The Minneapolis Park Board at Minnehaha: 1900’s, part 1

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A fine lace curtain of water.

Here’s a (likely) 1900’s image with the Falls of Minnehaha, just exactly framed.  Everyone likes to photograph the waterfall: They always have and they always will.  But look for the little details in the backgrounds and corners, those incidental features in these old pictures tell the interesting history.

An early bridge across the creek, probably built by the Park Board.
An early bridge across the creek, probably one built by the Park Board.

That’s not an especially sturdy construction, compared to the stone bridge that sits there today.  In fact, in September of 1903, the bridge across the stream as well as the dam upstream above the falls washed away in heavy rains.  The Park Board noted, “The bridge was a great convenience to the patrons of the park, and one to take its place of the proper kind and in the right location is one of the problems that we have to solve.

The Board instructed Superintendent William Berry to have a temporary bridge built across the creek above the falls in April of 1904.  Though construction was reportedly underway nearby for a permanent and sturdy bridge, the temporary bridge collapsed on May 29, 1904, dropping people into the water.  One woman nearly went over Minnehaha Falls.

And in 1906, Theodore Wirth was superintending the parks system and was out to make a big splash in his first year.  He declared that “the low wooden footbridge above the falls is a cheap crude structure and should be replaced with a cut stone bridge, or, better yet, a reinforced concrete structure with a boulder arch-ring and rubble stone parapet walls.”

It’s unknown if this picture shows the bridge that washed away in 1903, the temporary bridge that collapsed in 1904, or the sturdy replacement under discussion in 1906.  It could even be an earlier bridge yet, from the 1890s.

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Part of the creek was blocked by barbed wire.

Between the bridge and the Falls, the Park Board installed a barbed wire fence, just barely visible here.  Perhaps then, as now, people threw pennies into the creek and this was to keep people from trying to reach them when the water was low.

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Perhaps this stonework was meant to stabilize the top of the Minnehaha gorge.

A Park Board groundskeeper was busy raking the grass just above this now-long-gone stonework and iron railing.

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Early crowd control?

Peeking into the depths of this picture, we see that more barbed wire fence was installed.  Who knows why, as it looks like this fence just wanders across the park.

John Carbutt at Minnehaha Falls, part 3

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Mollie Carbutt is, again, quite prettily posed against the butternut tree, while the Wilsons gaze across the gorge.  Edward L. Wilson was a prominent publisher of the “Philadelphia Photographer” magazine, which seems to have had some national acclaim.  And John Carbutt was among the most inventive and studious of early photographers.  This image was printed as a photograph and pasted into the “Philadelphia Photographer.”

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viewing the falls, 1890’s, part 1

These solid citizens commemorated their pleasant dat at Minnehaha Park with a photograph.
These solid citizens commemorated their visit to Minnehaha Park with a photograph.

This undated photo from some time in the 1890s shows a place to sit built into the edge of the park board platform.  That seating seems not to have lasted into the 20th century (see images in older posts, below).

Stone construction is hard, heavy work.  Probably this was rebuilt because of the basic instability of the site.


 

viewing the falls, 1900’s: part 2

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Vandalism? Disrepair? Deterioration? Someone named Will Taylor poses before Minnehaha Falls.

This photo is was taken on June 11, 1904, and shows that the Park Board’s viewing platform wasn’t holding up as well as one might hope.  This looks like a combination of vandalism and deterioration, with groundwater probably playing a part in the crumbling edge.  The land where this platform was looks like this today:

Continue reading “viewing the falls, 1900’s: part 2”

viewing the Falls, 1900’s: part 1

From 1890 until perhaps 1920, one could nearly touch the falling water at Minnehaha Falls. We cannot get so close today.

We can’t get this view of Minnehaha Falls today.  After the Park Board took ownership of Falls, they built a huge stone platform just where the photographers used to have people pose.  Not everyone liked this behemoth.  Charles “Father of the Parks” Loring wrote:

Continue reading “viewing the Falls, 1900’s: part 1”

French & Sawyer

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French & Sawyer, photographers from Keene, New Hampshire, published this image of the falls taken probably in the late 1860s.

It was a relatively simple matter for John Carbutt to come to Minnehaha in the 1864-1866 period.  He was in Chicago, and by 1865 there were trains between the Twin Cities and Chicago.

It took five days to travel to Minnesota from New York in the early 1870s.  Probably it took another day to get from New Hampshire to New York.  And perhaps French & Sawyer came out from Keene NH to the Great Northwest to photograph places like Minnehaha Falls.  This photo is from the late 1860s (at a guess).  Minnehaha was world-famous then, and fame was an inducement for photographers to visit here.


 

John Carbutt at Minnehaha Falls, part 2

Mollie Carbutt standing between Edward L. Wilson, left, and Mrs. Wilson. Note that the bridge is not in good repair.
Mollie Carbutt standing between Edward L. Wilson, left, and Mrs. Wilson. Note that the bridge is not in good repair.

Chicago’s John Carbutt took this picture of his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Wilson in October 1866, and it’s interesting for several reasons.  That very first bridge across the creek is in terrible condition with obvious broken railings.  It’s now a few years old.

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one of the very first photos of Minnehaha Falls

Dating pictures of Minnehaha Falls is an imprecise art.  The images themselves, as well as the physical objects–the photographs–offer little clues.  Mostly, no one wrote the dates on these pictures, so assigning a date means putting together these little clues, and doing research, and then making best-guesses.

Taken no later than 1864, and my guess is that it was closer to 1860.
Taken no later than 1864, but mostly likely taken in the late 1850s.

It’s a fine view of the falls, but the waterfall is slightly hidden behind those tree branches.  And for every subsequent picture taken from this viewpoint, the branches have been cut away, as you can see.

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John Carbutt at Minnehaha Falls, part 1

John Carbutt and Edward L. Wilson and their wives.
John Carbutt and Edward L. Wilson gazing at their wives across the Minnehaha gorge in 1866.

John Carbutt, based in Chicago, was among the most innovative of 19th century photographers.  He was the first to print on celluloid, opening the door to the entire film industry.  And he perfected the printing of X-ray photographs on glass plates.

Carbutt also took commissions for series of images on the frontier.  He was most celebrated for his images taken along the Union Pacific Railroad as it rushed west across Nebraska towards the 100th Meridian and the completion of the trans-continental railroad.  But Carbutt also took a few series of pictures in Minnesota, including some for the Northwestern Packet Company.

Continue reading “John Carbutt at Minnehaha Falls, part 1”