Found Twin Cities: Nordeast Edition

We examine the history of this venerable Minneapolis neighborhood through some of its churches and other institutions.

Friday morning, a community meeting was held at Kramarczuk’s, the Eastern European deli and anchor of the Northeast neighborhood, to discuss the recent mayhem.

215 E. Hennepin Avenue

The key quote in the Star Tribune‘s story on the meeting is from City Police Inspector Sean McGinty,

“We’re in dire trouble, and I can tell by your voice that you feel it,” McGinty said. “Don’t think I don’t feel it too.”

It wasn’t always like this. The neighborhood includes some impressive churches and other institutions reflecting the immigrant communities that built it.

(The University of Minnesota has a great resource, cataloging churches and congregations across the state.)

Saints Cyril and Methodius, Slovakian Catholic Church, 1917:

1305 Second Street NE

This Slavic congregation dates from 1890.

Along University Avenue in Northeast, three Catholic churches sit in close proximity. First up, the St. Maron’s Lebanese Catholic church:

602 University Avenue NE

The Maronite congregation dates from 1895, but the church building was constructed in 1948. St. Maron’s side view:

Across the street is St. Constantine’s, a Ukrainian Catholic church:

515 University Avenue NE

The congregation was organized before World War I, but the current church structure dates to 1964. Behind St. Constantine’s is a Ukrainian Orthodox church, St. Michael’s:

505 4th Street NE

The congregation was organized in 1925 and the church built the following year. Across the street from St. Michael’s another Catholic church can be found, All Saints (St. Peter’s):

435 4th Street NE

All Saints is a Polish Catholic church dating from 1916 and run by the Order of St. Peter. Another Polish Catholic church can be found further north on University Avenue:

1621 University Avenue NE

The Holy Cross Polish congregation was founded in 1886 and the current building dates from 1928. The school, currently named for Pope John Paul II, was previously called the Northeast Regional Catholic School and served the families of all of the neighborhood’s churches. The Holy Cross tower:

Not far from Holy Cross is the neighborhood institution Jax Cafe:

1928 University Avenue NE

Jax was founded by a Polish family in 1933 and the restaurant continues to be operated by that same family, nearly 90 years later.

Another Polish institution in Northeast, the Polish National Alliance:

1304 4th Street NE

PNA Hall now functions as an event venue. The Polish Nation Alliance Home Association of Minneapolis was founded in 1916. PNA has its origins as a fraternal organization and mutual benefit society, and still proudly includes the white eagle in its crest.