Armatage Neighborhood
Armatage is a neighborhood in the Southwest community in Minneapolis. In the city’s southwest corner, the neighborhood is bounded on the north by 54th Street West, on the east by Logan Avenue South, on the south by Highway 62, and on the west by the city limits at Xerxes Avenue South. The neighborhood grew around the school named for Maude Armatage, a distinguished community leader. Armatage is built up with mostly single-family housing and some multifamily buildings. The neighborhood also has a park with a community center.
History
The Armatage neighborhood was originally part of Richfield, but was annexed to Minneapolis in the mid-1920s.
Homes in the neighborhood began to rise up in the 1940s, and by 1960 most of the neighborhood was established. In 1952, the Armatage Community School was built and named in recognition of a distinguished leader by the name of Maude Armatage. During her active years she was tireless in her efforts to improve the civic, cultural, leisure time, and educational life of this community.
Ms. Armatage served as a member of the Minneapolis Board of Park Commissioners for 30 years and was instrumental in developing one of the finest park systems in the country at the time. Her interests were broad in scope, among which included education and recreation for children and adults. She was responsible for a resolution establishing joint use of school board and park board facilities for recreational purposes. She was a pioneer in the campaign for women’s rights and became actively engaged in the issue at a time when it was unpopular to do so. Her devotion to duty and integrity, as well as her pleasing personality, love for children, and outstanding character, were hallmarks of her life. Since that time, the neighborhood has continued to grow and develop in the direction first inspired by Maude Armatage.
Armatage Neighborhood Association
The neighborhood’s retail space consists of individual neighborhood stores and is mostly along Penn Avenue South. The great majority of housing was built between 1949 and 1969, while about 5% of the dwellings were built before World War II. Coordinates: 44.8984°N 93.3111°W
The Armatage Neighborhood Association (ANA) was founded in 1991 as part of a citywide effort to increase opportunities for residents to connect with the city and allow neighborhoods to address local concerns. ANA board members serve a one-year term commencing in May. The Armatage Summer Festival is an annual party in August at Armatage Park held in partnership with Armatage Park.
References:
“Armatage, Minneapolis” │ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armatage,_Minneapolis
“Armatage Neighborhood Association” │ https://armatage.org/about/history/