Market Update in Brooklyn Center

The Center of Local Trade in Brooklyn Township

City of Brooklyn Center

Brooklyn Center is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies on the west bank of the Mississippi River on the northwest border of Minneapolis in Hennepin County. Brooklyn Center is one of the oldest inner-ring suburbs of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.2 million residents. The U.S. Census Bureau the city’s population at 30,104 in 2010 census.

Formed as the center of local trade in Brooklyn Township since 1873, the rural area farmed market gardening for the nearby growing population of Minneapolis. The village incorporated in 1911, splitting from Brooklyn Township, to avoid annexation from the expanding city of Minneapolis. The city became a bedroom community and industrial job center following postwar growth. It was the site of the regional mall Brookdale Center. The headquarters of Caribou Coffee moved into the city in 2004.

Known as the center of local trade in Brooklyn Township since 1873, the rural area farmed market gardening for the nearby growing population of Minneapolis. With fears the downtown city would continue annexation, the village established in 1911.

Brooklyn Center is a first ring suburb of Minneapolis, located along the Mighty Mississippi River. Centrally located in the Twin Cities area, you will find many things to do and see in Brooklyn Center and nearby. Brooklyn Center offers a healthy, social and active way of life with 70 miles of trails and sidewalks, abundant parks, river access, green golf course, community center and more. With free parking and several hotels, Brooklyn Center is a comfortable and inexpensive location to visit and stay for awhile. These links will help you find your way.

History
Pioneers organized town governments for Brooklyn Township and Crystal Lake Township when Minnesota became a state in 1858. Osseo Road was a main thoroughfare that brought settlers to an area centered around their school, post office, store, meeting hall, and Baptist and Methodist churches. That location thrived as a market gardening community. It abutted the encroaching development of Minneapolis to the south.[5]

Steps were taken to protect the area from annexation by Minneapolis and to retain “simpler public business methods, and extra police protection” by incorporation.[9] The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners accepted a petition to incorporate the Village of Brooklyn Center on January 16, 1911.[10] An election followed, the boundaries were set, and documents filed with the state on February 18, 1911. P.W. Reidhead was the first president. The population was 500.[5]

By 1940, the village saw a need for more organized planning to deal with issues such as sewage and traffic. In 1942 a Planning Commission was established. Farmers were selling their valuable land to housing developers. The decade saw unprecedented population growth, reaching 4,000 by 1950. Brookdale, a new shopping concept by Dayton’s, was constructed in 1960[11] when the population had grown to over 24,000. In 1963, even more new opportunities for commercial development were presented with the estate of Earle Brown, deceased, the heir of Captain John Martin who had been one of the wealthiest men in Minneapolis.[12]

Earle Brown Heritage Center, was the former Cap Martin country estate, built in 1878 and willed to his grandson Earle Brown in 1901. The buildings included the family home, office and garage, housing for the workers, a pump house, multiple barns, a hippodrome, an antique carriage collection, and a restored lumber bunkhouse and cook shanty. It is now a historic site in Brooklyn Center owned by the city and developed into a conference and event center.

Mound Cemetery of Brooklyn Center has been owned and managed by a not-for-profit organization since 1862. Its mission is to provide cemetery and perpetual care services to the public, and to preserve the historical burial grounds of the founding families of Brooklyn Township.

The Brooklyn Historical Society, is a 501(c3) nonprofit all-volunteer organization founded in 1970. Its mission is to research, preserve, and provide access to historical information about Brooklyn Township – yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The Society has historical displays at the city halls of Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park, and the Earle Brown Heritage Center. Its facility is in Brooklyn Park.