Downtown: Minneapolis in the 1970s

Dayton’s was in its prime, the new Nicollet Mall was full of people, the Foshay Tower was still king, and the IDS Center was beginning its rise. Bustling sidewalks teamed with shoppers and businessmen, young and old, no matter what the weather, because the skyway system was just being born. Downtown Minneapolis in the early 1970s was a scene.

 

Mike Evangelist, a seventeen-year-old from the suburbs, found everything about the city to be amazing. This “introvert with a camera” turned his lens to the scenes around him—young women hitching a ride, a disabled vet selling pencils, stylish shoppers strolling Nicollet Mall, once-grand movie houses on Hennepin Avenue—capturing a vibrant and rapidly changing city. Forty years later, he has unearthed this trove of images that vividly reflect a memorable time in Minneapolis. Writer and artist Andy Sturdevant, who has been called “the preeminent wit, flaneur, and psycho-historian of the Twin Cities,” explores these streets as a congenial companion, commenting with a sharp eye and thoughtful insights. 

 

Do you miss the seventies? Did you miss the seventies? Downtown takes you there.

Mike Evangelist is an enthusiastic photographer and marketing executive specializing in high technology products. Andy Sturdevant, an artist, writer, and arts administrator, writes about art, history, and culture for a variety of Twin Cities–based publications and websites.