Minneapolis Near North Community Highlights

The Near North Community can be found on the north and west side of Minneapolis. It is bordered to the south by Bassett’s creek, to the west by Penn Avenue, to the north by Lowry Avenue North, and to the east by I-94, Lyndale Avenue North and the Mississippi River.  Contained within it are six smaller neighborhoods.

Hawthorne - The Hawthorne neighborhood is in the northeast corner of the Near North community in Minneapolis. The neighborhood is bounded by the Mississippi River on the east and Emerson Avenue on the west; Broadway Avenue is the southern extent and Lowry Avenue is the neighborhood’s northern boundary.  The Hawthorne neighborhood is named after the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, born in 1804. The Hawthorne neighborhood is also the home of Farview Park, the oldest park of Minneapolis, the Nellie Stone Johnson School, and the Orvin Olson Park near the Mississippi River. Home to nearly 6,000 residents, Hawthorne is nearly twice the size of most other Minneapolis neighborhoods. Hawthorne is mostly residential, with many single-family houses. There are some multi-family dwellings available. 

Jordan – West of Hawthorne is where one can find the Jordan neighborhood.  Jordan is bound on the north by Lowry Avenue North, on the east by Emerson Avenue North, on the south and west by West Broadway Avenue. It gets its name from a neighborhood junior high school, which was built in 1922 and named after Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Emeritus Charles Morison Jordan.

Jordan is mainly a residential neighborhood. Home prices in the Jordan area are well below the Minneapolis median price for single and multi family homes.  Jordan homes are about evenly divided between rental and owner occupied housing. With a population of nearly 10,000, Jordan is one of the city's largest active neighborhoods and is represented by the Jordan Area Community Council.

Willard - Hay – West of Jordan and all along most of the western edge of the Near North community is Willard-Hay. The Willard-Hay neighborhood is south of West Broadway Avenue and stretches from Penn Avenue to Xerxes Avenue. It gets its name from two elementary schools within its borders: Francis Willard, which was named after an American educator, author and reformer born in 1859, and John Hay, named after an American diplomat and author born in 1839.

This neighborhood is mainly a residential area and includes Willard-Homewood, which was built in the first quarter of the 20th century and is one of Minneapolis' first planned developments.

Harrison – At the far south and along the southern border of the Near North community is the Harrison neighborhood. It is bound on the north by Highway 55 (Olson Memorial Highway), on the east by Interstate 94 and Lyndale Avenue North, on the south by Bassett’s Creek and on the west by Theodore Wirth Park. It is named for Harrison Elementary School, which in turn was named after William Henry Harrison – the ninth president of the United States.

Parcels of industrial land occupy the neighborhood east of Cedar Lake Road, while the western part is mainly residential. Housing in the Harrison neighborhood is affordable for both renters and owners. The neighborhood is home to Bassett's Creek Park and Theodore Wirth Park, both of which offer many recreational activities and opportunities.

Near - North – Taking up most of the center of this community is the Near North neighborhood of Minneapolis.  It stretches from the Mississippi River on the east to Penn, Knox, James and Irving avenues on the west, and from West Broadway Avenue on the north to Olson Memorial Highway and 11^th Avenue North on the south. The Near North neighborhood is located in the northwest portion of the City of Minneapolis and north of downtown, hence its name.

With approximately six thousand residents, Near North is a neighborhood which is home to proportionately more families than most other Minneapolis neighborhoods. 

Near North is home to several historical landmarks, including the Sumner Community Library, which opened in 1915. The library is built in the Tudor Revival style and is named for U.S. Senator Charles Sumner. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and registered with the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission. The library celebrated a grand reopening in January 2005 after a two-year renovation project. Most of the Near North area was developed in the late nineteenth century. The architecture in the neighborhood reflects the styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  There are also several industries located along the banks of the river.

Sumner-Glenwood - Sumner-Glenwood is tiny sixth neighborhood in the Near North community of Minneapolis. It is roughly contained by 15 city blocks bordered to the north by 11th Avenue N., to the south by Glenwood Avenue, to the east by I-94, and to the west by both Girard Terrace and Emerson Avenue N.

The Sumner Field Homes, constructed in 1938, were the first federally subsidized homes in Minnesota. The homes were demolished in 1998. Plans are in place to rebuild the area, re-incorporating it into surrounding street grids. Buildings following the "New Urbanism" style will mix of affordable and market rate units, and will replace the old project housing. The new development is named Heritage Park, and it is possible the name of Sumner-Glenwood will be replaced by that name.

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