In the name of ...

1 Foshay Tower

The name behind it: Utilities baron Wilbur Foshay was the force behind "the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi," dedicated in 1929, weeks before the stock market crash bankrupted Foshay and forced him out of his own building. He later was convicted of mail fraud and served three years at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan.

The rest of the story: At the opening ceremony, Foshay presented a $20,000 check to John Philip Sousa for writing "Foshay Tower-Washington Memorial March." The check bounced; a group of Minnesotans repaid the debt to Sousa's estate in 1999.

2 CHUTE SQUARE

The name behind it: Erstwhile fur trader Richard Chute was a director of St. Anthony Water Power Co. until 1880, when he sold it to James J. Hill. He was one of the first regents of the University of Minnesota.

The rest of the story: The university's first building, a preparatory school, was located on this site from 1851 until the university moved to its present location in 1855. The Ard Godfrey House, built in 1849 at Main Street and SE. 2nd Avenue, was purchased by the Chute family in 1880 but didn't land on this site until 1909.

3 FLOYD B. OLSON MEMORIAL HIGHWAY

The name behind it: A three-term governor (1930-36) who called himself "a liberal, not a radical," Olson proposed and pushed through bills that instituted a progressive income tax and a minimum wage and guaranteed equal pay for women. Which might help explain why a conservative group wanted to rename this thoroughfare after Ronald Reagan a few years ago.

The rest of the story: Olson's home at 1914 W. 49th St. in Minneapolis is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Oh, and the "B" stands for Björnstjerne.

4 ROY WILKINS AUDITORIUM

The name behind it: Roy Wilkins grew up in St. Paul, graduated from the University of Minnesota and edited an African-American newspaper, the St. Paul Appeal. But he made his big mark nationally as a civil-rights leader, serving as executive secretary and executive director of the NAACP for two decades. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1967.

The rest of the story: The auditorium was designed by renowned black architect Clarence W. Wigington and built in 1932. It was named for Wilkins in 1985.

5 FORT SNELLING

The name behind it: The erstwhile Fort St. Anthony, built on land purchased by Zebulon Pike, received its current name upon its completion in 1824 in honor of Col. Josiah Snelling, who oversaw its design and construction.

The rest of the story: Snelling was considered an able leader but not exactly a heroic figure. He became belligerent when drunk, which was not a rare occurrence, and died in 1928 from dysentery and "brain fever."

6 ELOISE BUTLER WILDFLOWER GARDEN

The name behind it: A Maine native who moved to Minnesota in 1874 to teach, Butler became the curator of a section of the fledgling Theodore Wirth Park in 1911. She took care of the garden until suffering a fatal heart attack there on April 10, 1933.

The rest of the story: For easy access to her work, Butler spent springs and summers living in the J.W. Babcock house at 227 Xerxes Av. S. By the way, she was not related to the folks for whom an enormous edifice a couple of miles to the east, Butler Square, is named.

NO, SILLY!

• Lake Calhoun is not named after some noteworthy Minnesotan of whom we can be proud. Actually it was dubbed that in 1817 in "honor" of Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, as ardent a defender of slavery (which he dubbed "a positive good") as any American of his time.

• Gaviidae was not a person. The name on the downtown shopping emporium is the scientific word for the aviary family that includes our state bird, the common loon.

• The Fitzgerald Theater is not named after the Edmund Fitzgerald. That bit of urban mythology emerged a few years back when a performance there feted the anniversary of that ship's sinking in Lake Superior. The theater, of course, is named after former St. Paulite F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gordon Lightfoot, whose song made the Edmund Fitzgerald a lot more famous than all the news accounts combined, never has performed there.

Bill Ward • 612-673-7643