Get to know our neighborhood, past and present.
Roseville: Under Heaven
by Gregory Reandeau
Roseville used to be home to Dakota Indians. The Dakota considered the land they occupied as sacred because, lying between the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, it was believed to be “under heaven.”
Years later in 1940, Ramsey County surveyors supported that claim by determining that a certain point in Roseville is halfway between the equator and the North Pole. They marked it with a boulder. Now a historical marker stands next to the boulder to explain that the point at Cleveland and Roselawn Avenues lies on the 45th Parallel.
The first non-Indians in Roseville settled around 1843. In 1850 Isaac Rose established Rose Township, which included what is today Roseville, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, and parts of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The area was mostly farms and nurseries until 1930, when commercial development started. Convenient space and the railroad attracted more people.
By 1948, the township form of government could no longer serve Roseville, and Rose Township split into Roseville, Falcon Heights, and Lauderdale. Roseville was thus turned into a village.
Since the 1950s Roseville has kept growing to where it is today, a mixed land use community with a strong residential base and vibrant retail shopping.
Twelve Days of Fun
By Yasemin Sezen
You are making your way through an enormous crowd, trying to get to the bench across the street. You’ve been walking for over two hours and you need to sit down. It is a warm, sunny day, and there are people all around you, talking and eating. The smells of grilled corn, chocolate chip cookies, and French fries mingle in the air.
This feeling will be quite familiar to the one to two million people who attend the Minnesota State Fair each year. Was it always like this? The history of the Minnesota State Fair goes back a long way: to the mid-1800s.
The annual fair has its roots in 1854 when the Minnesota Agricultural Society was founded. Back then, Minnesota was not yet a state, but instead a territory. The Society had a goal to promote the territory’s agriculture by hosting an annual fair, the first of which was held in Minneapolis. Minnesota earned statehood in 1858, so the 1859 fair could officially be called a State Fair.
It took a while to find a permanent site for the Fair. During its first years, the location changed every year and included cities such as Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Red Wing, Winona and Owatonna. Finally, in 1885, Ramsey County donated a 210-acre farm (which grew to its current size of 322 acres) to the Agricultural Society. Now that it had a permanent location, the State Fair could really thrive.
Since then, the Minnesota State Fair has been entertaining us every single year, with few exceptions. It was cancelled only six times, mostly due to wars and a couple of pandemics. The most recent cancellation was in the nightmare year of 2020 due to COVID-19. But not to worry! That is way behind us now, and in the past couple of years, the fair has been as lively and as exciting as ever.
There is no doubt that the Minnesota State Fair will continue to provide twelve days of pure fun each year, just as it has been doing for 165 years.
From Local Outlets to National Chains, Rosedale Center Has Twin Cities Shopping Covered
by O. Y.
Boasting two levels that span over a million square feet of retail, Rosedale Center attracts 14 million visitors on an annual basis. Major tenants like Macy’s, JCPenney’s, and Von Maur are popular attractions, but Rosedale is home to small-business boutiques and premier restaurants as well. The mall even has the ever-popular AMC Theatres plus an aquarium/petting zoo with over 1000 different animals.
But Rosedale was a lot different in 1969 when the shopping center was first opened. Back then, Ford Mustangs now viewed as rare collectors’ items would have filled a much smaller parking lot, and compared to today’s 150+, there were only 80 retailers, one of which was a saddle and horse supply shop. There was no Von Maur with a live pianist on the concourse. Dayton’s and Donaldson’s, two department store chains originating in Minnesota, were the first major tenants, and have since disappeared. The longest-lasting retailer in the mall is JCPenney’s, which was added in 1976 as a part of the new north wing.
A few things were always the same. The site, chosen between Minneapolis and St. Paul because of population growth, is now surrounded by suburbs and major highways. However, it is still an ideal location for any stellar shopping mall, judging from the fact that Rosedale ranks highest in gross revenue for shopping centers in the Twin Cities.
Rollin W. Hunsicker, vice president and general manager of Rosedale Center in 2019, said that any shopping center is only as good as the retailers (tenants) that fill it. With names including Ann Taylor, Baldamar Steakhouse, and AMC Theatres—and first-tier statistics—Rosedale has obviously delivered.