after one of the city’s aldermen, was established with the expressed purpose of saving boys’ lives.  The Minneapolis Journal reported that girls were “not in the habit of getting drowned in the river and [since] the chief object of the baths was to save the boys,” girls were limited to using the bathhouse two half-days a week.  Judging from cemetery records, it appears that providing a safer place to swim may have saved at least some boys’ lives.

[thomaslowrysghost]

‘Hot weather scenes in Minneapolis’

Illustration from the August 21, 1906 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune

[thomaslowrysghost]

Captain Marvel and the Minneapolis Mystery!

Captain Marvel Adventures comic #24, June 1943

[thomaslowrysghost]

Block E. Hennepin Ave between 6th and & 7th St, Minneapolis. (year unkown)

(image via)

[thomaslowrysghost]

Shinder's Newsstand. 6th and Hennepin, Minneapolis (1946) The storied business would have turned 100 years old in 2016. They had multiple locations in Minneapolis and around the metro area by the time of their closing in 2007.

(image via Minneapolis Star Tribune)