Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Relive Burnsville of the '60s and '70s - 3/20/2015SUN THISWEEK - Burnsville - Eagan March 20, 2015 5A
Reli"ve u rn svl e of
the '60s and '70
by Marcia Marshall
BURNSVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
During the winter of 1963, my hus-
band and I began looking for a new
house. Our family was growing, and
our home in North St. Paul was get-
ting too small. My husband worked in
Hopkins, quite a drive from North St.
Paul, and the Minnesota Twins were in
Bloomington.
We spent winter weekends looking
at existing housing in the south metro
area. My husband also stopped to look
at houses on his way home from work.
One evening he arrived home and an-
nounced that he had stopped by a new
development in Burnsville and thought
that instead of buying an existing
home, we should build a new one.
Two young businessmen, Clyde
Pemble and Bruce Thompson, had
formed a company called Pemtom,
and they were building homes in an
area along Highway 13 not far from
the Minnesota River. The develop-
ment was called River Hills. I still
have the brochure that my husband
brought home on that day. The slogan
on it reads: "River Hills Key to
the Home You Will Never Outgrow."
Taxes were low, less than we had paid
on our small, two-bedroom home in
North St. Paul. Roads, municipal sew-
er and water were in and paid for, and
a neighborhood school, Sioux Trail El-
ementary, was soon to be built within
sight of our home. We were on board!
We were the first family to move
into our cul-de-sac. Fifty-one years
later, we are the only original owners in
our circle. We became residents of our
home in River Hills on Nov. 30, 1963.
Much of the interior work on the house
remained to be done since President
John F. Kennedy had been assassinated
eight days earlier, and the people of the
United States had watched transfixed
as events unfolded in the nation's capi-
tal. Many did not go to work during
that time.
Our first winter in Burnsville was an
interesting one. One big question was
where to shop for groceries. We found
that there was a grocery store, Sulli-
van's Supervalu, in a shopping center
called Jet Plaza. Later this became Val-
ley Ridge Shopping Center. I had never
been to Burnsville before we started
looking at houses in River Hills, and I
often became lost trying to find County
Road 5, where Sullivan's was located.
Before long we became familiar with
our new community. We visited the old
library at Colonial Ridge Shopping
Center frequently and mailed letters at
the old post office near Highway 13 on
12th Avenue.
Burnsville saw much growth during
the next 15 years. Neighborhoods de-
veloped, and within them, neighbor-
hood schools were built. By 1976, Inde-
pendent School District 191 included
Burnsville High School, two junior
high schools (Metcalf and Nicollet)
and eight elementary schools: Rahn
and Cedar (both located in Eagan),
Sioux Trail, William Byrne, Gideon
Pond, Vista View, Edward Neill,
and M.W. Savage (located within the
town of Savage). Sky Oaks Elemen-
tary School opened its doors in Janu-
ary 1978 and was the "new school" in
Burnsville.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s,
several new shopping malls were built
in Burnsville, each having a grocery
store. Sioux Trail Shopping Center, lo-
cated at Highway 13 and Cliff Road,
had a Penny's Market, a number of
clothing shops and a four -screen the-
ater, as well as a variety of other shops.
Cobblestone Court was built at Nicol -
let and County Road 42. Sullivan's
South, Cole's Children's Barber Plus
and St. Paul Book and Stationery were
among the stores that were located
there. Diamondhead Mall was a two-
story shopping mall and housed the
Red Owl Grocery Store. It would later
become the Burnsville High School
Senior Campus and Burnsville Senior
Center/Diamondhead Education Cen-
ter. Sullivan's Supervalu also built a
free-standing grocery store on County
Road 11, just off of Highway 13. It was
called Sullivan's East.
Many of our favorite restaurants
are no longer in Burnsville — places
like Benjamin's, Shakey's and T Butch-
erblock. Also gone is the Lucky Twin
Drive In Theater, formerly located at
Nicollet and Highway 13. But by the
end of the '70s, Burnsville had a beau-
tiful new library and a new and modern
shopping center — Burnsville Center.
Dayton's, Powers and Sears were all an-
chor stores there. Nearby in Apple Val-
ley, the Minnesota Zoological Garden
had been completed. There was a lot to
see and do in our community!
On Saturday, March 28, the Burns-
ville Historical Society is hosting a
slideshow of Burnsville history during
the '60 and '70s. The event is open to
all and will be held at the Burnhaven
Library from 10:30 a.m. until noon.
Admission is free, and we hope to have
many come who can share their own
memories of Burnsville during that pe-
riod. If you have any questions, please
call Marcia Marshall at 952-890-2543.
Marcia Marshall is secretary of the Burns-
ville Historical Society. Columns reflect
the opinion of the author.