Robbinsdale Revisited

Episode 40: Crystal Boyd presents Roberta Lee Scoville’s 1976 history of Robbinsdale tracing the community's growth from Dakota homeland and early farming settlement through the arrival of the railroad, Andrew B. Robbins, the streetcar, and the village's incorporation. Along the way, it highlights colorful stories about early residents, businesses, schools, fires, local ordinances, and everyday li...

Episode 39: In the early 1900s, strict Sunday closing laws in Minneapolis transformed Robbinsdale into a rowdy, saloon-packed haven for thirsty crowds until political crackdowns forced the community to vote itself dry. The return of alcohol after prohibition brought a lucrative municipal liquor store monopoly and restrictive 3.2% beer laws that kept private bar owners strictly handcuffed. This biz...

Episode 38:The Nash family helped shape Robbinsdale for nearly a century, leaving their mark on farming, business, politics, public service, and recreation. Civil War veteran J. Elijah Nash became a dairy farmer, hardware merchant, and two-time Socialist candidate for governor. His son George built a thriving hardware and plumbing business, served as fire chief, and a flyer of weather flags above...

Episode 37:  The remarkable history Robbinsdale schools along Regent Avenue. This ten-acre site served as the educational heart of Robbinsdale for more than a century. Beginning with the ambitious 1889 construction of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, this special extended episode follows the evolution of the property through the Parker School, Robbinsdale Public School, Robbinsdale High School,...

Episode 36: Follow the life of Esther Robbins Scott, the adventurous youngest daughter of Robbinsdale founder Andrew B. Robbins. Through a remarkable collection of family papers discovered in a Plymouth townhouse, we meet a gifted writer, athlete, dog lover, and keeper of history. From her humorous childhood stories and University of Minnesota days to her courtship, marriage, and passion for breed...

Episode 35: Here's the extraordinary life of Wilford Hamilton Fawcett, the Canadian-born soldier, journalist, and publisher who transformed Robbinsdale into the unlikely birthplace of a national publishing empire. Pete and Crystal explore how Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang exploded from a tiny West Broadway office into a multimedia powerhouse that launched pulp magazines, celebrity culture, comic book...

Episode 34: Explore the history, ecology, and cultural significance of Bassett Creek, blending personal childhood memories with a deeper look at its role in the western Minneapolis area. Crystal and Pete discuss the creek’s Dakota name, Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ (“Falls Creek”), its glacial origins, and its importance to Indigenous communities. They also trace how urban development transformed it from a natur...

Episode 33: We trace the rise and fall of the Historic Terrace Theater, the lavish million-dollar movie palace that became a symbol of suburban luxury and innovation in the 1950s. The episode explores how the ambitious Volk brothers transformed movie going with elegant design, personal customer service, and nonstop reinvention as the theater adapted to changing audiences, Hollywood trends, and the...

Episode 32: We explore the history of movie theaters in Robbinsdale and the greater Twin Cities, focusing on the Volk brothers and their chain of “luxury” neighborhood cinemas. This episode traces the evolution from the small 1926 Robin Theater to major mid-century landmarks like the Riverview and the elaborate Terrace Theater, highlighting their architecture, innovations, and cultural impact. The...

Episode 31: Adelaide Walker Robbins helped shape Minnesota from its frontier days through the early twentieth century, serving first as a teenage Civil War nurse before becoming a teacher, writer, church leader, and civic builder the communities of  Willmar and Robbinsdale. Married to our town's founder Andrew B. Robbins and sister of Lumber Barron Thomas B. Walker, she spent decades helping estab...

Episode 30: We trace the life of Amy Robbins Ware, a fiercely independent Robbinsdale woman whose work carried her from art studios and library clubs to the battlefields of World War I France. Through her letters and personal writings, we discover a woman driven by duty, creativity, and a stubborn insistence that women’s contributions deserved to be remembered. Her story touches everything from wa...

Episode 29: Did you ever say “My, how I’d like to have lived in the good old days.”? No cares or worries, no electric lights, no gas or oil to heat with, no vacuum cleaner, no automatic washer or dryer, no electric refrigerator or deep freeze, no radio or T.V. and but few telephones, no automobile or airplane, no atomic bomb. If they didn’t have all of these, what did they have, and how did they g...

In the 1980s, Robbinsdale faced population decline and an aging community, even as it held tightly to its identity and traditions like its Tree City pride. The decade brought major changes, including failing retail ventures like Ward’s Terrace Mall, the loss of beloved landmarks, and a shifting downtown struggling to redefine itself. At the center of it all was a bitter, emotional battle over scho...

Episode 27:  We follow Edith Robbins, her family, and their historic home,  from a large, active household to a quieter, dispersed legacy. After Andrew B. Robbins’ death, his daughter Edith becomes the central figure, managing the family estate, running businesses, and serving for decades on the local school board. The episode emphasizes her leadership, resilience, and deep involvement in communit...

Episode 26: We explore the early life of Edith Robbins Daniel, the eldest daughter of Robbinsdale founder Andrew B. Robbins, and a remarkable figure in her own right. Raised in a pioneering family that helped shape early Minnesota communities, Edith grew into a teacher, writer, and civic leader whose influence reached far beyond her hometown. She taught in Minneapolis schools, served as a principa...

Episode 25: We draw on the work and research of Robert B. Porter to tell the story of the five daughters of Andrew B. Robbins—Edith, Amy, Adelaide, Ruth, and Esther. Each woman helped shape early Robbinsdale through her talent, education, and determination. All five attended the University of Minnesota and went on to lead meaningful, impactful lives: Edith in education and public service; Amy in m...

Episode 24: In this episode of The Mayors of Robbinsdale, Part 2, we explore the leaders who guided the city through decades of growth, change, and transformation. Beginning with Robert A. Merwin’s razor-thin election victory in 1954, the episode highlights key moments like proposed city mergers, post-war development, and evolving community priorities. We meet memorable figures such as Walter Soch...

Episode 23: They were founders, and they were firebrands. In Part One, we’ll meet the characters who guided Robbinsdale through its earliest decades: immigrants, entrepreneurs, Civil War veterans, and hometown originals. Their stories are colorful, sometimes contentious, and always revealing—not just about the town they served, but about the kind of leadership small communities demanded. This is t...

Episode 22: Join us and explore how racial covenants shaped the development of neighborhoods in Robbinsdale during the early 20th century. We discuss how these discriminatory clauses appeared in property deeds, how developers used them when marketing new subdivisions, and how projects like Mapping Prejudice and the Just Deeds Project are helping uncover and address this history today. By examining...

Episode 21: Founded by a determined group of women in 1907, the Robbinsdale Library began as donated books in borrowed storefronts and grew into a beautiful Tudor-revival building in 1926. Under librarians like Frances Pollard, the library became a bright, neighborly hub for reading, events, and fundraising traditions. After decades of service the branch closed in 1976, but the building was preser...

Episode 20: Crystal traces the rise and fall of Golden Valley's Glenwood Hills Hospital, from its beginnings as a pioneering psychiatric facility to its expansion into a full-service hospital and eventual closure. Nestled in the woods between secluded lakes and parkland, the hospital felt more like a retreat than an institution. Our story highlights changing approaches to mental health care, the h...

Episode 19: Pete swaps stories with Ron Johnson, Adam Fesenmaier, and Jimmy Swan as they revisit the chaotic fun of growing up in Robbinsdale in the 1970s and ’80s. Climb aboard and let these guys give you a buck through the years of box hockey, Brookdale, and basement kegs. Their memories capture a rough-and-tumble, unsupervised era, right around the corner in Robbinsdale.

Episode 18: In this episode, we're heading back to Sacred Heart, where Lou Ambrose remembers the overwhelming presence of the legendary Father Nolan. We walk through 1960s Robbinsdale, recalling creaky wooden floors at the Ben Franklin. Getting a dress and a guitar from Monkey Wards. Terrace Dairy treats and the lost pond of Sleepy Hollow.  

Episode 17: Lou Ambrose lives in her grandfather Thomas Herbert Girling’s 1917 home on Crystal Lake. In this episode, she shares stories of his life. Born in Nottingham, England, in 1865, Girling got things going in the early days of Robbinsdale. Through Lou’s memories, we explore shifting shorelines, deep roots, and the history we drive by every day.

Episode 16: In this second part, multi-faceted storyteller Kathryn Leigh Scott discusses her pivotal role in restoring the legacy of Coya Knutson, Minnesota’s first congresswoman, through biography and historic reunions. Beyond her acting and publishing career, Scott reflects on her own roots in the Robbinsdale and Minneapolis area, sharing how a community-focused upbringing shaped her lifelong pa...