The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota is located on both sides of the Mississippi River. Here are two circa 1908-10 postcards with birdseye views of Minneapolis and the Mississippi River. I wish the first one listed the actual location. It isn't a commonly seen view, and I am unable to identify it. I like the way it shows curves in the river. The river looks much straighter from ground level.
The second view has a label that identifies it as "View from Court House." The Court House was in downtown Minneapolis on the west side of the Mississippi River. The tower of the Court House was one of the few places tall enough to allow such an expansive birdseye view.
More early twentieth century postcard views of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis can be seen on my postcardy.com website here.
Addendum:
Here is a 1980s postcard showing an area similar to the second postcard above. This view is from the IDS Center, the tallest building in Minnesota. The street that leads into the curved bridge is the same street that runs toward the river in the card above. The bridge is the Third Avenue Bridge which was built 1914-18. The tower of the old Milwaukee Road Depot can be seen near the center of both postcards.
Addendum:
Here is a 1980s postcard showing an area similar to the second postcard above. This view is from the IDS Center, the tallest building in Minnesota. The street that leads into the curved bridge is the same street that runs toward the river in the card above. The bridge is the Third Avenue Bridge which was built 1914-18. The tower of the old Milwaukee Road Depot can be seen near the center of both postcards.
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| View from the IDS Center looking toward the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls Photo by B. Sherve |
Addendum 2: Identification of location of first postcard above "BIRDSEYE VIEW OF MINNEAPOLIS AND MISSISSIPPI RIVER"
I thought the most likely location was a view from the old Exposition building showing some buildings on East Hennepin Avenue, but I had trouble finding an old picture to confirm it. A 1912 view looked like a possibility, but the angle made it hard to really identify the distinctive shapes of the buildings.
Eventually, I found a 1950 image of that clearly shows the distinctive shapes of two of the buildings shown on the postcard. This is identified as "Midland Furniture, East Hennepin near Second Street Southeast, Minneapolis". (source:MNHS)
These buildings are no longer there. A 1970 image shows that the buildings had been modified and housed Kromes's Furniture Store at 111-117 East Hennepin Avenue (source: MNHS). In this view, part of Nye's Polonaise Room is shown across the street. Nye's is scheduled to close in 2015, so that the site can be redeveloped.
I thought the most likely location was a view from the old Exposition building showing some buildings on East Hennepin Avenue, but I had trouble finding an old picture to confirm it. A 1912 view looked like a possibility, but the angle made it hard to really identify the distinctive shapes of the buildings.
Eventually, I found a 1950 image of that clearly shows the distinctive shapes of two of the buildings shown on the postcard. This is identified as "Midland Furniture, East Hennepin near Second Street Southeast, Minneapolis". (source:MNHS)
These buildings are no longer there. A 1970 image shows that the buildings had been modified and housed Kromes's Furniture Store at 111-117 East Hennepin Avenue (source: MNHS). In this view, part of Nye's Polonaise Room is shown across the street. Nye's is scheduled to close in 2015, so that the site can be redeveloped.
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Well done! In the days before airplanes, helicopters, and drones made aerial views commonplace these bird's eye view images must have seemed an amazing novelty. Having a river made it easier to figure out directions too.
ReplyDeleteI love your post cards. The colours are so clear and pretty. Are they painted? Did they have colour film in those days?
ReplyDeleteMost of the old colored view postcards were based on black-and-white photos that were tinted.
DeleteAerial views like these enable us to sea features that would be missed from ground level,
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see a modern-day shot that replicates the view from the Court House...is it so terribly different?
ReplyDeleteHere is a view that shows the same general area, but not quite the same direction. The courthouse tower is in the foreground. The white oval on the right is the Metrodome which was torn down last year so a new stadium could be built.
Deletehttp://www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us/7138
I am having trouble figuring out Google maps--it seems to have changed a lot. Location is Hennepin County Government Center. Here is a link to an aerial view from Google that I found:
Deletehttps://www.google.com/maps/place/Hennepin+County+Government+Center/@44.9795005,-93.2533977,2380m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x52b3329fb70ff9f7:0x5dd991e9d0da3337
I added a 1980s postcard view to my post.
DeleteI like the curved bridge in your second postcard. There's something about rounding things that makes them look so graceful, artistic, and apart from the ordinary. We have a curved bridge over the Tuolumne River in our area which imparts the same feeling every time I drive over it.
ReplyDeleteThere is something quite unique about these early postcards which I really like - They are photographs, but at the same time look like paintings or even etchings, which makes them very special.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the last comment - the old coloured postcards certainly do look like paintings! A lot of city development has gone on since they were produced.
ReplyDeleteI asked my husband, a bridge engineer, to look at the first photo. He believes the large yellow brick building on the left is a mill, the iron bridge is a railroad bridge and on the upper right a power plant with brick stack. This would suggest the photo was taken from one of the tall buildings on the UofM campus, east bank. St. Anthony falls migrated back over the years so may be off the photo to the lower left.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the University of Minnesota is a possible location. The University is about a mile south of the falls.
DeleteI searched old photos online, but now I am thinking I might see if I can find anything at the library. Assuming the view is from the east bank of the river, I thought the view could be from the tower of the old Exposition building. If so, the store buildings could be on East Hennepin, and Nicollet Island could be off to the left.
See Addendum 2. The buildings are definitely on East Hennepin Avenue.
DeleteWonderful postcards and I appreciate the detective work to locate corresponding photos.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the 1886 panoramic illustration at http://grainbelt.com/wp-grainbelt/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/about-header.jpg. I believe it establishes the specific location of the postcard view at the top of this page.
ReplyDeleteThe view shows St. Anthony Falls looking north. Above it is Nicollet Island, and the first bridge you see is the Hennepin Avenue Bridge. Hennepin Ave. becomes East Hennepin once it crosses over the river. Nyes Polonaise is located a block from the river on East Hennepin. Across the street from it would be the Midland Bldg pictured in photo 5. Neither building is evident in the panorama. Two blocks north of the Hennepin Bridge is a railroad bridge where a railroad bridge exists to this day. Beyond the north tip of the island, same side as our view, are tall smokestacks. Notice also the logs in the river, both in view 1, and in the 1886 view I have linked. The very large building overlooking the falls is the Industrial Exposition Building, which housed the city's first Industrial Exposition in 1886 and the Republican National Convention of 1892. It dominated the Mississippi riverbank east of St. Anthony Falls for decades. See: https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2013/05/state-fair-rival-minneapolis-industrial-exposition