Loring Park

Neighborhood HistorySurveys out of Fort Snelling during the first half of the 19th century identified several significant geological features of the area now known as the Loring Park neighborhood. One was "The Devil's Backbone," a long ridge running east-west several miles between Fort Snelling and a tamarack bog fed by Bassetts Creek. Allen Harmon purchased land north of the bog, which he plotted and sold as smaller lots. Joseph Johnson established a farm on the edge of the bog in 1855, and the pond became known as Johnson's Lake.Twenty-five years later, the tamarack bog was literally carved up and carted away during the winter, and architect Horace Cleveland was hired to design a new park, which was dedicated on May 5, 1883. In 1890, Central Park was renamed in honor of the first Superintendent of Minneapolis' new park system, Charles Loring, and a small frame building in the park served as his office.Many fine brick homes, mansions, and row houses replaced the wood-frame homes that first appeared in the neighborhood. Leslie Fawkes established the first auto dealership in the Harmon area in 1901, which later was the site of the largest concentration of auto dealerships in the country. After World War I, several luxury apartments were built in the neighborhood, and single-family homes were rapidly replaced by large "apartment-hotels" to accommodate the salesmen and business travelers who appreciated the neighborhood's convenient location.The neighborhood's population steadily declined after World War II, and renters were more likely to be single-person than families. The Loring Nicollet Community Council organized community events and lobbied the city council for better street lighting and improvements to Loring Park. Neighborhood population peaked in the 1960's at around 14,000, but declined rapidly when development projects such as the I-94 tunnel, the Loring Redevelopment District and the Convention Center decreased the number of residential housing units in the area. After completion of these projects and others, neighborhood population has increased to approximately 7,500.find out more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loring_Park PUT YOUR ABOUT ME SECTION HERE! Changes may take up to 2 mins to show on your profile