City Tour of Robbinsdale
History of Robbinsdale
The first claim was filed in the area on March 26, 1852. The settlers
came in, took claims and made farms. The three most prominent early settlers
were Horatio R. Stillman, Alfred Parker and J.P. Shumway.
In March, 1860, a caucus was held to organize the Township of Crystal
Lake. The total vote cast was 55. The population in 1869 was 1,023.
The first railroad through the community was called the Minneapolis and
Northwest branch of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad Company,
later the Great Northern. In 1880 a flag station was built. It was called
Parker Station in honor of Alfred Parker, who donated three acres of land
for its site.
In the fall of 1886, an effort was made by the City of Minneapolis to
annex all townships bordering its limits. To prevent this, the City of
Crystal was incorporated under a special act of the legislature. The village
was exclusively agricultural and was four miles square.
In 1887 local legends report that while passing through the village on
the train, Andrew B. Robbins was so pleased with the beauty of this part
of the country that he could not get the memory out of his mind. He saw
that because of its proximity to Minneapolis and its many natural advantages,
scenic and otherwise, it could become the best residential section in
the northwest. Mr. Robbins purchased ninety acres of the choicest land
with the avowed purpose of making it the site of a suburban town.
The summer of 1888 brought the first land boom. New industries moved
in and the Luther Seminary. The village hall was erected.
Unable to convince the Minneapolis Street Railway Company to extend their
lines, Mr. Robbins organized the North side Street Railway Company and
in early 1891 built a road from the city limits into the village. The
line opened for business on June 1, 1891, and was operated by horsecars
for some time.
The very efforts which were to make life more pleasant for the residents
of the community finally led to dissatisfaction between the people who
had residences adjacent to the business portion of the village and those
in the thinly settled agricultural portions. A special election was held
on March 24, 1893, and the vote to dissolve the Village of Crystal carried
unanimously. On April 19, 1893, the village of Robbinsdale was organized.
The geographical area has remained at 2.9 square miles since that time.
Soon after the official creation of the village, the car shops and the
Hubbard Manufacturing Company were destroyed by fire and Robbinsdale again
became purely residential.
The ensuing years found Robbinsdale growing and with it the formation
of community groups - library club, volunteer fire department, village
baseball team, establishment of churches, PTA, city band and its own paper
THE ROBBINSDALE TELLIT. World War I found Robbinsdale furnishing a generous
share of soldiers. Following the war came still more activities: veteran's
groups with their auxiliaries, banks, Fawcett Publishing company, and
Lodge groups. Water mains were laid in 1926.
About 1925 the names of the streets were changed to eliminate duplication
and to bring about a unified system between the villages of Crystal, Golden
Valley, and Robbinsdale.
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