Six Things You Should Know About Minnesota

Think you know Minnesota? The Coen Brothers movie Fargo may make it seem that Minnesotans are yokels, but the truth is, Minnesota is far, far weirder.

Joshua Post Lee of The Black Table explains the things you should know about the Land of 10,000 Lakes. LINK
Southdale Shopping Center, circa 1956.

#4. We Invented -- and Perfected -- the Shopping Mall.

In the 1950s, Minnesota's shopkeepers figured people wouldn't want to shop at their stores if they had to step over frozen corpses on the sidewalk, thanks to our nipple pointy winters from hell. So when Southdale Shopping Center opened in 1956, it had a roof on it and included 72 stores, anchored by two major department stores, all arranged in a two-level design around a brightly lit center court. It offered free parking, and its 5,000 parking spaces were grouped into lots, well marked by clever symbols to help wind frozen shoppers locate their cars.

We all know it now, but back then it was an odd concept to have an enclosed space where folk could congregate and shop. It was big news that it had air conditioning and even bigger that there was helicopter service from Southdale to downtown Minneapolis. People stopped caring about us being the first so we had to build a more massive structure.

In August of 1992, in sleepy Bloomington, Minn., the Mall of America opened its doors. When it opened, the Mall was 71 percent leased with 330 brand new stores for business, including four nationally recognized department stores. Today, the Mall of America is the largest mall in U.S., and home to Camp Snoopy, America's largest indoor family theme park; Underwater Adventures, Minnesota's largest aquarium; a four-story Lego play place and more than 500 stores. It's so big and popular, the Mall of America is oft-cited as a potential terror target.

And in the coming years, new construction will soon give us the world title. LINK