St. Louis Park is a city in
Hennepin County
Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapol ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, United States. The population was 50,010 at the
2020 census.
It is a first-ring
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
immediately west of
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
. Other adjacent cities include
Edina
EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group.
Services
EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use for ...
,
Golden Valley,
Minnetonka
Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
,
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, and
Hopkins
Hopkins is an English, Welsh and Irish patronymic surname. The English name means "son of Hob". ''Hob'' was a diminutive of ''Robert'', itself deriving from the Germanic warrior name ''Hrod-berht'', translated as "renowned-fame". The Robert spell ...
.
The
Pavek Museum of Broadcasting
The Pavek Museum is a museum in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, that has one of the world's most significant collections of vintage radio and television equipment. It originated in the collection of Joe Pavek, who began collecting unique radios while h ...
, which has a major collection of
antique
An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...
radio and television equipment, is also in the city. Items range from radios produced by local manufacturers to the
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...
system used to cut discs carrying audio for the first "talkie", ''
The Jazz Singer
''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music score as well as lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolated ...
''.
The Coen brothers set their 2009 film ''
A Serious Man
''A Serious Man'' is a 2009 American black comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1967, the film stars Michael Stuhlbarg as a Minnesota Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and perso ...
'' in St. Louis Park circa 1967. It was important to the Coens to find a neighborhood of original-looking suburban
rambler homes as they would have appeared in St. Louis Park in the mid-1960s, and after careful scouting they opted to film scenes in a neighborhood of nearby
Bloomington,
as well as at St. Louis Park's
B'nai Emet Synagogue, which was later sold and converted into a school.
History
Early developments
The 1860s village that became St. Louis Park was originally known as Elmwood, which today is a neighborhood inside the city. In August 1886, 31 people signed a petition asking county commissioners to incorporate the Village of St. Louis Park. The petition was officially registered on November 19, 1886.
The name "St. Louis Park" was derived from the
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway that ran through the area; the word "Park" was added to avoid confusion with
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
.
[Judy Poseley, ''The Park'', City of St. Louis Park, 1976; copy accessed from "St. Louis Park inventory" file, State Historic Preservation Office in the Minnesota History Center.]
In 1892,
lumber baron
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
Thomas Barlow Walker
Thomas Barlow Walker (February 1, 1840 – July 28, 1928) was an American business magnate who acquired lumber in Minnesota and California and became an art collector. Walker founded the Minneapolis Public Library. He was among the ten wealthiest m ...
and a group of wealthy Minneapolis industrialists incorporated the Minneapolis Land and Investment Company to focus industrial development in Minneapolis. Walker's company also began developing St. Louis Park for industrial, commercial and residential use.
Generally, development progressed outward from the original village center at the intersection of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway with Wooddale Avenue. But Minneapolis soon expanded as far west as France Avenue, and its boundary may have continued to move westward had it not been for St. Louis Park's 1886 incorporation.
By 1893, St. Louis Park's downtown, then located along Broadway (current-day Walker Street) near Lake Street, had three hotels and several fraternal meeting halls, and many newly arrived companies surrounded downtown. Around 1890, the village had more than 600 industrial jobs, mostly associated with agriculture implement manufacturing at the massive
Moline Plow Company
The Moline Plow Company was an American manufacturer of plows and other farm implements, headquartered in Moline, Illinois, USA.
Moline Plow was formed in the 1870s when the firm of Candee & Swan, a competitor of Deere and Company (also of M ...
factory once located just south of downtown.
The
financial panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the presid ...
altered developers' plans and put a damper on the village's growth. Walker left St. Louis Park to pursue other business ventures.
In 1899, St. Louis Park became the home to the
Peavey–Haglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator
The Peavey–Haglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator is the world's first known cylindrical concrete grain elevator. It was built from 1899 to 1900 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, United States, as an experiment to prove the design was viable. ...
, the world's first concrete, tubular
grain elevator
A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...
, which provided an alternative to combustible wooden elevators. Despite being nicknamed "Peavey's Folly" and dire predictions that the elevator would burst like a balloon when the grain was drawn off, the experiment worked and concrete elevators have been used ever since.
Suburban boom
At the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, only seven scattered
retail stores The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are ...
operated in St. Louis Park because streetcars provided easy access to shopping in Minneapolis. Between 1920 and 1930, the population doubled from 2,281 to 4,710. Vigorous homebuilding occurred in the late 1930s to accommodate the pent-up need created during the Depression. With America's involvement in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, however, all development came to a halt.
Explosive growth came after World War II. In 1940, 7,737 people lived in St. Louis Park. By 1955, more than 30,000 new residents had joined them. From 1940 to 1955, growth averaged 6.9 persons moving into St. Louis Park every day. Sixty percent of St. Louis Park's homes were built in a single burst of construction from the late 1940s to the early 1950s.
Residential development was closely followed by commercial developers eager to bring goods and services to these new households. In the late 1940s, Minnesota's first shopping center — the
Lilac Way — was constructed on the northeast corner of Excelsior Boulevard and
Highway 100
Several highways are numbered 100:
Australia
* Great Ocean Road, Victoria
* Surf Coast Highway, Victoria
* Flinders Highway, South Australia
* Lincoln Highway, South Australia
Canada
* Alberta Highway 100 (Sherwood Park Freeway) (unsigned)
* ...
. (The Lilac Way shopping center was torn down in the late 1980s to make way for redevelopment.) Miracle Mile shopping center, built in 1950, and
Knollwood Mall Knollwood may refer to the following places in the U.S.:
*Knollwood, Los Angeles, California
*Knollwood, Illinois
*Knollwood (Worcester, Massachusetts), listed on the NRHP
*Knollwood (Dublin, New Hampshire), listed on the NRHP
*Knollwood Estate, M ...
, which opened in 1956, remain open today.
In the late 1940s, a group of 11 former army doctors opened the St. Louis Park Medical Center in a small building on Excelsior Boulevard. The medical center merged with Methodist Hospital and today is Park Nicollet Health Services, part of
HealthPartners
HealthPartners is an integrated, nonprofit health care provider and health insurance company located in Bloomington, Minnesota offering care, coverage, research and education to its members, patients and the community.
History
HealthPartners ...
, the second-largest medical clinic in Minnesota (after
Rochester's Mayo Clinic
The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...
).
During the period between 1950 and 1956, 66 new subdivisions were recorded to make room for 2,700 new homes. In 1953 and 1954, the final two parcels — Kilmer and Shelard Park — were annexed. These parcels (originally in
Minnetonka
Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
) came to St. Louis Park because of their ability to provide sewer and water service. According to
Al Franken
Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, politician, media personality, and author who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He gained fame as a writer and performer on the television comed ...
, whose mother was a
realtor
A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...
there, in the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
the area was nicknamed St. Jewish Park, given that 20% of its residents were of Jewish background. He states also that there appeared to be a tacit agreement between bankers, developers and real estate agents to ensure
redlining
In the United States, redlining is a discriminatory practice in which services (financial and otherwise) are withheld from potential customers who reside in neighborhoods classified as "hazardous" to investment; these neighborhoods have signif ...
, in order to prevent the spread of Jewish and Afro-American families across streets like Texas Avenue into areas with a different ethnic composition.
From village to city
In 1954, voters approved a home rule charter that gave an overwhelmed St. Louis Park the status of a city. That enabled the city to hire a
city manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...
to assume some of the duties handled by the part-time city council. Several bridges built during that time are now being repaired or razed.
In those days, the primary concerns were the physical planning of St. Louis Park, updating zoning and construction codes, expanding sewer and water systems, paving streets, acquiring park land and building schools.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Interstate 394
Interstate 394 (I-394) is a small east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in Hennepin County in the US state of Minnesota. It is also commonly referred to by its pre-1991 name, Wayzata Boulevard, and by its other designation, US Highway& ...
,
U.S. Highway 169, and Minnesota State Highways
7 and
100
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
are four of the main routes in St. Louis Park.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 45,250 people, 21,743 households, and 10,459 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 23,285 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 83.3%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 7.5%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.5%
Native American, 3.8%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 1.8% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 3.1% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 4.3% of the population.
There were 21,743 households, of which 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.6% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 51.9% were non-families. 40.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.82.
The median age in the city was 35.4 years. 18.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 36.4% were from 25 to 44; 24% were from 45 to 64; and 13% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.
2000 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 44,126 people, 20,782 households, and 10,557 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 4,122.5 persons per square mile (1,592.3/km). There were 21,140 housing units at an average density of 1,975.0 per square mile (762.8/km). The racial makeup of the city was 88.91%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 4.37%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.45%
Native American, 3.21%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.06%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 1.28% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.72% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 2.93% of the population.
There were 20,782 households, out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.3% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.2% were non-families. 37.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 18.8% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 37.7% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $49,260, and the median income for a family was $63,182. Males had a median income of $40,561 versus $32,447 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $28,970. About 3.0% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.
Russian and Jewish populations
The city has a relatively high
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
population for Minnesota, and is home to th
Sabes Jewish Community Centerand several synagogues including
Beth El Synagogue and Kenesseth Israel Congregation. It is estimated that around 38% of Jews in the
greater Minneapolis area live in St. Louis Park.
[''The Jewish Community in St Louis Park.''](_blank)
In: ''St. Louis Park Historical Society''.
Due, in part, to mass immigration from
former-Soviet states, Saint Louis Park has a large
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
population around its Aquila area. The
Russian language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...
is the second most spoken language in the city after
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and the
Hennepin County Library
Hennepin County Library is a public library system serving Hennepin County, Minnesota, US. The current iteration of Hennepin County Library was formed by the merger of urban Minneapolis Public Library and suburban Hennepin County Library on Ja ...
's St. Louis Park location has an extensive Russian language section.
Government
St. Louis Park operates under the Council/Manager form of government. An elected
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
sets the policy and overall direction for the city. Then city workers, under the direction of a professional city manager carry out council decisions and provide day-to-day city services. The city manager is accountable to the City Council. St. Louis Park voters elect the mayor and six (two at-large and four ward) City Council members to four-year terms. The mayor and at-large council members represent all residents; the ward council members are primarily responsible for representing their ward constituents.
Politics
St. Louis Park is in
Minnesota's 5th congressional district
Minnesota's 5th congressional district is a geographically small urban and suburban congressional district in Minnesota. It covers eastern Hennepin County, including the entire city of Minneapolis, along with parts of Anoka and Ramsey countie ...
, represented by
Ilhan Omar
Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota ...
, a
Democrat. The town was placed in this district, which includes traditionally liberal segments of Minneapolis, in the redistricting after the 1990 census. Before that, St. Louis Park had been part of the 3rd congressional district, along with Edina and other more conservative suburbs. The 3rd district was represented by Republicans
Clark MacGregor
Clark MacGregor (July 12, 1922 – February 10, 2003) was an American politician and Republican U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District for five terms from 1961 to 1971.
After his time in Congress, he worked as a senior a ...
and
William Frenzel
William Eldridge Frenzel (July 31, 1928 – November 17, 2014) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota, representing Minnesota's Third District, which included the southern and western suburbs of Minn ...
from 1961 until 1991.
Education
Public schools
The St. Louis Park School District, Independent School District 283, is home to seven public schools serving about 4,200 students in grades
K–
12 students. St. Louis Park is the only school district in Minnesota in which every
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
has been recognized as a
Blue Ribbon School of Excellence
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...
by the
U.S. Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
.
In the 1960s, the proportion of school-age children in St. Louis Park was much higher than it is now, although the population has not changed much. Due to declining enrollment over the years, there have been several changes to schools in the district:
*Ethel Baston Elementary School was closed; its building is now occupied by Groves Academy, a private school.
*Fern Hill Elementary School was closed; its building is now occupied by Torah Academy of Minneapolis, a private school.
*Oak Hill Elementary School opened in 1950 and closed in 1967. Oak Hill enrollment was limited to students in grades one and two, as well as one special education class.
*Park Knoll Elementary School was demolished to expand the
Knollwood Mall Knollwood may refer to the following places in the U.S.:
*Knollwood, Los Angeles, California
*Knollwood, Illinois
*Knollwood (Worcester, Massachusetts), listed on the NRHP
*Knollwood (Dublin, New Hampshire), listed on the NRHP
*Knollwood Estate, M ...
.
*Brookside Elementary School, Lenox Elementary School, and Eliot Elementary School were closed as public school buildings: Brookside was procured by a developer who converted the school into condominiums; Lenox Community Center has th
SLP Senior Programand preschool on the main floor, with nonprofits on the second; Eliot was sold to a developer who tore it down to build apartment buildings in 2014.
*Central Community Center, formerly Central Junior High School, now houses the Park Spanish Immersion School and other ISD 283 programs, including Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE), Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), and Community Education programs including Gymnastics and Swimming. For some years, there were two junior high schools in St. Louis Park. The one now called St. Louis Park Middle School was then Westwood Junior High School.
*Peter Hobart Elementary School and Aquila Elementary School became Peter Hobart Primary Center and Aquila Primary Center, serving only grades
K through
3, and Susan Lindgren Elementary School and Cedar Manor Elementary School became intermediate schools serving only grades
4 through
6.
*In 1970,
St. Louis Park Senior High School served only grades
10 through
12 and had about 2500 students; now it serves grades
9 through 12 and serves about 1350 students.
*In 2010, Cedar Manor Elementary School was closed. Peter Hobart Elementary, Susan Lindgren Elementary, Aquila Elementary, and Park Spanish Immersion were converted to
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
through
5th grade schools, with
grade 6
Sixth grade (or grade six in some regions) is the sixth year of schooling. Students are typically 11–12 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs. Different terms and numbers are used in other parts of the world. It is commonly the firs ...
moving to St. Louis Park Junior High.
*In 2019, Park Spanish Immersion Elementary School moved operations to the Cedar Manor building.
Athletic teams
St. Louis Park's athletic teams are called the Orioles. The school colors are orange and black. In 2005 the school moved out of the
Classic Lake Conference
The Classic Lake Conference was a conference for high schools in the west metro area of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. The Classic Lake Conference was one of many in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metro area that divide schools in proximity into differe ...
and into the
North Suburban Conference. In 2013, the school moved out of the North Suburban Conference and into the
Metro West Conference Metro West Conference is a high school athletic conference in Minnesota. The name is based on the location of the schools in the western part of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area. The conference began in fall 2014. The conference was announced ...
.
The school won the boys' state basketball tournament in 1962 under coach Lloyd Holm, and had a resurgence in boys' basketball in the 1970s under coach August Schmidt.
The girls' basketball teams won two state championships in 1986 and 1990 under head coach Phil Frerk. The school also has a synchronized swimming program.
For many years, a fixture at Park athletic events was the school dance line, the Parkettes, who served as cheerleaders for the Minnesota Vikings from 1964 to 1983.
Athletes to come out of St. Louis Park include former NBA player and current Timberwolves broadcaster Jim Peterson (1980), NFL coach
Marc Trestman
Marc Marlyn Trestman (born January 15, 1956) is an American football and Canadian football coach. He led the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 and 2010, and another as head coach ...
(1974), current NHL player
Erik Rasmussen (1995), Junior All-American cross-country skier Andrew J. Cheesebro, and current Sioux City Explorer
T. J. Bohn (1998). 1965 graduate
Bob Stein was an All-American end at the University of Minnesota and the youngest player ever to play in a Super Bowl, for the
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The tea ...
. He later served as the President of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 1987 to 1994. Former Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans President
Jeff Diamond
Jeff Diamond is a retired NFL executive. He worked for the Minnesota Vikings from 1976 to 1998, during which time he rose from a minor post in public relations to the position of Senior Vice President and General Manager.
In 1999, after being na ...
is a 1971 St. Louis Park graduate.
Private schools
*Academy of Whole Learning
*
Benilde-St. Margaret's
Benilde-St. Margaret's is a Catholic, co-educational private prep school for grades 7–12 located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, that draws its over one thousand students from throughout the Twin Cities Metro Area. It is located in the Roma ...
School is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
,
co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
school serving students in grades
7–
12
*Groves Academy
*Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School, formerly Minneapolis Jewish Day School, Abbreviated as HMJDS, is attached to the Sabes JCC, is a private K–8 school. Teaches Hebrew in language and text and offers Spanish as an after school program. The school team is the Lions. Their colors are Navy and Gold.
*Metropolitan Open School
*Torah Academy of Minneapolis
Businesses
There are over 2,700 businesses in St. Louis Park, including:
*Travelers Express/
MoneyGram
MoneyGram International, Inc. is an American cross-border Peer-to-peer, P2P payments and electronic funds transfer, money transfer company based in the United States with headquarters in Dallas, Dallas, Texas. It has an operations center in St. L ...
, deposit banking functions — 450 employees
*
Benilde-St. Margaret's
Benilde-St. Margaret's is a Catholic, co-educational private prep school for grades 7–12 located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, that draws its over one thousand students from throughout the Twin Cities Metro Area. It is located in the Roma ...
School — 200 employees
*
Nordic Ware
Nordic Ware (also known as Northland Aluminum Products, Inc.) is a company based in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, suburb of St. Louis Park, notable for introducing the Bundt cake pan in the early 1950s.
It was founded in 1946 by Henry David Dal ...
(also known as Northland Aluminum Products), which introduced the
Bundt cake
A Bundt cake () is a cake that is baked in a Bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive doughnut shape. The shape is inspired by a traditional European cake known as , but Bundt cakes are not generally associated with any single recipe. The style of ...
in about 1950, household cooking equipment — 135 employees
*Bridgewater Bank which is Headquartered in the City Limits.
The city employs 252 people and the school district (District #283) employs about 762.
Notable people
*
Michael Birawer
Michael Birawer (born April 17, 1971) is an American artist. Born and based in St. Paul, Minnesota, he is known for his surrealist paintings of urban settings and their inhabitants.
Artwork
Birawer, a graduate of St. Paul's College of Visual A ...
, artist
*The
Coen brothers
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...
, filmmakers
*
George Floyd
George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...
, truck driver, security guard, and rapper whose
murder in police custody set off the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
*
Charles Foley (1930–2013), inventor of the game
Twister
Twister may refer to:
Weather
* Tornado
Aviation
* Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike
* Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design
* Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design
Entertainment
* ''Twister'' (198 ...
(lived in a special care facility in St. Louis Park at the time of his death from
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
)
*
Al Franken
Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, politician, media personality, and author who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He gained fame as a writer and performer on the television comed ...
(b. 1951), U.S. senator and comedian
*
Thomas Loren Friedman
Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global tra ...
(b. 1953), journalist and author
*
Owen Husney
Owen Robert Husney (born September 8, 1947) is an American music manager, musician, promoter, and record executive. Husney is known for his discovery and management of the artist Prince and Prince's 1977 signing to Warner Bros. Records—then on ...
, manager who discovered and first signed
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
to Warner Brothers
*
Sharon Isbin
Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname.
In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...
, guitarist and professor at the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
*
Sally Olsen (1934–2022), lawyer and state legislator
*
Ade Olufeko
Ade Abayomi Olufeko . (born 1980), is an American-born designer, technologist, and entrepreneur primarily active in Lagos. His international work in humanities has been leveraged by Consortiums, NGOs, and high-impact leaders. He is the founder ...
, international curator
*
Norman Ornstein
Norman Jay Ornstein (; born October 14, 1948) is an American political scientist and an Emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington, D.C. conservative think tank. He is the co-author (along with Thomas E. Mann) of ' ...
, political scientist
*
Michael J. Sandel
Michael Joseph Sandel (; born March 5, 1953) is an American political philosopher and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government Theory at Harvard University Law School, where his course Justice was the university's first course t ...
, political philosopher
*
Marc Trestman
Marc Marlyn Trestman (born January 15, 1956) is an American football and Canadian football coach. He led the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 and 2010, and another as head coach ...
, football coach
*
Kenneth W. Wolfe, Minnesota state senator and mayor of St. Louis Park
References
External links
St. Louis Park, MN — Official WebsiteSt. Louis Park Public SchoolsSt. Louis Park Historical Society*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Louis Park, Minnesota
Cities in Minnesota
Cities in Hennepin County, Minnesota
Jews and Judaism in Minnesota
Populated places established in 1886
Russian-American culture in Minnesota
Russian-Jewish culture in the United States