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Shingle Creek’s History

The Shingle Creek neighborhood, of nearly 1300 households and 3300 residents, is named for the one mile meandering and historical Shingle Creek that flows through its sleepy residential boundaries to the Mississippi River where the forged roofing shingles in the neighborhood were transported in the early 1900’s. The Shingle Creek neighborhood is rich with urban history. Its streets, boundaries, and natural landmarks tell a rich story of how Minneapolis grew and became the thriving metropolis it is today.

Shingle Creek grew from the area known as, “The Country”, that was on the “other side of the tracks” then Burlington Northern route to St.Marie, now CPRail’s switching yard before heading out of town. Farms flourished, the Mississippi River brought “River Pigs” on a “River of trees” every spring. Along with the shingle making plant, the Workhouse and the Johnson Brickyard were just down the road. Along with the Swedes and Norwegians who were living and working at the world’s largest lumbermill, C.A.Lumbermill, or Mereen-Johnson on Lyndale.

The Mississippi Courts and other homes along Humboldt Ave N brought desperately needed housing after WWII veterans returned from war.

Shingle Creek neighborhood was one of the first African American neighborhoods in the growing metropolis of Minneapolis in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Established in 1923, Pilgrim Rest is the oldest and only African American churchassociated with early settlers in the Shingle Creek area. The congregation then purchased two lots at the corner of 51st Avenue North and James Avenue North where the existing church is located.

Today, the Shingle Creek neighborhood is one of the safest neighborhoods in north Minneapolis and is a great place to raise your children with neighborhood schools, libraries, and many updated parks in and around which, include the Three Rivers Park North Mississippi Regional Park, Shingle Creek Regional ponds, and national recognized Grand Rounds National Scenic Byways.

Shingle Creek is Minneapolis’s most northwestern neighborhood, located in the Camden Community we are bordered by Lind-Bohanon and Victory neighborhoods of Minneapolis. To the North and West of our borders is the city of Brooklyn Center and with Shingle Creek Crossing less than two miles away. With easy access to Highway 100, Interstate 94 and 694, transportation around the Metro and beyond can’t get any easier.