July 17, 2016, Sunday - Milwaukee Avenue Historic District Walking Tour with Preserve Minneapolis

Time: 10:00am

Location: Meet at Milwaukee Avenue and East Franklin Avenue

Milwaukee Avenue Historic District Walking Tour with Preserve Minneapolis

In the late 19th century, the narrow street that became Milwaukee Avenue served as the first home in Minneapolis for immigrant families of Northern European workers who labored in the nearby Milwaukee Railroad yards and industrial shops.

A 1970s public agency’s renewal plan called for demolishing approximately 70% of the houses in the 35 block Seward West neighborhood, including all of the houses on Milwaukee Avenue. However, a neighborhood organization, the Seward West Project Area Committee (PAC), thwarted that plan, instead established rehabilitation of the houses as a principal development tool. PAC’s research led to Milwaukee Avenue’s local and national historic district designation.

The neighborhood organization’s 1970s redevelopment process rehabilitated 34 of the original 46 houses facing the street, and converted the once narrow street into a landscaped pedestrian walkway. The street’s unique architectural character renders a human scale quite different from the surrounding neighborhood. Milwaukee Avenue was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The tour will walk 1/4 mile. The tour guide is Bob Roscoe.