Dinkytown
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Dinkytown, USA (more commonly known just as Dinkytown) is an area within the Marcy Holmes neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota consisting of several square blocks occupied by various small businesses, restaurants, food courts, bars, and the like, and apartment buildings mostly housing university students. Dinkytown is adjacent to the north side of the University of Minnesota campus.
In Dinkytown are some notable landmarks, including the Dinky Dome (a former theological seminary converted to a large food court), the Loring Pasta Bar (formerly Gray's Drug converted to a restaurant, and also the building where Bob Dylan lived in Minneapolis), and Al's Breakfast (arguably the city's smallest restaurant). Incidentally, Dinkytown's main thoroughfare is 4th Street SE, which some believe to be Dylan's inspiration for his derisive "Positively 4th Street" (although Dylan also lived for a time on West 4th Street in New York City).
The name Dinkytown is of uncertain origin, although it was in definite use by 1948, when the Dinkytown Business Association formed.
Stories regarding the origin of the name include
- The streetcars, called Dinkys, that used to provide transit throughout the area.
- Similarly, the tenders at the nearby railyard were called Dinkys
- The theatre in Dinkytown had only four rows of seats, and for years was known as "The Dinky"
- It's a small town-like area, with everything within walking distance.
- The Loring Pasta Bar, previously Gray's Drug on 14th Ave. SE and 4th St. SE has the name of an early owner carved in Slavic in stone over the doorway: "Grodnik," meaning a small (or dinky) town.
[edit] Key Locations
Mesa Pizza
Gray's Drug
House of Hanson
Loring Pasta Bar
Perine's Books
Varsity Theater
Vescio's
[edit] External links
- Official Dinkytown Website Your guide and resource to the Dinkytown community.
- Lileks.com -- University of Minnesota pages -- contains information and reminiscence about Dinkytown, by Star Tribune columnist James Lileks
[edit] Further reading
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