Bicycles The (Dreaded) Bicycle Face of the 1890s The mid-1880s US introduction to the safety bicycle catapulted the nascent mode of transportation from fad to full-blown institution. Each day scores of new bicyclists took to the wheel for the first time.
Politics George Herrold and the 'Northern Route' Discussions to build a connecting roadway between Minneapolis and St. Paul began in the early 1920s and gained considerable momentum after World War II. Rapidly increasing automobile use post-war compelled city officials to
Bicycles Leona "Dottie" Farnsworth (c. 1873 - 1902) Between 1895 - 1902, cyclist Leona Marie “Dottie” Farnsworth competed in national women's six-day bicycle races. Her tenacity and will-to-win made her both a fierce competitor and local favorite. Late nineteenth century Minnesotans
Laws Scientific Temperance Instruction The National Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction (STI) was an integrative scholastic effort created by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) that taught both the science of the human body and promoted
Crime The Death of Dan Hogan (Dec. 4, 1928) Saint Paul gangster Daniel (Dan) Hogan, known as "Dapper" Dan for his knack for dressing in stylish clothes, was a leading criminal figure during the era of the O'Connor Layover Agreement.
Crime Leon Gleckman (1893 - 1941) The National Prohibition Act went into effect in January 1920. Authored by Andrew Volstead, it made it illegal to manufacture, transport, or purchase alcohol in the United States. The goal of the act,
Brewers Impact of the Hamm Jr. Kidnapping On Thursday, June 15, 1933, at 12:45 p.m. kidnappers abducted Hamm’s Brewery President William Hamm Jr. as he walked home from work to have lunch. The thirty-nine-year-old Hamm, the grandson
Laws Return of ‘Real’ Beer (Mar 22 — Apr 7, 1933) On March 13, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent a two-sentence letter to Congress. In it, he requested that they enact “legislation for the immediate modification of the Volstead Act.” Eight days later
Laws John O’Connor and the Layover Agreement Early in the twentieth century, Saint Paul was a stomping ground for many of the most notorious gangsters of the era. John Dillinger and Billie Frechette, Ma Barker and her boys, Alvin Karpis,
Beer Midway District ‘Blind Pigs’ Raid (April 15, 1904) In January 1885 Merriam Park was incorporated into Saint Paul. 'Blind Pigs' soon began selling intoxicating liquors within a prohibited zone along University Avenue.
Brewers Susannah Tepass (1824–1889) Tragedy littered the timeline of Stillwater's Northwestern Brewery during its more than fifty-year existence. It remained viable under the watchful eye of brewster Susannah Tepass.
Beer 'Blind Pigs' and 'Blind Pig' Saloons In the earliest days of liquor enforcement, from the moment that public officials began to author legislation to control the flow of alcohol, people looked for ways to circumvent those rules. One example
Politics The Rand Liquor Ordinance (1892) Minneapolis was caught up in the alcohol temperance movement that blanketed the United States in the second half of the 19th century. Since its earliest days, the intoxicating liquors industry had found itself
Laws High License Law (1887) Billed by proponents as the temperance advocates alternative to prohibition, the 1887 High License Law raised the cost of liquor licenses throughout the state.
Crime The Trial of Jacob Schmidt (1893) On July 4, 1893 gunshots came from the nearby Northstar Brewery. Friends Theodore Beaudoin and Samuel Guion claimed that Jacob Schmidt had fired at them.
Laws The Minnesota Lager Beer Act (1860) After being recognized as a United States territory on March 3, 1849, Minnesota played a more active role in the country’s growing alcohol temperance movement. The population of the state exploded, and
Breweries Chris. Stahlmann Cave Brewery (1855–1897) Christopher Stahlmann was born on June 19, 1829, to a well-known and wealthy family in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. When he was seventeen, his father went bankrupt, losing everything - including Christopher's inheritance. Stahlmann,
Brewers John Orth Brewing Company (1850 - 1890) John Frederick Orth was born in Rott, Alsace, France on May 20, 1821. He learned the skill of brewing beer while in Rott and honed his skills as a brewer after leaving in
Laws The Surly Bill (2011) In 2011 the Surly Brewing Co, to meet growing customer demand, hoped to expand their operation by opening a new multi-million dollar facility in the Twin Cities. To recoup some of the costs
Breweries North Star Brewery (1860 - 1905) Located at the foot of the bluffs in the Bruce Vento Sanctuary are the last remnants of the former North Star Brewery. The brewery had a long history in the area, overcoming a
Laws Minnesota's 'Maine Law' (1852) A temperance movement that called for the banning of all intoxicating liquors swept the nation in the 1840s and continued into the 1850s. In 1851, Portland, Maine mayor and noted temperance advocate Neal
Brewers Theodore Hamm (1825–1903) Born in Herbolzheim, Baden, Germany in October 1825, Theodore Hamm emigrated to the United States in 1854, finding work as a butcher in both Buffalo, NY, and Chicago, IL. While in Chicago he
Beer Rushing the Growler ‘Rushing the Growler’ was a slang term that gained practical prominence in the late nineteenth century. It described the process of bringing an empty growler or growlers to a local tap house to