Storm clouds, wind, and rain made the last
Sunday in May 1887 a typical Minneapolis spring day.
The Knights of Labor had haplessly planned a parade
for this day, and the gathering marchers met with
intermittent showers and blustering high winds. The
less courageous scurried home, while thousands of
others assembled in the industrial district just west of
St. Anthony Falls. By late morning an estimated
4,000 were set to march and, according to the
Minneapolis Tribune, “The spectacle of the uniformed
bodies, with numerous bands and hundreds of flags
and lodge banners flying, was a grand and imposing
one.” The object of this public fanfare, the laying of
the cornerstone for the Northwest’s first Knights of
Labor “temple,” drew some 16,000 spectators who
converged at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and
Fourth Street. A few celebrants even climbed the
trees lining the street, eager to watch the dedication
of organized labor’s new home in the city.