The Linking of the Minneapolis Park Lakes 



By Theodore Wirth, Minnesota. 



Minneapolis is the fortunate possessor of a chain of 

 lakes within and adjacent to the city limits. They form 

 an important part of its extensive park system and, 

 naturally, are the main attraction of several beautiful 

 residential districts of the city. 



Minneapolis is one of the many progressive and flour- 

 ishing cities of the great Western country, and although 

 only a little over 60 years old it has a population of about 

 350.000. within a city area of 53 square miles. The pres- 

 ent extensive and comprehensive system of parks and 

 boulevards, encircling the entire city in an uninterrupted 

 belt of parklands 35 miles in length, is the result of the 

 foresight, untiring efforts and labor of the Board of Park 

 Commissioners, now entering on its 33rd year. Wise 

 foresight and courageous confidence in the future cer- 

 tainly guided those men in the days of an ambitious be- 

 ginning. Most of these now much coveted lake posses- 

 sions were far out in the country, when they were ac- 

 quired, and considerable opposition was encountered to 

 the so-called "foolish swamp acquisitions." 



The following lake areas are now inchideil in the park 

 s\steni : 



.\cr 



Lake L'allu lun .... 

 Lake Harriet .... 

 Lake Xokomis . . . 

 Lake of the Isles. 

 Glenwood Lake . . 

 I'owderhorn Lake 

 Hrownie Lake . . . 



Loring Lake 



liirch Pond 



-Sjjring Lake .... 



460 



353 



295 



107 



38 



18 



18 



7.S 



6.5 



7 



Total 1,305 



Of the chain of lake^> along the western side of the 

 citv. four of the seven were of practically the same eleva- 



tion and were separated only by low swamp lands of from 

 400 feet to 2,200 feet in width. The only connections be- 

 tween those sheets of water were open ditches and a few 

 culverts laid under road beds and railroad embankments 

 constructed across the swamps. Some of those lakes 

 were coinpletely surrounded by swamps and nearly inac- 

 cessible. Most of them offered plenty of deep water, but 

 had in part shallow, swampy shores. The lakes are fed 

 Ijy springs and small streams, and some are 100 feet deep 

 in ])laces. 



The improving of the lake parks and the construction 

 of proper waterway connections between the lakes was 

 the ambition of the Board of Park Commissioners, and 

 the people of the city, for years before it became possible 

 to undertake the work. It was not simply a matter of 

 excavating channels and lagoons, but required the addi- 

 tional acquisition of expensive lands occupied by ice- 

 houses and other buildings, the building of railroad, 

 trafilic road and boulevard bridges, and the necessary ap- 

 proaches ; in short, the entire scheme of connecting the 

 lakes and improving the shore lands and boulevards 

 called for a very large investtnent for which it was diffi- 

 cult to secure the necessary funds. In the meantime the 

 large tracts of private lands adjacent to these unimproved 

 park properties, while offering splendid and attractive 

 building sites for residences, were a drug on the market 

 and remained unoccupied. 



Beginning in 1907 plans and estimates for these im- 

 portant inprovements were approved and funds secured 

 through bond issues authorized by the Legislature and 

 the City Council. A start was made at Lake of the Isles, 

 where a dipper and a hydraulic dredge, through four 

 years of work, changed the alignment of the shore, deep- 

 ened shallow water and filled all low lands and boule- 

 vards to a desired grade. This transformation resulted 

 in some 50 acres of lawns, miles of walks, acres of plant- 

 ings, and splendid driveways. Where there was formerly 



LAKE OF THE ISLES. L.WVXS .\XD PL.\XTIXGS THREE YEARS .VFTER FILr.IXC IN WLL\T WAS FOUMERLV S\V.\MP LAND. 



