Tangletown is a unique, peaceful neighbourhood with Minnehaha Creek and Parkway flowing through the center. It’s a smaller district that varies from the regular Minneapolis grid neighbourhoods. Twisty roads weave through the county, and it begins to lose the alphabetized streets. This is one neighborhood that fits into its name, with beautifully architectural houses and a supportive neighborhood community. Blue collar businesses dot the roads here and there, with the most famous Tangletown Gardens and Wise Acre Restaurant and Liberty Custard. The former is, obviously, a garden store, but it’s much more than that. They have a garden center with more than 3,000 varieties of perennials, aquatic plants, a heirloom vegetable selection, and much more. They have an instate greenhouse facility where they grow most of their plant material, and the rest is provided by small local growers. They provide a Garden and Art Tour on the last Saturday of every July which features some of the best gardens in the Twin Cities, along with local arts and galleries. This is just a sample of what Tangletown Gardens has to offer. Visit their website to learn more.Tangletown has two first-class schools and small shops with everything within walking, biking, or busing distance. The nature in the county contributes to the serene feeling of the area, and the people are very diligent about taking measures to protect the earth. It’s a friendly environment that appreciates gardening, art, community, and vitality.
You can visit the neighborhood website at
Tangletown was originally known as Washburn Park, named after Cadwallader Washburn in 1886. Washburn made a fortune through a lumber, railroads, and building the Gold Medal Flour Company. Eventually, Washburn became a philanthropist and left $375,000 to found and preserve an Orphan Asylum. As Washburn wished, the orphanage was built and cared for over 900 children for 43 years. In 1929, child welfare policy was changed and and the orphanage was demolished and turned into a park-like environment. Because of the charming and peaceful setting, developers and landscape architect Horace Cleveland took commissions to turn the rolling hills and creek views into a map for construction. The first resident of Washburn Park was Harry Wild Jones, who encouraged other park board members to preserve the land surrounding Minnehaha Creek. His suggestion was upheld, and soon after, the Thorpe Brothers appeared in Washburn Park to help grid out more land. They wanted to attract business, and therefore attempted to set up a grid system like neighboring areas. This received an outcry from Charles Loring, president of the Park Board at the time. He had been preserving the nature of Minnehaha Parkway, but he feared if the grid system was installed, they would lose the beautiful scenery. The Thorpe Brothers eventually agreed to respect Horace Cleveland’s original plans. Thusfore, the neighborhood follows a strange windy pattern of roads, and truly is one of the most unique neighborhoods of all time.
46th Street to the North, The 35W Interstate to the East, Diamond Lake Road to the South, and Lyndale Avenue South to the West.
Lynnhurst, Windom, Kingfield, East Harriet, Regina, Hale-Page-Diamond Lake, and Kenny.
Here are some online sources that speak to the crime levels and statistics:
Tangletown has a very unique mixture of houses, from Spanish / Mediterranean style homes, to formal colonials, to stately tudors. There are many cool houses tucked on the hillside that makes up Tangletown.
As of 2015, the average home sales price $410,670 with an average days on market of 46 days. The average year built was 1924 with 3.3 bedrooms, and 2.4 baths with a total finished sqft of 2212. For more up to date information on Tangletown Real Estate, please contact Steven Hong with RE/MAX Results.
Tangletown neighborhood only has one official park, Fuller Park (4800 Grand Ave S, 612-370-4963). It was named after a local feminist named Margaret Fuller who lived in the mid-1800s. Fuller Park has a well-loved playground, a wading pool, garden, picnic area, basketball court, and a walking path. Inside the building, there’s a community kitchen, computer lab, craft room, meeting room, and a multipurpose room. The park is located on the corners of West 48th Street and Grand Avenue South.
The other recreation in Tangletown is of course the Minnehaha Creek and Parkway. Walk, bike, or drive along the creek and enjoy beautiful trees, woodlife, plants, and sweeping bridges.
Minn Post
Tangletown has a good handful of restaurants, and most of them are locally supported businesses.
There is a wide variety of sit down restaurants.
Wise Acre Eatery (5401 Nicollet Ave, 612-354-2577)is good for brunches and dinners, and now takes dinner reservations. It’s great for a quick solitary, duo, or family meal. Sun Street Breads (4600 Nicollet Ave, 612-354-3414 ) has a delicious collection of breads, soups, and pastries, and even pizza. You can enjoy small and cute tables with the company of two or three friends. Cafe Ena (4601 Grand Ave, 615-824-4441)is a Latin Fusion Cuisine restaurant, with a fabulous seafood menu of lunch, dinner, and a side menu of fancy wines, beverages, and desserts. They take reservations and also do caterings--this restaurant is high quality and a great place to have a date or celebrate an anniversary. Although The Roastery (616 W 54th St, 612-810-0769) is known for their coffee, they also have burgers, bagels, a breakfast menu, salads, and tea. Grab a quick bite to eat and a carefully brewed cup of coffee at The Roastery. Prima's (5325 Lyndale Ave, 611-827-7376 ) is an intimate restaurant that has from-scratch Italian pasta, salad, panini, meat, and seafood. They also do catering, and have a farm where they grow all of their ingredients.
Subway (5317 Lyndale Ave, 612-824-4877 )
Starbucks (5351 Lyndale Ave, 612-821-0686 )
Papa John’s Pizza (4618 Nicollet Ave, 612-822-0515)
Caribou Coffee (4606 Nicollet Ave S, 612-825-6361)
There are a few blocks within Tangletown that house shops. In Charlie’s Tangletown Bike Shop (322 W 48th St, 612-259-8180), you can buy or rent bikes. There are two decorative stores, A Little Bird on Grand (4754 Grand Ave, 612-353-4814)
and Tangletown Gardens (5353 Nicollet Avenue, 612-822-4769). Tangletown Gardens, of course, sells plants and decorations for your garden, yard, and house, as well as tools. On the other hand, A Little Bird on Grand is more of a vintage store with glassware, fragrances, elegant jewelry and vintage accessories.
Other shopping includes
The Dollar Tree (4626 Nicollet Ave S, 612-821-9442)
South Lyndale Liqours (5300 Lyndale Ave S, 612-827-5811)
Kowalskis’s Markets (5327 Lyndale Ave S, 612-822-2935).
Night Life
Since Tangletown is an extremely peaceful area, there’s not much nightlife in the neighborhood itself. However, if you head East, past 46th street, you’ll reach Driftwood Char Bar, open 7 days a week. Driftwood Char Bar (4415 Nicollet Ave S, 612-354-3402) provides live music, bar food, and ice cold beers, which makes a great place to hang out at night!
Community Arts & Music:
Tangletown hosts an Art Crawl every year in December. During the art crawl, you can purchase original art from artists from around the Tangletown district. The event is located on Grand Avenue, Mac Groveland in Saint Paul, and the Tangletown area in general.
Tangletown also is host to the Washburn Library (5244 Lyndale Ave S, 611-543-8375)
and the Washburn Park Water Tower (<ahref="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Washburn+Park+Water+Tower/@44.9073271,-93.290873,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87f6264ea64e9e65:0xefe384daf16b035a!8m2!3d44.9107619!4d-93.2842469" target="_BLANK">401 Prospect Avenue). The Washburn Park Water Tower is a massive landmark for Tangletown, built in 1932. It’s a government beautiful architectural monument hidden within the tangled hills and roads.
Tangletown Gardens also host an Garden Tour. On the fourth Saturday of July, pick up a map of the town at Tangletown Gardens to tour the Twin Cities’ best gardens, local art and galleries. Wise Acre Eatery partners with Tangletown Gardens to provide refreshments as you explore art and garden projects.
Tangletown has recently teamed up with Lynnhurst to support the City’s Organics Recycling Program, and is one of the Greenest parts of town. Every year on April 12th, Tangletown has a Green Day that focuses on the environment and learning about Solar Gardens, Organics Recycling (with drop offs at Pearl Park), and Water Quality, just to name a few.
Since everything is winding and close together in Tangletown, it’s easy to enjoy the rustic scenery on foot or biking. However, a few busses do run through the district, such as the 156 and 558 on Diamond Lake Road, and the 18 on Nicollet Ave S & Elmwood Place. The 11 will take you down 49th, and the 46 will take you straight through Tangletown on 50th Street. These are only a few routes offered in this district, and the busses will stop on every block. Busses provide a wider range of travel, and are a good replacement for cars, with a fare of 2.25$ in rush hour and 1.25$ during other hours.
You can find out more about bussing here:
Metro Transit
There are two available schools in Tangletown; Ramsey Middle School (1 W 49th St, 611-668-4040) and Washburn High School (201 W 49th St, 611-668-3400). They share a massive block in east side of Tangletown, and highly compliment each other. Ramsey Middle School challenges students and implores them to try thing outside of their comfort zone. Washburn High School offers a major list of different clubs, athletics, and arts to their students. Their mission is for their students to nurture active, compassionate students who reflect critical thinking and creativity. Both of these schools are located within Tangletown, but there are many other schools close by, like Southwest High School for example.
St. John’s Lutheran Church (48 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419, 612-827-4406)
Knox Presbyterian Church (4747 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419, 612-822-2181)
Mayflower Church (106 E Diamond Lake Rd, Minneapolis, MN 55419, 612-842-0761)
Shir Tikvah - 1360 W Minnehaha Parkway, Minneapolis, MN 55419 (612-822-1440)
ChurchFuture - 4852 Fremont Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419 (612-823-0526)
Mt. Olivet - 1804 W 50th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55419 (612-927-7335)
Getting back to the basics, what everyone needs, at one point or another:
