pictured rocks – The Laughing, Leaping Water

The WPA workers in Minnehaha Park accomplished lots of small tasks. They repaired playground equipment, trimmed trees and painted and repaired “stationary settees,” traffic signs, and fences. One of their efforts was to erect a ten-foot fence across the faces of the sand caves in the glen as a safety measure.

The existence of caves in the park might come as a surprise to today’s urban explorers. Stories exist of actually room-like caves, but no photographs have been found. This picture of a “cave” is no more than a shallow indent in the sandstone cliff.

Three people from the late 19th or early 20th century, standing in a shallow cave. — “Sugar Cave Minnehaha Glen,” in an undated photograph (a Real Photo Postcard) from the early 20th century. This cave does not seem deep enough to keep the rain off.

Continue reading “The WPA Works in Minnehaha Park, 1936. Part 6: Sand”