In the early 1870s, brothers-in-law William Marshall and Nathaniel Langford—both prominent St. Paulites—had the idea for a grand garden suburb set between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Big ideas require big money, and the project received financial backing from wealthy lumbermen in Menomonie, Wisconsin. This small group included John H. Knapp, who remained involved in the revised St. Anthony Park of the 1880s, and whose family still owned large areas of land on the neighborhood’s edges well into the 20th century. Knapp’s legacy is honored in a discontinuous street spanning the St. Anthony Park and North St. Anthony Park additions, and an intersecting block-long street next to the Methodist Church. Learn more about Knapp and his partners in this presentation.

Unable to attend in person? View the presentation live online, with a recording available for one week following. Use the SAPLC YouTube channel at bit.ly/Sap-history. One can also get to the church’s YouTube channel by clicking through from saplc.org to the worship tab, and then to the livestream link for services and other events.

Presentations are still free, but we’ll be trying a tip jar to help support program expenses. Please invite friends and neighbors.

Enrich the holiday season with this detailed look at Christmas stories from the Annunciation through the Flight into Egypt. Meet angels, shepherds, kings, and the holy family as we explore a sampling of Christmas art from across the Christian tradition.

In late ancient/early medieval Europe, the Italian city of Ravenna was an important connection point between the Roman and Byzantine worlds, and it had prestigious relationships with the imperial courts. Ravenna became home to a group of important buildings—churches, baptisteries, and mausolea—and many of them are still standing, decorated with stunning mosaics. In this presentation, we will learn about the city’s rich artistic heritage, especially its surviving mosaics.

For more information and registration, visit Learning Is ForEver.

Over nearly 140 years, the massive Blair Flats complex has dominated the Selby-Western intersection. With a handful of names and multiple owners (especially in the past few decades), the buildings have seen many ups and downs, from the early years as the stylish home to many of the area's elite to a less-desirable role as "a bleak monument to urban decay" in the 1960s and 1970s. Efforts to restore the complex and welcome back residents and businesses have returned the Frank Blair buildings to much of their former glory. We'll look into the architect, origins, owners, and famous residents as we trace the story of the complex to its beginnings in the 1880s.

To register, visit the Ramsey Hill Association events page.

Sponsored by SARPA and the Ramsey Hill Association.

Textiles were among the most highly-valued art forms in medieval Europe. England was an important center for making these textiles, and it is likely that teams of English women created the Bayeux Tapestry, which ranks among the most famous medieval art works. Measuring over 220 feet long, this massive textile depicts the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. We’ll learn about the embroidery’s roots in similar medieval objects, and we will investigate the questions and controversies related to its origins.

For more information and registration, visit Learning Is ForEver.

In this presentation, we’ll examine two famous sixteenth-century altarpieces by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Located in their original settings in Wittenberg and Weimar, these richly detailed paintings used the old tradition of decorated altars as a vehicle to show new ideas developed by Martin Luther during the Reformation.

How did the Protestant Reformation affect art and artists, and how did art help to shape the Reformation? In books, posters, pamphlets, and paintings, we will see new types of art and new uses for old forms. From portraits of the Reformers to propaganda pieces, this presentation includes many images from the lively visual arts of Martin Luther’s time.

This summer, Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market celebrated thirty years as an independent grocery store. The first store in their building, Blomberg’s Grocery, was one of many grocery stores in the neighborhood in the early 20th century. In this presentation, we’ll investigate the many options for buying food in St. Anthony Park during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Unable to attend in person? View the presentation live online, with a recording available for one week following. Use the SAPLC YouTube channel at bit.ly/Sap-history. One can also get to the church’s YouTube channel by clicking through from saplc.org to the worship tab, and then to the livestream link for services and other events.

Presentations are still free, but we’ll be trying a tip jar to help support program expenses. Please invite friends and neighbors.

Franklin Ellerbe seems an unlikely founder for a multinational, world-famous architecture firm. He started his architecture studio at age 39, and he died just over a decade later. Yet in that time, he and his son established a practice with deep connections to the Mayo Clinic and the Rochester community, building a reputation for medical facilities and more. Through mergers that created Ellerbe Becket, and later AECOM, Franklin Ellerbe’s heritage endures in over a century’s worth of building in Rochester and around the world.

For more information and registration, visit Learning Is ForEver.

For over a century, University Baptist Church has occupied its lovely building at the corner of University Avenue and 13th Avenue SE. In light of this stability, it’s amazing to consider the dynamic pattern of building and moving seen in the congregation’s earlier history, when they used at least six different spaces in a period of seventy years or so. 

Not only did UBC have many different worship places, but the church also preceded and succeeded other religious communities in particular buildings: nearly all these groups were on the move in those early years. Such intertwining stories and relationships were part of the fascinating saga of the “triplet” cities of St. Anthony, St. Paul, and Minneapolis, where allegiances and connections along neighborhood, geographical, and denominational lines formed the bedrock of the UBC building stories.

Sponsored by SARPA and the Ramsey Hill Association.

The state fair was held in many places over the years—until 1885, at least, when they settled on the current fairgrounds. Over the decades, many buildings have come and gone—including three different grandstands at the current location. In this presentation, we’ll explore fairgrounds and facilities, past and present, going back to the days of the Territorial fairs and tracing our way to the present places and spaces of the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

For more information and registration, visit Learning Is ForEver.

Early in the summer, Luther Seminary announced plans to sell its campus, concluding over 120 years of operation in St. Anthony Park. Even with its long tenure, Luther was not the first seminary in the neighborhood. That honor belongs to Stryker Seminary, established here in the late 19th century. It was located on Doswell, west of Como Avenue. Come on September 9 to learn about seminaries once located in SAP.

Unable to attend in person? View the presentation live online, with a recording available for one week following. Use the SAPLC YouTube channel at bit.ly/Sap-history. One can also get to the church’s YouTube channel by clicking through from saplc.org to the worship tab, and then to the livestream link for services and other events.

Presentations are still free, but we’ll be trying a tip jar to help support program expenses. Please invite friends and neighbors.

Wonders abound in the alleys of St. Anthony Park! We get glimpses of backyards, walk past gardens (intentional or otherwise), and see an array of interesting buildings, some of them quite old. This summer, we will explore alleys in the far northeastern section of the neighborhood. In addition to some fun alley sights, we will be walking on and near the old Dakota Trail.

For more tour details and information on required reservations, visit the Alleys tour page.

Part of the St. Anthony Park 2025 Summer Walking Tours series.

Wonders abound in the alleys of St. Anthony Park! We get glimpses of backyards, walk past gardens (intentional or otherwise), and see an array of interesting buildings, some of them quite old. This summer, we will explore alleys in the far northeastern section of the neighborhood. In addition to some fun alley sights, we will be walking on and near the old Dakota Trail.

For more tour details and information on required reservations, visit the Alleys tour page.

Part of the St. Anthony Park 2025 Summer Walking Tours series.

Wonders abound in the alleys of St. Anthony Park! We get glimpses of backyards, walk past gardens (intentional or otherwise), and see an array of interesting buildings, some of them quite old. This summer, we will explore alleys in the far northeastern section of the neighborhood. In addition to some fun alley sights, we will be walking on and near the old Dakota Trail.

For more tour details and information on required reservations, visit the Alleys tour page.

Part of the St. Anthony Park 2025 Summer Walking Tours series.

As the St. Anthony Park Company got started in the mid-1880s, they scattered their first homes around their neighborhood. Even though the railroad tracks cut through this new suburban community, the company made use of all areas in their development. We’ll be looking at the section just north of the tracks, spread on either side of Raymond Avenue. This is where the oldest homes still stand, now mixed with houses, townhomes, and apartment buildings from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

For more tour details and information on required reservations, visit the Scudder/Raymond streets tour page.

Part of the St. Anthony Park 2025 Summer Walking Tours series.

As the St. Anthony Park Company got started in the mid-1880s, they scattered their first homes around their neighborhood. Even though the railroad tracks cut through this new suburban community, the company made use of all areas in their development. We’ll be looking at the section just north of the tracks, spread on either side of Raymond Avenue. This is where the oldest homes still stand, now mixed with houses, townhomes, and apartment buildings from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

For more tour details and information on required reservations, visit the Scudder/Raymond streets tour page.

Part of the St. Anthony Park 2025 Summer Walking Tours series.

As the St. Anthony Park Company got started in the mid-1880s, they scattered their first homes around their neighborhood. Even though the railroad tracks cut through this new suburban community, the company made use of all areas in their development. We’ll be looking at the section just north of the tracks, spread on either side of Raymond Avenue. This is where the oldest homes still stand, now mixed with houses, townhomes, and apartment buildings from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

For more tour details and information on required reservations, visit the Scudder/Raymond streets tour page.

Part of the St. Anthony Park 2025 Summer Walking Tours series.

The Augsburg University campus has changed and evolved over the past 150 years. From Old Main (National Registry of Historic Places) to the Christensen Center, James G. Lindell Library, Sverdrup Hall and more, it's a fascinating story of preservation and loss — and a look at what the future holds for this beautiful campus.

For the lecture series of Preserve Minneapolis. Reservations for the zoom presentation are available here.

When the St. Anthony Park Company began building homes for their new neighborhood in the mid-1880s, one of the first concentrations of development was at Hampden Park. The area also included a small business district, and it was adjacent to St. Anthony Park’s ‘Manufacturing Suburb,’ the industrial development started in 1885. In this presentation, we’ll explore the park and the area surrounding it.

Attend in person or access the live presentation at the St. Anthony Park Lutheran YouTube channel. A recording of the presentation will be available at the youtube channel for one week after the event.

Free and open to the public: presented as a gift to the community by St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church.

A richly illustrated presentation about the historic and contemporary baseball parks of the Twin Cities. Beginning with the early baseball grounds and simple wooden ballparks of the late 19th century, we'll also visit Nicollet Park and Lexington Park in the early 20th century, see Midway and Met Stadiums at mid-century, and finish our virtual tour with a look at two modern wonders, Target Field and CHS Field.

Part of the SALT (Senior Adults Learning Together) program. Ticket for the day’s presentations is $8. Learn more about SALT here.

This class examines the social and historical influences that defined the unique residential styles and trends most associated with the mid-mod era. We'll look not only at common forms like the Cape Cod and the ranch house, but also some high-style examples designed by prominent architects. The fascinating story behind 1950s and 60s homes, neighborhoods, and suburbs will leave you with a new appreciation for Minnesota's mid-century properties.  

Part of the SALT (Senior Adults Learning Together) program. Ticket for the day’s presentations is $8. Learn more about SALT here.

In this virtual tour of landmark churches in Minneapolis and St. Paul, we will consider the worship spaces of various denominations, meet some important church architects, and see a variety of different styles of building over the past 150 years.

Attend in person or access the live presentation at the St. Anthony Park Lutheran YouTube channel. A recording of the presentation will be available at the youtube channel for one week after the event.

Free and open to the public: presented as a gift to the community by St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church.

Widely known but only partly understood, Leonardo’s Last Supper rivals his Mona Lisa as one of the most famous paintings in western art. Leonardo altered the then-familiar formula for images of the Last Supper to create a new standard for depictions of this story. In this presentation, we will look closely at the painting’s setting, its history, and its many intriguing details.

Sponsored by the Summit Avenue Residential Preservation Association (SARPA) and the Ramsey Hill Association (RHA).

After visiting a stunning new palace built for one of his ministers, French king Louis XIV decided to transform a royal hunting lodge into what became the Royal Palace at Versailles. Known for its size and opulence--as well as its enormous grounds studded with sculpture, fountains, and other palaces--Versailles became the envy of rulers across Europe, many of whom were inspired to build their own versions of Louis’s spectacular palace. In this presentation, we’ll learn about the creation of Versailles, along with its gardens and surroundings, and we’ll visit some of its many imitators.

For more information and registration, visit Learning Is ForEver

For over a thousand years, this amazing building has been at the intersection of politics, religion, and culture. Known for its remarkable engineering, it has been widely influential in both the Christian and Islamic traditions. This presentation looks closely at Hagia Sophia’s design, construction, materials, decoration, and acoustics—and especially at its changing use over time.

Attend in person or access the live presentation at the St. Anthony Park Lutheran YouTube channel. A recording of the presentation will be available at the youtube channel for one week after the event.

Free and open to the public: presented as a gift to the community by St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church.