Address

4800 S Minnehaha Park Drive
Minneapolis, MN 55417

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Contact

Phone: 612-230-6400
Email: info@minneapolisparks.org

Hours

Saturdays and Sundays: 10 am-8 pm
Memorial Day through Labor Day

Longfellow House

Part of: Minnehaha Regional Park

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Features & Amenities

  • Air Conditioned
  • Pay Parking Lot

Good to Know

Parking Information

Major investments at Central Gym Park in 2018 were made possible with funding from the 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan. This historic agreement between MPRB and the City of Minneapolis helps address racial and economic equity across 160 neighborhood parks and provides $11 million annually to maintain, repair and replace facilities.

20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan
Major Investments at Central Gym Park in 2018

Historical Site Details

Neighborhood: Hiawatha

Service Area: South

Commissioner District: 5

   

Rentals & Permits

Annual Patron Parking Permit: Enjoy parking privileges in specially designated spaces at some of our most popular regional parks. View parking permit details.

History

The Longfellow House, once the home of Robert Jones at his Longfellow Gardens attraction across Hiawatha Avenue from the park, was acquired by the park board along with the land of the former zoo in 1937. Jones had donated his land to the park board in an agreement in 1924 that enabled him or his heirs to remain on the property for ten years. Legal appeals by Jones’ heirs delayed park board control of the property until 1937. In 1938 the house was leased to the library board as a branch library, which operated until 1968. In 1994, with the construction of the “tuck and cover” tunnel for the Hiawatha Avenue highway, the house was moved a few hundred feet to its present location. It was renovated and now serves as an information center for the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway, as offices for the Minneapolis Parks foundation, and it houses the Minnesota School of Botanical Art. The house was built in 1906 as a replica of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Park history compiled and written by David C. Smith.