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City Tour of Bloomington
1843: Gideon Pond established Oak Grove Mission. Peter and Louisa Quinn
- first European settlers - built cabin near 10th Avenue Circle. Quinns
taught farming methods to Dakota Indians.
1851: Territory west of Mississippi, including Bloomington, opened to
settlers.
1855: First public school organized. Met in Harrison home.
1856: Gideon Pond House built on Minnesota River bluffs.
1858: Town of Bloomington organizational meeting on May 11. The 25 organizers
approved a $100 budget.
Minnesota became a state.
1859: First schoolhouse built near France Avenue and Old Shakopee Road.
1860: 39 votes cast in favor of levying $50 for town expenses and purchase
of a road scraper.
1861: Residents vote to let horse and cattle run at-large during the
summer.
1864: Ground set aside for town cemetery.
1880: Population - 820.
1892: First town hall built at Penn and Old Shakopee Road.
1900 to 1939: Issues: Location of consolidated school, unwillingness
to dissolve individual schools as social centers, a small schoolhouse
had been good enough for the parents. Fear of mounting taxes.
1900: Six rural schools with over 200 students in grades 1 - 8. Population
- 1,085. Per capital vehicle travel - 500 miles/year.
1903: First telephone service installed.
1915: Dan Patch rail line extended to downtown Minneapolis for passenger
and freight service.
Jack Stewart is elected Town Constable and Fire Department.
1916: Large number of automobiles start to appear around town.
1917: Voters approved school consolidation.
1918: Beginning of secondary education and school bus transportation.
1920: Population - 1,330.
1930: Population - 2,645.
1940s: Development vision was of low-cost, low-density housing each with
its own well and septic system.
1940: Population - 3,647.
1945: School enrollment was 700.
1947: Bloomington Volunteer Fire Department established with 25 members.
Fire Station #1 and equipment cost $24,000.
1949: School enrollment grew so fast that split schedule adopted for
grades 1 and 2.
1950s Issues: Private liquor licenses. Professional approach to government
with open Council meetings, land use plan and published budgets. Rapid
growth replacing peaceful, small town atmosphere. Six new schools built.
1950: Population - 9,902. First elementary school built - Cedarcrest.
1952: Toro Manufacturing Company moved to Bloomington. Chamber of Commerce
organized as a booster club.
1953: Changed from township to village form of government. Police Department
forms at cost of $2 per taxpayer. First traffic signal installed at "very
dangerous" intersection of 98th Street and Lyndale Avenue.
1954: First park land acquired - Bush Lake Beach and Moir Park. Each
village parcel assessed $1 for acquisition. First edition of theBloomington
Sun; first letter to the editor about drive-in theater.
1955: Population - 28,934. 85 businesses.
1956: First City Land Use Plan. I-35W completed. Met Stadium built. Bush
Lake Beach constructed.
1958: Village government changed to council-manager form. Septic system
contaminated wells - central sewer and water system needed costing over
$20,000,000. Ordinance passed requiring residential subdivisions to make
10% park dedication. Council adopted policy of encouraging commercial/
industrial development, low-cost housing and shopping centers. Police
and Fire Departments go to 24-hour dispatching system.
1959: Voters approved $8,800,000 waterworks and distribution system bond.
City debt jumped to 25% of assessed value. Fire Department has 46 members.
A garage is converted into Fire Station #2.
1960s Issues: Accelerated school growth - 21 new buildings opened. Business
growth - city's slogan is "All the Business That Will Fit".
1960: Population - 50,498. Bloomington became a city as voters approved
home rule charter on third attempt. City received All-American City Award.
Ward's Southtown built. I-494 completed from CSAH 18 to airport. I-35W
completed through city and over Minnesota River. 95 full-time City employees.
1961: Control Data Corporation, Donaldson, Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland
Company moved to Bloomington. Chamber hosted breakfast for 160 new teachers
and hired first full-time staff member. City attempted to annex NSP power
plant and Burnsville. First Twins game on April 21 (Twins 3, Washington
5). First regular season Vikings game on September 17 (Vikings 37, Chicago
Bears 13).
1962: Control Data Tower built. Voters approved "on-sale" liquor
licenses.
1964: First half of City Hall constructed.
1965: Kennedy High School built. 200 full-time City employees.
1967: Met Sports Center built. New Fire Station #2 and Fire Station #3
built.
1968: Normandale Junior College opened with 1,358 students. Last elementary
school built - Normandale Hills.
1970s Issues: Extending 98th Street through Hyland Lake Park.
1970: Population - 81,971. 43,000 people employed in City. Jefferson
High School built. Fire Station #4 built. Bloomington Ice Garden Rink
One built.
1971: City Council endorsed idea of a Convention Bureau and approved
$35,000 funding. School enrollment peak of 26,000 students. Bloomington
Fire Department has 105 men, 4 stations and 13 pieces of equipment.
1972: Reynolds Park water tower built.
1973: Norwest Financial Center built. 2,470 acres of parkland in City.
Per capita auto travel - 8,000 miles/year.
1974: Water treatment plant completed. Voters approved $6,300,000 bonds
for buildings and parks. City Hall expanded.
College renamed Normandale Community College to reflect expanded courses
of study. Creekside converted from elementary school to senior center.
After six hour meeting, Council approves women as firefighters on the
BFD.
1975: 385 full-time City employees. Fire Station #5 built. Bloomington
Ice Garden's Rink #2 built.
1979: Fire Station #6 built at a cost of $210,000.
1980s Issues: Property taxes. Traffic. Redevelopment. Infrastructure
investment. Environment. Education quality. School special levy referenda
(4 succeed, 4 fail). Sixteen school closings (1 senior high, 3 junior
high and 12 elementary).
1980: Population - 81,831. 54,000 people employed in City.
1981: Last baseball game at Met Stadium (Twins 2, Kansas City 5).
1983: HRA and Council approved Oxboro Redevelopment plan. Normandale
College expanded community services and continuing education. Neighborhood
Watch Program begins.
1984: Trammel Crow built 8500 Tower. City's first female firefighter
Ann Majerus starts.
1985: Port Authority purchased 86-acre Met Stadium site. 460 full-time
City employees. Elementary enrollment started to grow again. BFD has 132
active members and a class 3 fire insurance rating.
1987: Port Authority approved first site plans for Mall of America.
1989: 7,850 acres of parkland in city. Mall of America groundbreaking.
9,300 enrolled at Normandale College.
1990s Issues: Inadequate and outdated municipal and park facilities.
Redevelopment and enhancement of older, east Bloomington. Major transportation
projects.
1990: Population - 86,355. Median age - 33 years. 70,000 people employed
in Bloomington. 11,376 students enrolled in Bloomington schools. Referendum
to improve Municipal Building fails.
1991: Ordinance prohibiting sale of tobacco products by vending machines
passes. TH77 (Cedar Avenue) improvements completed. BE-Line neighborhood
circulator bus service begins. With over 100 deer per square mile (recommended
25 per square mile), the Deer Management Program begins. Average home
value in Bloomington is $90,000.
1992: Mall of America opens. Bloomington and Izumi City, Japan, start
Sister City Partnership.
1993: Computerized Pavement Management Program for sealcoating, overlaying
and reconstructing streets begins. South Hennepin Household Hazardous
Waste Center opens. Police Bicycle Patrol Unit forms. Bloomington Ice
Garden builds Olympic-size rink (#3). New Fire Station #1 at 95th Street
and Nicollet Avenue. Door-to-door Smoke Detector Inspection program starts.
1994: Recreational Vehicle Ordinance regulating storage and parking of
RVs begins. Community Enhancement Program begins with home improvement
activities in two neighborhoods of 1,000 homes. Smoke-free Restaurant
Recognition Program begins. 79th/80th Street Ring Route Project begins.
1995: Time-of-Sale Inspections begin. First River Rendezvous held at
Pond-Dakota Mission Park. One third of city's eateries are smoke-free.
County Road 18 over Minnesota River completed. City's bond rating upgraded
with Moody's from Aa to Aa1, with Standard and Poors from AA to AA+. City
goes on-line with www.ci.bloomington.mn.us in December.
1996: Extension to existing airport runway 4-22 completed. Bush Lake
Beach facilities rebuilt. Underwater World aquarium at Mall of America
opens. Sign ordinance goes into effect. City of Bloomington Internet site
went on-line.
1997: Gideon Pond House renovation completed. Sage Cancer Clinic at Mall
of America opens. Volunteer, 145-person Bloomington Fire Department is
50 years old. Bloomington Ice Garden rinks renovated.
1998: Population - 88,375. 98,300 people employed in Bloomington. Largest
employer is Mall of America (13,000 people). Galaxy Youth Center opens.
Eight neighborhoods have gone through the Community Enhancement Program.
Systematic Inspection Program for nuisance complaints expanded to cover
entire city. Major May 30 storm cost $1.2 million for cleanup with 10,000
truck loads of debris. Permits reach record 26,600 for total value of
$240 million. Citywide Curbside Cleanup Program begins. 2,427 tons of
trash. 572 yards of brush and 3,643 appliances collected. Neighborhood
Watch Program involves 306 Bloomington neighborhoods. Light Rail Transit
from Downtown Minneapolis proposed to end at Mall of America. City awarded
top Aaa bond rating from Moody's.
1999: 500 full-time City employees, 300-400 seasonal workers. Reconstruction
of South Parallel Runway at airport completed. First Bloomington Clean
Water Festival celebrated.
2000 to present Issues: Aging municipal facilities. Traffic congestion
on both Interstate and neighborhood roads.
2000: Population - 85,172. Median age - 40.1 years. 106,993 people employed
in Bloomington. Special $7.2 million bond for a center for the arts approved.
City receives highest bond ratings - AAA from Standard & Poor's; Aaa
from Moody's.
2001: Normandale Bandshell opens on July 3. Six-officer Mall of America
Police Station opens. Groundbreaking held for new Police/Ciyt Hall/Art
Center in October.
2002: Metropolitan Airports Commission and Mall of American swap land
to make way for Phase II of Mall development. Ring Route streets, an alternate
route to I-494, is renamed American Boulevard. New $8.5 million Public
Works facility adds 88,340 square feet of vehicle equipment storage, repair
garage and office space. New $3.6 million Bloomington Family Aquatics
Center opens. The $14.9 million renovation of the Water Treatment Plant
is completed. Smith Park renovation completed. Mall of America celebrate
10th year with annual sales of $900 million. Generates annual $900,000
revenue for City. After 35 years of white vehicles, Police cars go retro
with black-and-white models.
2003: The 44,000 square-foot Bloomington Civic Plaza completed within
its $38 million budget. Sister City Organization celebrates 10 years.
Penn Avenue and I-494 bridge completed.
2004: City starts String of Pearls redevelopment projects. Oxboro
Library renovation completed. Ikea retailer opens first part of Mall of
America Phase II.
Bloomington Links
City of Bloomington
Bloomington City Schools |
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