Vince Mpls

black and white dry glass plate negative of the first Northern Pacific shops and headquarters in Brainerd MN. An american standard steam locomotive stands in front of a 2 story wooden building, a much larger barn-like structure behind it. Illingworth, 1875

#OnThisDay Mar 6 1871: After hard construction through the bogs and forests of Minnesota, the Northern Pacific Railway finally reaches Brainerd from Duluth. A significant step in the railroad's plan to reach the Pacific Ocean, the nation's 2nd transcontinental line wouldn't be complete until 1883.

map of the circling N119SP helicopter over north minneapolis.

State Patrol helicopters are back today, this time over North Minneapolis. Remember in 2020 when they claimed helicopters stopped 92 carjackings, then it was revealed the Public Information Officer lied and it was 2, or maybe none? At $1000/hr, much more transparency is needed about these flights.

Roper: Public outcry might give new life to decaying, 136-year-old Minneapolis house An 1889 home in northeast Minneapolis is in rough shape after years of vacancy. A proposal to demolish it incensed neighbors.

Like many such cases, it's a lonnnnng story:
www.startribune.com/john-cook-ho...

Not just any dilapidated mansion, but the historic John Cook House - built 1889, granted landmark status in 2021, and saved from the wrecking ball in 2025. But what to do with something that's too valuable to throw away yet too expensive to keep? Godspeed to whomever may try to rescue her.

Some of them are on ramps too 😭

black and white photo of a white brick service station, signs for Exide Batteries and Kelly Tires. A worker wearing leather apron walks away from the camera.

History Snippet: #OnThisDay Mar 5, 1941 scene in front of the Pure Oil Service Station, 500 South 11th Street, in the Elliot Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. The same spot today is the off ramp of I-35W.

True, whenever one starts out with "this may be an unpopular take but...", get ready for flying objects.

Now you're talkin'

The dumbest thing will be a parking lot, the second dumbest thing will be an empty lot, and I can't imagine a developer being attracted to build anything else on that site until it's massively upzoned. And there seems to be no political will in St Paul to do that.

Nothing will replace it as long as St Paul's zoning code remains stuck in the 1970s.

photo of a smiling Joe Walsh

photo of a smiling Alan He

Instead of simply saying "CBS News", name the journalists who wrote this patently misleading article: Joe Walsh and Alan He. Nameless corporations have people enabling them, they need to be directly challenged.

black and white photo of Father Buh in a long white beard and black suit, arm resting on a fence.

a group of Slovenian miners posing in the tunnel of a mine near Eveleth, MN 1915.

#OnThisDay Mar 4 1892: Father Joseph Buh publishes the 11th issue of "Amerikanski Slovenec", the first national newspaper for the Slovenes in the US, at Tower Minnesota. The paper started in Chicago but had ceased publication when Father Buh took it over to serve miners on the Iron Range.

Amazing #OnThisDay #OTD photo!

Thanks to @blindeke.bsky.social and @wesburdine.bsky.social for being lovely hosts!

It's happening. Top geography nerds from both Minneapolis and St Paul have packed the house.

😂

If you leave it sit long enough, yes

I have a lot of frenemies in Marcy-Holmes. @vthorstenson.bsky.social can confirm this.

Chris Farrell's business analysis at @mprnews.org

Sepia-toned color engraving of St Paul in 1853 in an idyllic setting as seen from the opposite hills. The high bluffs the city sits on are clearly visible, islands and steamboats dot the river, rolling green hills in the distance. Library of Congress.

#OnThisDay Mar 4 1854: The City of St. Paul is officially incorporated. Starting out in 1838 as "Pig's Eye Landing", the scrappy little settlement at the head of Mississippi River navigation grew into a town, the territorial capital, and state capital all within 20 years.

🙏

Word to the billionaires of today: why don't you build things for the whole community? Things that last? Libraries, schools? Things to be proud to put your family name on?

Architects drawing of First Congregational Church, with it's 168' tall english gothic tower atop an "akron plan" romanesque church plan. 1886

First Congregational Church, 500 8th Ave SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota viewed from the south. Red colored Lake Superior brownstone with tall English spire made of metal. via McGhiever

#OnThisDay Mar 4 1888: After 2 years of construction, 1st Congregational Church of Minnesota is formally dedicated. Designed by Warren Hayes and funded by flour magnate John S Pillsbury, the towering Richardson Romanesque building still serves as an important community hub in Marcy-Holmes today.

I've always said this: there are some real geniuses at work in the various graphic design departments at WedgeLive.

you are 💯pct right on this Tom.

That'll take a few years

There's a "how many MBAs does it take to screw in a lightbulb" joke in there somewhere.

Alienating your core customers, then doubling down at least two more times, then allowing occupation troops in your own stores arresting your own employees, then spearheading a nonresponse letter to the community wondering what side to take. Yea Target is a real business school head scratcher.

Most of St Paul's city planning lives either in the 1970s, or in a future dreamworld that will never come. The Sears site by the Capitol that's laid moribund for decades is but one example. The city desperately needs 100k new housing units just to survive, but just can't get there.

KSTP on the same schtick for decades. Pointergate, that weather dude who didn't believe in climate change, now this. Nothing new over there.