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| Powderhorn Park | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Powderhorn Park in November 2021 | |
 | |
| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Coordinates | 44°58′12″N 93°17′02″W / 44.97000°N 93.28389°W[1] |
| Area | 65.9 acres (26.7 ha) [2] |
| Established | 1887 |
| Operated by | Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board |
| Open | 6 am-10 pm, year-round |
Powderhorn Park is an urban park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It sits at the center of the Powderhorn Park neighborhood and the larger Powderhorn community, both of which take their names from the park. The park was established around Powderhorn Lake in the late 19th century.
The park is mostly set at an elevation below the surrounding neighborhood.[3] It contains playing fields, playgrounds and a recreation center that hosts community education classes ranging from pottery to yoga. In winter, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board sets up a portable warming house and the lake is used for ice skating. There is a fishing pier behind the recreation center, and the lake is regularly stocked with fish, including bluegill, black crappie, largemouth bass, and channel catfish.[4]
History[edit]
Before there was a park, there was a curved lake in the middle of what is now Minneapolis. The name Powderhorn Lake was first used for the lake in a map of the area around Fort Snelling in 1839.[5] The lake takes its name from its former shape: it was curved, resembling a powder horn, until the mid-1920s, when the northern arm of the lake was filled. The lake is still at the center of the park; the former northern arm now hosts a baseball diamond.
The park was established in the 1880s as the surrounding area was beginning to fill in with housing.[6] In 1883, the Minnesota Legislature and Minneapolis voters approved the founding of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), and within months, residents of the area asking for a park around Powderhorn Lake. MPRB designated the lake shore as a park in 1887, then embarked in a slow period of land acquisitions. A 20-acre plot was added in 1891. The ice rink was constructed that year and the recreation center built in 1907.[5] By 1917, only a few blocks of the current park were still privately owned.[7]
Powderhorn Park has been a gathering site for protests, including as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. In June 2020, shortly after the Murder of George Floyd, crowds of hundreds gathered in the park to protest the murder and the call for a stronger response from city leadership.[8]
An encampment for people experiencing homelessness emerged at Powderhorn Park in mid 2020 as a result of civil disorder in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder.[9] Some community members complained about the camp (which brought increased vehicle traffic, drugs, property damage, and at least two overdoses) and changed their behavior to avoid it, and others committed to not involving the police. [9] Some community members delivered meals, medical care, and counseling and sought support from the American Indian Movement to monitor the area.[9] The Powderhorn Park encampment was considered the largest in the history of the Twin Cities metropolitan history, having 560 tents with an estimated 800 people living it by mid July 2020.[10]
Events[edit]
The park and lake are used as the setting for the last act in the city's annual May Day parade (occurring on the first Sunday in May), which is a play in motion that has been running since 1975. This was produced by the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre through 2022 and continues as a decentralized, community-run endeavor.[11] As the parade runs south along Bloomington Avenue, participants wear a variety of costumes, and many manipulate giant puppets, all to produce a story that is based on sociopolitical themes including peace, environmentalism, current events, and others. After the parade story ends, the tail end of the parade is a "free speech" section which includes representatives of community groups and campaigning politicians. After the parade, people gather on a hillside at the west end of the park for the Tree of Life ceremony. Many details of the final act change from year to year, but there are several figures that consistently appear: River, Woods, Prairie, Sky, Sun, and the Tree of Life. At the end of the ceremony, a flotilla comes across the lake with the Sun figure in the central boat. The Sun awakens the Tree of Life (a figure which includes a traditional maypole), and the crowd sings "You Are My Sunshine" to mark the banishment of another season of winter.
Powderhorn Park is also home to other nontraditional and decentralized celebrations. It has hosted the Autonomous Zine Fest.[12] Minneapolis People's Pride,[13] an LGBT pride festival designed to be free of police and corporate presences, has been located in the park since 2021.[14] The park has hosted the Minneapolis Art Sled Rally since 2008,[15] an event in which participants sled down the hill in sleds of their own design, often depicting topical characters or themes. The rally has made the news for its creative and sometimes controversial sled designs.[16]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis, MN. Google Earth. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
- ^ "Powderhorn Park". Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ Jones, Grace. "Powderhorn Park". A Field Guide to Public Spaces. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ "Powderhorn Lake". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Smith, David C; Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. "Powderhorn Park: History". Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
- ^ Abbott, E.T. "(Cartographic) Abbott's Map of the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minn.,(1880)". Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ Bennett, Edward H. (Edward Herbert), 1874-1954. "(Cartographic) 1917 General Plan Minneapolis Minnesota showing complete street and park system prepared for the Civic Commission Of Minneapolis,(1917)". Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Du, Susan; Cassel, Emily; Jones, Hannah (July 1, 2020). "Defund & dismantle: Minneapolis looks toward a police-free future". City Pages. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c Dickerson, Caitlin (June 24, 2020). "A Minneapolis Neighborhood Vowed to Check Its Privilege. It's Already Being Tested". The New York Times.
- ^ Rosengren, John (December 13, 2020). "In a Tumultuous Year, COVID Puts Homeless Crisis Front and Center". MplsStPaul.
- ^ "MayDay Released". In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
- ^ Valelly, Jonathan. "Zine Fests Put to the Test". Broken Pencil. No. 93. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ Haan, Sofia (June 1, 2023). "Where to celebrate Pride in the Twin Cities". The Current. Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ "An Alternative Pride Celebration". Minneapolis People's Pride. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ Baichtal, John (February 18, 2009). "Riding the Snow in Style at the Minneapolis Art Sled Rally". Wired. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ Yang, Pafoua (January 29, 2024). "Creator of controversial art sled says burning of Minneapolis police precinct was a 'good thing'". KSTP. Retrieved May 13, 2024.