By Mary Mergenthal
The St. Anthony Park Branch Library Association (SAPBLA)’s February Forum picks up the Valentine’s Day theme with “Milton Square: A Neighborhood Love Story.”
The presentation will be held at St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church, 2323 Como Avenue, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13, with neighborhood resident and historian Kristin Anderson discussing the iconic neighborhood complex.
Anderson is professor emerita in the Department of Art & Design at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. She has been giving presentations and walking tours focused on St. Anthony Park architecture and history since the fall of 2022.
A neighborhood landmark identifiable to many people outside of St. Anthony Park, the mixed-use complex known as Milton Square was built in three phases, starting with the Como-facing building in 1909.
The structure facing Carter Avenue was built in 1912, and the middle building facing the courtyard was added in 1914. Each of the first two buildings included apartments on the upper floors, retail space at street level and community halls on the lower level.
The buildings were designed by Franklin Ellerbe, a city building inspector for many years. He began designing houses and other buildings at this time, and the buildings at Como and Carter avenues were among his first buildings as an architect.
Ellerbe had been a St. Anthony Park resident since 1894, living first on Hillside, then Carter, and finally moving to Bourne Avenue in 1900. He knew the community, watching it grow and develop at a time of significant transition.
Anderson’s session for the library association is free and open to the public. As is the case with the monthly SAP architecture and history talks, the presentation can be accessed live via the SAPLC YouTube channel at bit.ly/Sap-history. Additionally, a recording of the presentation will be available at that site for about a week after the presentation.
The livestream and the recording can also be accessed through the church website, SAPLC.org, using the Worship tab and following the livestream link.
Mary Mergenthal is a resident of St. Anthony Park and a former editor of the Bugle.
Photo cutline: An early view of Milton Square circa 1910 in St. Anthony Park. Submitted photo from Kristin Anderson.
