The twelfth annual report of the Park Commissioners for the city of Minneapolis includes details about maintenance, improvements, and expenditures related to the parks and parkways in 1894. The Superintendent's report highlights winter sports in the parks and the park's fleet of boats on Lake Harriet. When the Minnesota legislature created the Minneapolis Board of Park Commissioners in 1883, it required the board to produce an annual report. These reports, which came to be highly prized by libraries and park advocates across the country, provide a vivid and detailed account of the development of one of the world's leading urban park systems. This report references "Lake Calhoun," a Minneapolis lake now known as Bde Maka Ska, the Dakota language for "White Earth Lake."
Two children in costumes suggestive of feathers and wings, characters in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Two female characters dressed alike in dresses with flared flowered skirts and headdresses, in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Two characters similarly dressed in breeches, ruffled jackets, and high-crowned hats, one holding a sack, in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Kneeling figure dressed in white trousers and jacket adorned with dark pompoms, presenting an unidentified object to a girl in a dark dress and hat trimmed with ribbon and frilly pantaloons, characters in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Two children dressed in checked jumper and pantaloons, large checked hats, and white gloves, characters in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Two girls dressed alike in white ruffled dresses and bonnets, characters in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Two young girls in dresses and caps, in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Two girls dressed alike in boots and dresses with flared skirts, one held out to both sides and one raised and framing her body, characters in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Two girls dressed alike in horizontally striped dresses with ruffles down the skirt fronts and wide collars, one curtseying and the other wearing a high headdress, characters in the Minneapolis park system's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
Fuzzy white teddy bears with neck bows, characters in the Minneapolis Park System's annual playground pageant, produced by Mrs. Alice Dietz of the Recreation Department.
A view of northwest Chisholm from the water tower, looking north over the corner of the wall. Fifth Avenue NW runs north from the wall. In the lower left, a man works in his home garden inside the wall, while laundry hangs out to dry.
The ground was cleared of glacial rock deposits near the water tower and two blocks further west. The area was tightly packed with glacial deposits of huge granite boulders. Horse-drawn sleds, or ôstone boatsö were used to haul away the boulders, later used to construct the wall, the amphitheater, the field house, and the castle. The houses in the photo were moved into town.