Waite Park, Minneapolis
| Waite Park | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | |
 Location of Waite Park within the U.S. city of Minneapolis |
|
| Country | United States |
| State | Minnesota |
| County | Hennepin |
| City | Minneapolis |
| Community | Northeast |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.88 sq mi (2.3 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 5,244 |
| • Density | 6,000/sq mi (2,300/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 55418, 55421 |
| Area code(s) | 612 |
Waite Park is a neighborhood in the Northeast community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the furthest northeast neighborhood within Minneapolis. The neighborhood is within Minneapolis's first ward and falls under the jurisdiction of the second precinct of the Minneapolis Police Department.
Waite Park was among the last areas of northeast Minneapolis to be developed into urban neighborhoods in the last part of the nineteenth century. The area was mostly farmland until the 1880s and 1890s. The completion of Saint Anthony Parkway through the neighborhood in 1924 increased the pace of development. Although many of the homes in the neighborhood were built in the decades between the completion of the parkway and World War II, the neighborhood was not fully developed until the postwar housing boom.[1]
The neighborhood is named after Edward Foote Waite, a former judge in Hennepin County.[2]
Waite Park Neighborhood and Columbia Park Neighborhood were the last areas of East Minneapolis to be developed. The land between 27th Avenue and 37th Avenue was incorporated into the city by 1887. Most farmers in the area sold their land to developers soon afterwards. Their former fields were platted into house lots and streets. By 1892 one-third of the land in Waite Park had been platted. Some farmers continued to hold against the advancing city, the last being the Ritchels who remained until the 1940s.
The Minneapolis St Paul and Sault Ste Marie Railway, which still runs through the neighborhood, was also completed in 1887. The railroad built a large repair facility on the shores of Lake Sandy. The lake disappeared in the early twentieth century, but the Shoreham Yards facility remains. New Boston, centered at Lowry and Central was a thriving commercial center at this time.
Despite railroad access and proximity to a commercial center, Waite Park grew slowly in these years. 30 years after incorporation, two-thirds of the land had been platted for houses, but only 160 built. Although the total population of Minneapolis 80 years ago was almost the same as it is today Waite Park had less than 7% of the 2400 homes in the neighborhood today. Central Avenue was the focus of the area; two-thirds of the houses in Waite Park in 1914 were within 3 blocks.
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