HOW OLD IS LORING PARK?
It dates from 1883 and the creation of the Board of Park Commissioners. Originally it was called Central Park, but was renamed in late 1890 to honor Charles Morgridge Loring (b. 1833 — d. 1922) who served as a Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and who was the first President of the Board of Park Commissioners in 1883. Loring is now known as The Father of Minneapolis Parks. It was not the first official park (that is Murphy Square on the Augsburg College Campus), but it was the first park in the system to have electric lights. Open arc lights were installed in 1884 and used to illuminate the pond during the winter skating season. In 1916 the Minneapolis General Electric Company provided the park with 91 lights.
