History

Minneapolis is a city of immigrants. The North Minneapolis region is no exception. This area grew in stages with older homes being located closer to the city center, and newer housing further out. For the sake of simplicity North Minneapolis can be divided into two well-known regions. To the south of Lowry Avenue is the Near North region and to the north is the Camden region.

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Near North

Adjacent to downtown, the Near North area was developed primarily in the late 1800s. Industrial activities are located along the upper Mississippi River and in the southern Basset Creek Valley. The trendy Warehouse District, and the relatively new North Loop Neighborhood, used to be considered a part of North Minneapolis until I-94, I-394, and Highway 55 carved up the northside. The burgeoning downtown now conciders this area to be part of the downtown district.

Residential development followed early factories with immigrants settling into new working class neighborhoods bordering industrial and warehouse areas. Racial and ethnic diversity was a part of these new neighborhoods. At one time North Minneapolis had a large Jewish community near Plymouth and Olson Memorial Highway. Scandinavians, other Europeans, Africans, and American Indians all lived in the Near North region. West Broadway Avenue, Plymouth Avenue, Olson Memorial Highway, Glenwood Avenue, Penn Avenue, Washington Avenue, and Lyndale Avenue formed the major transportation arties. Each had business districts.

In the 1930s, the Sumner Fields public housing development was built just North of the Bassett Creek Valley and near the nearly reconstructed Olson Memorial Highway. This area was commonly known by many as the Projects. The Sumner Fields Projects were torn down in the 1990s and the was redeveloped as a mixed income and amenity area called Heritage Park. In the 1960s, like many American Cities, racial tensions flared and rioting took place around Plymouth Avenue, resulting in the flight of many in the Jewish community to the new suburb of St. Louis Park. Today the Near North is still very diverse.

Camden

To the north, the Camden area was developed at a slower pace than the Near North region. Camden actually started out as a small community or village, located along the upper Mississippi River, until it was annexed to Minneapolis. Close to the many lumber mills located along the upper Mississippi River, the logging industry sustained this area for many years. As Minnesota's vast forests were logged and the mills declined, new industry set up in its place. Lyndale Avenue and Webber Parkway developed into the area's major commercial district. Lowry Avenue also served as another major commercial center since it had direct connections to Northeast Minneapolis via the Lowry bridge.

In the 1920s, Minneapolis built Victory Memorial Drive in honor of fallen WWI soldiers from Hennepin County. This drive stretches for over 4 miles and connects Theodore Wirth Parkway to Webber Parkway. The drive spurred the development of the neighborhoods surrounding it. Many of the homes built between Shingle Creek to the North and Lowry Avenues to the South, were built in the 1920s to 1940s. The next war, WWII, played a role in developing the area north of the drive and Shingle Creek. Many of the homes built in this area were built in the 1950s to the 1970s. One of the first suburban malls, Brookdale, was built nearby to accommodate the growing North Minneapolis, and now northern suburban populations.

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