Edina Historical Society

You may not recognize this neighborhood in its infancy in the early 1950s, shown with new tree plantings instead of its shaded boulevards of today.

This is the neighborhood of Richmond Hills. (See map below.) Yvonne Terrace and the edge of Melody Lake is in the foreground.

Here's a closer view of 56th Street, marked by someone else long ago.

Here's a closer view of Yvonne Terrace.

You may not be familiar with the Richmond Hills neighborhood even today because you probably don't drive through the area unless you know someone who lives in one of the 47 houses there. Richmond Hills is unusual in that it can be entered only using Sherwood Road via the portion of Eden Avenue that runs between the Edina Public Library and Vernon Avenue.

As a result, the neighborhood has been deeply interested in the future development of the Grandview District, centered around the intersections of Eden Avenue, Vernon Avenue, and Highway 100.  I have followed the Edina Citizen's Engagement blog discussions on this topic (see more here) and have been interested to find out more about the neighborhood's history.

I would love to hear more about the neighborhood's history. If you have photos or information to share, please contact me or comment here.

Look what I found in a 1948 Edina phone directory, published by Minnesota Suburban Newspapers:

As is often the case, I was actually looking for something else when I came across this fun ad.  I always love real estate descriptions: "Individual homesites of unexcelled scenic beauty. Everyone different. Winding roads with sweeping views. Natural sites for ramblers... Designed for them, in fact!"

This (approximately) is the Highlands neighborhood today. Highway 169 (Shakopee Road) listed in the ad is now called Vernon Avenue. The Belt Line is now better known as Highway 100.

I was surprised to see that lots were advertised in Highlands in 1948. If I had to guess, I would have picked sometime in the late 1950s simply because of the winding roads and "sweeping views." Developing hilly land was much more difficult (and expensive), especially in the early days of mechanized equipment.

We have a lot of information in our files about our older neighborhoods (Morningside, Country Club District, Cahill and White Oaks) and less about our "newer" subdivisions like Highlands, which is now more than 64 years old. Even those areas developed after Southdale mall was built are more than 50 years old. I am hoping the city's focus on neighborhoods (see Star Tribune article here) will encourage residents to collect and donate their own neighborhood history. Even the "young" neighborhoods have traditions and interesting histories. (Dick Crockett of the Edina Foundation wrote about some of those neighborhood activities here.)

If you have anything to share about your neighborhood, please contact me. I think it would be fun to put together an exhibit on Edina neighborhoods.

Normally, today I would bring you our popular feature "Photo Friday." Today, I'll tell you the story of the photo I wish I had.

One of my regular volunteers Larry Nickander grew up in the Morningside neighborhood, joined the military during the Korean War, moved around the country for his job, and then returned to Edina while his two children were in elementary school.

Many more people had the same idea in the 1960s. Following the construction of Southdale mall (1956) and major freeways in the 1960s, Edina's population boomed, as this 1964 story in the Edina-Morningside Courier (June 4, 1964) shows. The headline: "Playmates Number 97. Little Girl Has Friends, And Friends, And Friends".

Larry recalls that a reporter, who must have heard that this new neighborhood was full of children, stopped by with a camera and told one of the youngsters to find as many of his friends as he could. When a crowd showed up, he instructed them to run down a hill and snapped their photo. Larry's son was one of those children.

I wish we had the original photo, but newspaper ownership has changed over the years and the old photos aren't in the Edina Sun-Current's archives.

Isn't it a great photo? It really illustrates the population boom in Edina at the time. (My photo of a photocopied newspaper isn't particularly fabulous, but it's the best we can do unless this magically prompts someone to come forward with the real thing. Hey, you never know... )

The story reads:

"When eight-year-old Janet Stoddard climbs a tree in the nearest vacant lot this summer vacation, she may discover more playmates than woodticks.

The latest census on woodticks is unavailable, but the neighborhood kids number 97.

Janet, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Stoddard of 5605 Countryside Rd., lives in a block-and-a-half section off Tracy Ave. where 30 houses line the cul-de-sac road. 

Janet regularly calls on the B.F. Woodcock family at 5609 Countryside Rd., where youngsters Nancy, 7, Jeff, 9, John, 11, and Lynn, 13, live.

The five of them visit the tree house and climb trees next to the Woodcock's.

The lot has such significance as a playground to the children that when its sale was once a neighborhood rumor, the Woodcock children ran to their mother to see "how much money does daddy make." They wanted to buy the lot.

To add to the neighborhood confusion, two Dunn families reside in it. So do the Stoddards's and the Stoddart's."

Larry and I talked about this story a few times over the years - prompting me to search our archives, call the newspaper for the photo, search the Minnesota Historical Society archives... to no avail. Microfiche copies of the newspaper are available, but since Larry couldn't narrow down the date, I wasn't looking forward to searching several years' worth of newspapers.

Then, just before our "Growing Up in Edina" exhibit opened, Larry brought in the clipping. I asked him how he found it. His answer: "I asked my wife." Thank you to Larry (and Larry's wife who knew exactly where the clipping was located) for bringing the story in.

For another photo that illustrates Edina's huge number of kids, see this post. (One day, I'll have to look up the exact census figures...I'm guessing a bazillion isn't quite accurate.)