Category: History

The West Hotel opened its doors in 1884. It stood at the corner of Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street and was considered the fanciest hotel west of Chicago. The West Hotel had 407 luxury rooms, 140 bathrooms, and a lobby which was advertised to be the largest in the country.

On January 10, 1906, a fire started in the first floor packing room of the West Hotel and spread to the elevator shaft where the wood within the shaft was quickly engulfed in flames.

The flames shot up to and spread across the seventh floor which then filled with heavy smoke. When the hotel fire alarms sounded, panic ensued and guests ran throughout the halls to escape the smoke and flames.

Eight persons perished in the fire. Amongst the dead was Minneapolis Hook and Ladder, Truck #1, Captain John Berwin. While attempting the rescue of Mrs D.B. Barlow of Los Angeles, Captain Berwin fell to his death.

Twelve persons – eleven guests and one hotel maid – were badly injured in the fire. Injuries ranged from broken bones to severe cuts from flying glass to exhaustion due to smoke inhalation.

Minneapolis Police Officers were at the scene to provide aid and help evacuate hotel guests and employees to safety.

In the photograph above, Minneapolis Police Officers work to remove the bodies of those who perished in the fire.

Photograph courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society
Story compiled from Associated Press article of January 10, 1906

In the summer of 1978, a photographer named Olof Kallstrom did a series of streetscapes depicting life in Minneapolis.

Can you identify the officer or the car owner in this photograph Mr. Kallstrom took in the Loring Park neighborhood?

Photograph courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

Also featured in our Confiscated Weapons collection is this sawed-off 12 gauge side-by-side shotgun.

This croquet ball with spikes inserted in it is one of the items in the museum’s Confiscated Weapons collection.

From our collection of confiscated weapons, here is a 22 caliber revolver with a suppressor attachment.

Fred Belau, was a 70-year-old recluse who lived for years in a small, makeshift one-room house on North 28th Avenue near the Mississippi River. On November 24, 1946, Mr. Belau was robbed at gunpoint of $1,325 which he kept hidden in a spot behind a shelf.

In this photograph, Mr. Belau is presented with a chicken and a basket of other foods by Leo LeVau, aged 11. On November 28, 1946, Leo came to Mr. Belau’s aid after hearing about the robbery. Leo had raised the chicken and some of the vegetables during the summer at a Volunteers of America camp in Mound, Minnesota.

The Minneapolis Police were able to track down and apprehend the thief. On November 26, 1946, two days before Leo made his kind delivery, detectives visited Mr. Belau to return $1193 of his life savings which officers had recovered during the arrest of the thief.

Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library

Traffic control towers were once a feature of Downtown Minneapolis.

This photograph of World War One soldiers of the 34th Division marching down Nicollet Avenue crossing 6th Street was taken on September 6, 1919.

A traffic control tower, with signal lights atop it and an Minneapolis Police Traffic Officer inside it, sits directly in the center of the intersection.

Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library

Here is a photograph taken on April 4, 1942 of Officer Leo Bessner coaching identical twins, Ray (left) and Bob (right) Cronin before their bout.

Boxing was a popular sport at the Bryant Boys’ Club.

Photograph courtesy of the Hennepin County Library

In this photograph from March 29, 1939 Officer Steve Dickinson holds on to Della Halter while she waits for her mother to collect her.

Officer Dickinson spotted Della walking alone on the streetcar tracks at Nicollet Avenue and 15th Street.

Della was lost and could not recall her full name.

Officer Dickinson brought Della to the City Matron at Minneapolis Police Headquarters where they were able to find and reunite her with her mother.

Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library

In this photograph from December 15, 1945, Minneapolis Police Detective George Schlong (left), who was an inspector with the Pawnbroker and Property division, handed over $260 to 13-year-old William Roehl (right).

William had found the money in a city dump six months earlier. William’s father, Fred E. Roehl (background, center) watches the exchange, which took place after no one claimed the money.

Photograph taken by William Seaman courtesy of Hennepin County Library