Preserve Minneapolis Walking Tours

Whenever possible, we take advantage of the Walking Tours offered by Preserve Minneapolis.  This past Saturday, it was the The Authentic East Hennepin Experience, led by Tammy Lindberg, Co-Vice President.

We started with Our Lady of Lourdes Church and ended with the Red Stag Supperclub.  Tammy shared insight into the neighborhood's diverse history, architecture, building rehabs, and buildings that were lost prior to preservation becoming a priority.

These tours are a fairly new offering, and as you can see by the gathering crowd of attendees below, they are quickly gaining popularity.  Tours are 90 minutes to 2 hours - an incredible bargain at $5 per person.

Did you know "Polonaise" is a Polish word meaning a slow dance consisting of a march or promenade in couples? 

Surdyk's was originally in the building now occupied by Ginger Hop.  If you peak around the back you'll see the remains of a Surdyk's mural. 

While our tour was in front of Kramarczuk Deli, Mr. Kramarczuk was kind enough to join us and entertain the group with some history and stories from his youth.

Some nearby businesses were against the mid-1990's rehabilitation of the 200 block of East Hennepin (they preferred the vacant buildings be demolished to make room for parking).

The current home of Masu Sushi & Robata was built in 1893 as the St. Anthony Falls Bank.

The well-preserved former Masonic Cataract Lodge Building is now the Aveda Institute.  A comparison of historic pictures against the building today show numerous original details.

We haven't had occasion to visit Whitey's Saloon, but after learning about it on the tour, it's on our to-do list.  According to the tour materials, in addition to displaying many historic photos of Northeast Minneapolis, there is a gigantic carving of a burlesque-style lady sprawling over the bar.

More buildings on our tour...

We look forward to the 7:00pm Minneapolis Warehouse District Tour this Thursday.

It's never too early to start learning the history of your city!