Morningside, Minnesota

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The Como-Harriet Streetcar Line

For other places with the same name, see Morningside (disambiguation).

Morningside is an old streetcar suburb adjoining the Linden Hills neighborhood of the U.S. city of Minneapolis. Morningside was once a separate village, but is now a geographically and architecturally distinct neighborhood in the city of Edina.

Morningside is situated along the old Como-Harriet Streetcar Line and developed more quickly than the mostly rural village of Edina. In 1920, Morningsiders voted to secede from Edina and form their own village to provide amenities more suitable to a professional streetcar suburb. Morningside was the smallest village in Minnesota, with less than 1,000 residents.

The Jonathan Taylor Grimes house

The Morningside neighborhood was platted for residential development in 1905 by the children of Jonathan Grimes who inherited the Grimes farm and orchard in the Northeast corner of the village. Grimes Avenue bisects the neighborhood in a North-South orientation. The Grimes farmhouse on West 44th Street was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Morningside remained separate for 46 years, until 1966, when, in response to state prompting, it was reincorporated into the larger City of Edina. At least partly due to the impracticalities of building a sewage infrastructure for such a small municipality, Morningsiders voted to rejoin Edina. Yet, vestiges of Morningside's previous autonomy are still evident in the 55416 Zip Code that it shares with adjacent Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, in the water system which is connected to the City of Minneapolis water department, and in the charming village-within-a-city atmosphere that remains.

Even today, Morningside has a character unique from that of the rest of Edina. Such a contrast can be seen in less than six blocks, comparing the Morningside/Minneapolis intersection at 44th & France and the Edina/Minneapolis intersection at 50th & France. Even today, the Morningside name can be seen in community organizations, roads and businesses.