University Avenue (Minneapolis-St. Paul)
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University Avenue in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region of Minnesota begins near the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul and extends westward into neighboring Minneapolis, where it passes the University of Minnesota, and then turns north to pass through several suburbs before ending in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. For many years, the road carried U.S. Highway 52 (at least for part of its length), and University Avenue is still a significant thoroughfare in the area.
University Avenue originally ran along a line several blocks north of its current location, forming a route which once connected the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota to Hamline University in St. Paul (hence the name). When the construction of the Minnesota rail transfer yards blocked that route, the street was moved one-half mile to the south on the St. Paul side, to what was then called Melrose Avenue. The old University Avenue route was renamed Minnehaha Avenue, which it remains to this day.
Some important neighborhoods the road passes through include Frogtown (officially, the Thomas-Dale neighborhood) and the Midway region, both in St. Paul. Broadcaster KSTP and the headquarters of Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation are located just next to the border of Minneapolis and St. Paul. This was one of the highest points in the area and made an appropriate site for a radio transmitter. An antenna structure still stands there today, though it is used for microwave links rather than broadcasting (KSTP and most other Twin Cities stations use the Telefarm installation in Shoreview, Minnesota or the nearby KMSP Tower). A water tower commonly known as the "Witch's Hat" stands just a few blocks away in Minneapolis's Prospect Park neighborhood.
In 1890, the first interurban streetcar link between Minneapolis and St. Paul used University Avenue and Washington Avenue in Minneapolis. History will likely be repeated, since the road, part of the Central Corridor, is considered the next major candidate for a light rail line in the Twin Cities.
