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27-632: Stevens Square (officially Stevens Square-Loring Heights ) is the southernmost neighborhood of the Central community in Minneapolis . It is bordered on Lyndale Avenue on the west, Franklin Avenue on the south, and Interstates 94 and 35W on the north and east, respectively. The portion west of Nicollet Avenue can be referred to as Loring Heights; the portion to the East as Stevens Square. Although it

54-534: A Kmart store (opened in 1978) which covers two city blocks, detouring southbound traffic to Blaisdell Avenue and northbound traffic to First Avenue South. The city of Minneapolis has planned to restore Nicollet Avenue by reconstructing the Kmart site into a new configuration that would include both commercial and residential development since at least 2010. After a building fire at the former Kmart in October 2023,

81-401: A successful Neighborhood Revitalization Program and to limited gentrification , with many apartments buildings converted to condominiums or co-ops . Before the arrival of European settlers, the area was inhabited by Dakota Sioux . Although the area was platted in 1856, it remained sparsely occupied for several decades. Most land in the area was purchased by Richard Mendenhall, who developed

108-647: Is a city street in Minneapolis and Burnsville, while it is designated as Hennepin County Road 52 between 98th Street in Bloomington and W 61st St in Minneapolis (just north of the Richfield border). This designation resumes on Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, though the county highway is not contiguous. Nicollet Avenue began as a military road between St. Anthony Falls and Fort Snelling . It

135-525: Is in walking distance of the many restaurants of Eat Street in Whittier , as well as those in Loring Park . [REDACTED] Media related to Stevens Square-Loring Heights, Minneapolis at Wikimedia Commons Central, Minneapolis Central is a defined community in Minneapolis that consists of six smaller official neighborhoods around the downtown and central business core. It also includes

162-648: Is interrupted by a K-Mart store, and begins again at Lake Street , continuing through Richfield and Bloomington to 107th Street just north of the Minnesota River . Across the river in Burnsville , Nicollet begins again at Cliff Road West and ends at County Road 42 . Nicollet is a major commercial street in Burnsville, forming one of two main streets of their Heart of the City downtown area. Nicollet

189-443: Is one of the densest neighborhoods in Minneapolis today, Stevens Square-Loring Heights was originally occupied by a few large mansions. Today, the area is composed mostly of old brownstone apartment buildings or mansions that have been subdivided into apartments, giving the neighborhood a heavy population density within its small geographical area; a short and wide neighborhood, it is nearly a mile long but only three blocks tall. Much of

216-534: Is served by several important transit lines, including the high-frequency 18 bus on Nicollet, as well as the 2 (on Franklin Ave), the 11 (on 3rd Ave S), and the 17 (also on Nicollet Ave). Although the neighborhood was considered as part of the routing for the METRO Green Line extension , an alternate route (bypassing the neighborhood) was chosen. The planned Nicollet-Central Streetcar would pass directly through

243-476: The Minneapolis, Lyndale & Minnetonka Railway Co. , also known as the "Motor Line". The Motor Line ran along Marquette Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, then turned west for one block at 13th Street South to reach Nicollet. The line was constructed south to 31st Street in 1879, to 37th Street in 1884, and was extended further south to 50th Street in 1887. It was converted to streetcar operation in 1890, and

270-897: The Minnesota State Senate in district 62, and in the United States House of Representatives in Minnesota's 5th congressional district . Several buildings within the neighborhood are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . These include the historic Amos B. Coe House on Third Avenue, which is home to the Minnesota African American History Museum and Cultural Center; the Abbott Hospital , now apartments, displays an architectural view of

297-543: The Twin City Rapid Transit Company (TCRT) extended the route to Diamond Lake Road in 1911, 58th Street in 1928, and 62nd Street (now Minnesota State Highway 62 ) in 1947. Streetcars on the road had a service frequency of one every five minutes off-peak, and ran about twice as often during the morning and afternoon peak periods. The avenue was used as a backdrop for the end of the famous opening sequence of The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which

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324-679: The Motor Line, was acquired and expanded by Twin City Rapid Transit; after the streetcar system was dismantled in 1953–1954, the carbarn has since been used for transit system buses. The station is located at Nicollet and 31st Street, just south of the site of the Minneapolis Millers ' Nicollet Park baseball field, which closed in 1955. The Metro Transit route 18 bus travels most of Nicollet Avenue. Historically, Nicollet had rail transportation, starting with

351-606: The broadcast facilities of the Minnesota CBS station WCCO-TV . There is no City Council ward representing the majority of Central Minneapolis. It is split between Wards 3, 5, 6, and 7, represented by Council Members Rainville , Ellison , Osman , and Cashman respectively. 44°58′35″N 93°16′26″W  /  44.9763°N 93.2739°W  / 44.9763; -93.2739 Nicollet Avenue The avenue begins at Grant Street in Loring Park and continues south to West 29th Street/Cecil B. Newman Lane, where it

378-485: The building was torn down in November 2023. The city of Minneapolis announced proposed street layouts for a reconnected Nicollet Ave in October 2023. Construction is expected to start in 2025. The Dan Patch Line , a separate railroad serving communities as far south as Northfield, Minnesota , ran parallel to the streetcar line between 60th Street and Diamond Lake Road. Nicollet Station, a carhouse originally built for

405-537: The inner city, although disappointing financial returns led the company to divest from the project in 1980. A successful block patrol program was set up, and in 1994 the Emily Peake Memorial Garden was established at the corner of Third Avenue and 19th St, in part to discourage what was then a favorite location for drug sales. In recent decades, crime has declined precipitously, although some quality-of-life problems persist. In 1989, Stevens Square

432-418: The land into a small number of large houses and several massive greenhouses, which supplied Mendenhall's floral business. However, the neighborhood's central location and the rapid growth of the city in the 1890s, facilitated by the introduction of horse-drawn and then electric streetcars which passed through the area on several streets, made the area an increasingly attractive area for redevelopment. In 1907,

459-815: The many old flour mills , the Mill District , and other historical and industrial areas of downtown Minneapolis. It also includes some high-density residential areas surrounding it, excluding areas east of the Mississippi River . Businesses and government buildings are based in the Central area include the corporate headquarters of the Star Tribune , Target , US Bancorp , the Hennepin County Government Center , Minneapolis Central Library , Minneapolis City Hall , and

486-411: The neighborhood as dangerous and low-income. Starting in the 1970s, however, an active neighborhood organization and interested landowners began working actively to revitalize the neighborhood, renovating many buildings and addressing quality-of-life issues in the neighborhood. Much of that renovation was financed by General Mills , which believed there were significant profits to be made in revitalizing

513-415: The neighborhood dropped precipitously. Although spared from destruction by the construction of Interstate 35W , originally planned to pass directly through the center of the neighborhood, the two new Interstates isolated the neighborhood from downtown except by a few bridges on major arterials. Several large high-rise public housing projects were completed in the 1960s, which contributed to the reputation of

540-410: The neighborhood is a National Historic District , and five of the apartment buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. Although Stevens Square faced many of the same challenges which confronted other inner-city neighborhoods through the 1990s, the neighborhood has seen significant increases in safety and average income in recent years. These have been attributed both to

567-565: The neighborhood. In addition, there is a Nice Ride station located at the corner of Franklin and Nicollet, providing easy access to the city's bike sharing system. The half of the neighborhood east of Nicollet Avenue (Stevens Square) is part of City Council Ward 6, while the part to the west (Loring Heights) is in Ward 7. The whole neighborhood is represented in the Minnesota State House of Representatives in district 62A, in

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594-449: The older buildings in the neighborhood were constructed by the mid-1920s, when a slump in the housing market combined with a lack of available land drastically slowed the pace of further construction. Although the neighborhood was originally inhabited primarily by middle-class office workers and single women, by the mid-century the rise of the automobile and white flight to the growing suburbs led to significant decline, as average incomes in

621-477: The progression of the medical industry, and the George W. and Nancy B. Van Dusen House , a Richardsonian Romanesque mansion now used as an event space. The bells of the historic Plymouth Congregational Church , located in the center of the neighborhood, can be heard by a wide radius in the area. There are several restaurants and coffee shops in the neighborhood and four small corner grocery stores. The neighborhood

648-478: The property owners, along with one of the biggest property developers in town, petitioned the Park Board to purchase the site of Stevens Square Park, whose irregular grade made development impractical. The Park Board quickly accepted the offer, purchasing the site for $ 41,820, financed partly by an assessment on local landowners. The park was named in honor of Col. John H. Stevens , the first authorized settler on

675-530: The west bank of what would eventually become Minneapolis. Construction on the Abbott Hospital , now converted to apartments, began in 1910. Apartment construction soon followed, largely in the Renaissance Revival style set by Stevens Court. Most buildings were constructed to the limits of fire codes at the time, maximizing land coverage and density while building to the three and a half story limits established for non-fire safe construction. Most of

702-409: Was locally designated a historical district, with national designation coming in 1993. Several important arterial streets pass through the neighborhood, including Nicollet Avenue (Eat Street), First Avenue, and Franklin Avenue. In addition, the neighborhood has easy access to nearby Interstate highways, and to downtown Minneapolis, located less than a mile to the north. In addition, the neighborhood

729-414: Was named for early 19th-century French explorer and cartographer Joseph Nicollet , who led three expeditions in what is now Minnesota. Nicollet Mall occupies the oldest section of the avenue. Before the mall was constructed in 1968, Nicollet Avenue stretched from the Mississippi River to the Minnesota River . One block of the street between 29th Street and Lake Street was removed in the 1977 to build

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