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Curious Minnesota
June 14, 2019
Wide boulevards, an asphalt street and mansions set apart Park Avenue in this 1905 photo, taken from Franklin Avenue looking northward.

Why was Minneapolis' mansion street destroyed, but St. Paul's survived?

At its peak, about 36 mansions lined Park from Franklin Avenue to 28th Street, once known as the "Golden Mile." Most of them were owned by boldface families of the era. Now, just a handful of the mansions remain.
Curious Minnesota
June 10, 2019
Why is it that no one wants to take the last piece of food at a Minnesota gathering.

Why won't anyone in Minnesota take the last piece of food?

Who hasn't seen the last doughnut at the office cut in half, then halved again and again, until only a sliver is sitting on the plate? Is it Minnesota Nice at play, basic courtesy or something else?
Curious Minnesota
June 3, 2019
Minnesota State Capitol. With just days before the end of session, lawmakers were locked in budget negotiations and unable to move ahead with major le

Why is the Minnesota Legislature's session so short?

The perennial end-of-session scramble raised a question for one reader: "They never get anything done, so why not extend it out and give them more time to get it done?"
Curious Minnesota
May 24, 2019
Big Ole, a 50-year-old wood and fiberglass viking sculpture needs $24,500 in repairs. He has a family of birds nesting in his shoulder, his cape may c

How many iconic roadside attractions does Minn. have? And where are they?

Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Roadside Attractions, and no road trip is complete without seeing a giant ball of twine or one of the state's many Paul Bunyans.
Curious Minnesota
May 19, 2019
Emma Daniels, right, Abby MacFarlane and Marie Preston, back, walked across the rocks at the headwaters of the Mississippi at Lake Itasca in mid June.

Does the Mississippi River really start in Minnesota's tiny Lake Itasca?

The location of the headwaters of the Mississippi River has been debated for centuries, and the answer isn't as clear as you might think.
Curious Minnesota
May 10, 2019
A pedestrian crossed 3rd Ave. S. early Tuesday evening.

How much are electric vehicles affected by Minnesota's extreme cold?

Electric vehicles perform at their peak in temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees. Just how much does cold weather affect them?
Curious Minnesota
May 3, 2019
July 12, 1970: Nicollet Island, as seen in an aerial photo that was published in the Star Tribune's Picture Magazine.

How did Nicollet Island become parkland with private housing on it?

The sliver of land in the Mississippi River is home to a secluded enclave of historic homes sitting atop public parkland. But that's just one of the oddities of this place, an often-overlooked landmark of early Minneapolis that looks radically different today than it did half a century ago.
Curious Minnesota
April 26, 2019
Students sit in a circle and play Duck, Duck, Gray Duck in this file photo.

Why are Minnesotans the only ones to play Duck, Duck, Gray Duck?

While 49 other states are stuck playing Duck, Duck, Goose, Minnesota plays something that's "different."
Curious Minnesota
April 23, 2019
Minnesota welcomes you sign at the state border

What is Minnesota Nice and where did the expressoin originate?

Tracking the roots of "Minnesota Nice" is difficult, partly because people don't agree on what it actually is.
Curious Minnesota
April 19, 2019
Isle Royale, a national park in Lake Superior, is a remote island famed for its moose population and intrepid adventurers. Photo by Melanie Radzicki M

Why does Isle Royale belong to Michigan and not Minnesota?

The answer to the question can be traced to faulty maps, "copper fever" and a dispute over a strip of land in northern Ohio.
Curious Minnesota
April 13, 2019
When the federal government started taxing Social Security benefits under President Ronald Reagan in 1984, Minnesota followed a year later.

Why does Minnesota tax Social Security benefits?

Minnesota is among a minority of states — just 13 — that impose a state-level tax on Social Security benefits. Why does Minnesota do that? The answer can be traced back to the overall design of our state's income tax system.
Curious Minnesota
April 7, 2019
1940 shot of Uptown street scene.

Why is Uptown south of downtown in Minneapolis?

These days, Uptown is the common way to describe the district around Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street in Minneapolis, but that is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Curious Minnesota
April 3, 2019
Judges filled up their sample cups at the Holland Neighborhood's 11th Annual Hotdish Revolution at St Maron's Cedars Hall in Northeast Minneapolis.

Why is a casserole called hot dish in Minnesota?

Although it started as a staple of church basement potlucks, hot dish has become a hallmark of you-betcha Minnesota culture. But everywhere else it's called casserole.
Curious Minnesota
March 30, 2019
MNDOT was the first in the nation to employ the zipper merge as a way to better manage traffic when a lane is closed in work zones.

Why can't Minnesotans figure out how to zipper merge?

Zipper merging is the law in Minnesota. Why can't Minnesotans zipper merge, and why do some motorists get all worked up when people do it? Curious Minnesota investigates.
Curious Minnesota
March 22, 2019
The skyways in downtown Minneapolis, Minn., on Friday, May 8, 2015.

Were Minneapolis' skyways first created to combat the cold – or something else?

Love them or hate them, the skyways' dual origin stories might surprise you.
Curious Minnesota
March 15, 2019
The Minnesota State Fair opened Thursday, August 22, 2013 on a perfect day, weather-wise. Ravem Noguerraza of Coon Rapids didn't even win the giant st

What percentage of Minnesotans spend their entire lives here?

We have a relatively high number of Minnesota-born residents living in the state, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau Bureau analysis.
Curious Minnesota
March 8, 2019
Sen. Amy Klobuchar was joined by her daughter Abigail and husband John as she shook hands after her speech. She made her announcement to run for presi

Minnesota has never produced a U.S. president. Here's why.

Minnesota has never had a successful presidential candidate, despite producing two vice presidents, three Supreme Court justices and multiple cabinet members. Curious Minnesota investigates.
Curious Minnesota
March 4, 2019
DAVID BREWSTER • dbrewster@startribune.com Sat. 01/01/11 Mankato : ] Sun dogs bracketed the setting sun over snow covered farm fields north of M

How did Minnesota's indigenous people survive the extreme winters?

American Indians used a variety of approaches to stay warm, including wearing animal skins and heating rocks in fire pits to warm the floors.

Curious Minnesota

Curious Minnesota, a Star Tribune community-driven reporting project, puts readers' inquiries at the center of our newsroom's reporting.