In a message dated 8/26/2003 3:26:35 PM Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes: It was on the west side of the Mississippi River. Her address was 606 33rd Avenue North/3307 North 6th Street. This is north of Fairview Park and west of I-94. According to the 1900 census, this area was populated with folks working at many sawmill-related occupations. Could anyone tell me anything more about this neighborhood? What is it like now? Does it have a name? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you very much. Hi Katherine I believe that would be in the area referred to as the "Camden" neighborhood as it is north of Lowry. There is a little area at the corner of Lyndale and Lowry, which would be just a few blocks away, that has always been a little business area. When I was growing up it had the corner store (groceries) and a drug store, and I believe a hardware store. Those same shops had been there when my grandfather was growing up too as he said he would stop at the durgstore for water when he was walking home from his job near the river. The houses in the area were all built around 1880 - 1910. Further north on Lyndale, at about 35th, there was another similar little corner grocery store and a barber shop. The business area of Camden was the area around 42nd and Lyndale, from about 40th down to about 44th and a block or two off Lyndale on 42nd. A bank, and the usual business shops were there. Lyndale Ave. and Lowry Ave. are the main arteries in the area with the next main road to the east being Washington Ave. It was certainly a quiet residential area for many years. Now it is not as well maintained and unfortunately the area has some problems with drugs and street gangs now. There were many Swedes in that area, my family among them. And many of them did work in the sawmills or in the lumber camps owned by the sawmills. The river was close by and the immigrants could easily walk down to their jobs on the river. The Lutheran churches in the area were mostly Swedish congregations, most holding their services in Swedish. If a church was English speaking they would post that information. My own family church, which is down Lowry on the corner of Oliver Ave N, was named Christ English Lutheran Church because the services were in English - however they held one service that was Swedish once a month. Interestingly, when a new pastor arrived and he didn't speak Swedish, the special service became a monthly German service as that was what he spoke. Imagine the surprise of the Swedes that didn't get that message. LOL Unfortunately most of those small Swedish congregations are no longer in existence. The churches combined over the years with others in the area as transportation and English made it easier to have a larger congregation and church building. I think about our congregation and how it evolved. But the old charter member names were Swedish and Norwegian and later, German. The area was full of immigrants that worked in the sawmills, at the lumber camps, and in the mill-works that were all nearby. Across the river in "Northeast" Minneapolis, affectionately referred to as "Nordeast", was the slavic community, Polish, Czech,Russian,Bohemian and the others. South of Lowry, closer to Broadway were more a true mix of families, many non-immigrant families of the area. Further south, below Broadway, were the large homes of those that were more financially comfortable. Huge beautiful homes with many bedrooms, wraparound porches and sometimes even a carriage house out back. Those large old homes are long gone, with just a few left that have been turned into apartments. I am only 53 years old so I can not remember how it was in 1900, but the stories from my father and my grandfather, and some of the wonderful old folks of my childhood at church, have given me a fondness and love for that old area. And nothing changed for many years, many of the old stores are still there, put to different use now, but still there. Hope I have not bored you. You caught me at a time when it feels good to share the stories and describe to a stranger the familiar neighborhoods of my childhood. Jo

Appreciated the information of how the Swedish neighborhoods used to be as my relatives were also a part of it. One of my great uncles was GUSTAF (Gust) ALLEN. He supposedly transcribed Swedish Hymns to English, and also wrote some. How do I find out about it. I have already tried several sources. Karolyn