Rediscovering Burnsville's history

If Len Nachman were to give a tour of historic places of Burnsville, he might take people past the Black Dog Village site. Or the burial mounds in River Hills. Or the lakes where cottages and resorts used to dot the shores. Or the sites of the old Billy Goat Bridge or the Lucky Twin Drive-in, both of which have vanished.

"Our history is different," Nachman said. "Burnsville doesn't have old buildings. We tore them all down."

Nachman and others hope to revive interest in a Burnsville chapter of the Dakota County Historical Society, and they held their first meeting in February at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center to gauge interest.

"We were underwhelmed with the number of people. My guess is that it will take the rest of the year to get people excited," Nachman said. "If not, there's plan B: We'll do it anyway."

Nachman, who will turn 80 in July, started immersing himself in local history when he traveled around with his wife taking photos for "Burnsville '76: A Community History." His wife wrote a chapter in the history book. Nachman also worked on "Burnsville 2000," a second history book that dealt with changes up to 2000.

"That sort of captures the old stuff," he said, motioning to the books. "From 2000 to now, the changes have been amazing": Increased diversity in the population, the formation of the "Heart of the City" and the creation of the new Performing Arts Center. "To me, that's exciting," he said. "That's our future history."

"Burnsville is becoming a very sophisticated city. You need to capture that while it's happening," he said. "History is not just about what was. It's about what is."

That education won't necessarily mean producing another history book, Nachman said. The group has considered ideas such as creating pamphlets with interesting facts, organizing bus tours and taking old maps of Burnsville and superimposing current Burnsville maps over them.

Ridgway, who studied theater as an undergraduate, also is working on a series of dramatic monologues about Dakota County historical figures with Envision Academy for the Arts. It will be called a "Dakota County Anthology."

"I thought, 'I could get excited about that,'" she said. "Because of the need for more interactive education, it seemed like something that would be accessible. An event is a great way to draw people who might be curious." She and Envision director Elizabeth Tanner are currently considering playwrights for the 90-minute production to be held at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center in 2012.

Nachman said that the art center has proven a great resource and noted the historical society's recent photo exhibit called "ARTitecture" featured at the center.

"The museum [in South St. Paul] really isn't too convenient to people in Burnsville," Nachman said. "We're trying to bring history out to the people in Burnsville."

The next exploratory meeting will be held at 7 p.m. March 31 at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. Nachman encourages participants from a variety of backgrounds and ages to join the group to think about "how did Burnsville get to be Burnsville?"

"We welcome anyone who has an inkling," Ridgway said. "We want to hear stories."