The Human Connection

At a glance, this card is rather unremarkable. It depicts Maple Heights Inn which overlooked Pelican Point in Spring Park. In this case, it’s the writing that gives this card such charm. The author, presumably a child, writes, “Dear Rose, We are spending the vacation up here. It is a beautiful place. Mommie (?) went on bathing today. It is a roasting hot day. I am learning to row a boat. Love to all, Constance”

Written and posted in early 1905, one can be certain that Rose and, likewise, Constance have since passed away. The house in which Rose lived, in Pennsylvania, no longer exists. It was torn down around 1915 and rebuilt with a new house which still stands on that site today. As well, the Maple Heights Inn was demolished in 1964. (The final hotel to be demolished on Minnetonka.)

This postcard, like the thousands of others collected by the Historical Society, myself, and other folks, have the potential to hold a glimmer of people’s lived experience in our community.
If nothing else, these glimpses into the past can offer us a moment to appreciate what we all have in common; the experience of today.