Lost Minnesota: Stories of Vanished Places

by Jack El-Hai

Architecture/Regional The first book to tour forgotten landmarks throughout the state of Minnesota. Believe it or not, Minnesota's architectural landscape has included a house made from the fuselage of a B-29 bomber, a hotel that spent its final years as a chicken hatchery, a Civil War cemetery, a treehouse built and occupied year-round by an eccentric university professor, and a railway that once carried passengers up Duluth's steep incline from Lake Superior. They are all gone now, along with countless houses, parks, bridges, theaters, sports stadiums, courthouses, and farm buildings in which Minnesotans have worked, played, and lived their lives. Though other books have looked at the lost architecture of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Jack El-Hai's Lost Minnesota is the first book to tell the stories of buildings and landmarks from rural and small-town Minnesota, as well as those of the residential and suburban areas of the state's largest cities. From Rochester's Hotel Zumbro and the Charles H. Mayo House to the Hastings Spiral Bridge and the Lyceum Theater of Duluth, El-Hai rediscovers a lost landscape and the values and lifestyle of a bygone era. He tours not only Twin Cities buildings, such as the Fairoaks mansion, the Wilder Baths, and the Beyrer Brewery, but also its sites, such as the Wonderland amusement park, in order to re-create not only where but how Minnesotans lived. Lost Minnesota presents eighty-nine beautifully illustrated stories about these fascinating places and those who built them, lived in them, and tore them down. This is a book sure to delight the Minnesota history enthusiast and anyone who is curious about the state's changing urban, small-town, and rural landscapes. Jack El-Hai is a freelance journalist and columnist for Architecture Minnesota magazine, and the author of Minnesota Collects (1992) and (with Barbara Degroot) The Insiders' Guide to the Twin Cities (1995). He lives in Minneapolis. Translation Inquiries: University of Minnesota Press

Genres: Nonfiction, History

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Jack El-Hai is a widely-published journalist who covers history, medicine, and science, and the author of the acclaimed book The Lobotomist. He is the winner of the June Roth Memorial Award for Medical Journalism, as well as fellowships and grants from the McKnight Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the Center for Arts Criticism. He lives in Minneapolis.

Reviews

[Dawn Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! I am looking for more books on this subject by Jack El-Hai. It is my understanding that he has written a few other books on the same subject. This would make a great coffee table book. If you have a writer that writes books on this subject in your state I would be sure to check them out. It was very interesting to find out about all these places, many of which were close to my childhood home or places around the state that I have visited.

[John Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there was some very interesting historical material in the book, I just couldn't help but think that there had to be a lot more. And some of the places that Jack El-Hai chose to include I thought were fairly unimportant - but he's the historian so whjat do I know.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting insight into places that no longer exist in the Twin Cities. It's on the reference shelf at the U of MN's architectural archives, and a pretty good reference for questions about demolished buildings.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done! This is a collection of photographs of lost Minnesotan buildings and a little blurb about their architectural or historical significance. I have to admit, I skimmed the grain elevators and silos... but the failed buildings of my own neighborhood were revelations!

[yves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an excellent introduction for me to local architectural history. It is clear that very thorough research has been taken up, and the notes about personal stories add an humanizing touch. I only wish that the photos were in color!

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ver much enjoyed this book, didn't capture all of lost Minnesota but that would be a very thick book. Good read and the lost items they do cover are well written.