M Street

M

Macalester St. Charles Macalester II (1798–1873) was a businessman, Presbyterian Church philanthropist, and namesake of Macalester College in Minnesota. Nature and Revelation: A History of Macalester was published in 2010 and written by Jeanne Halgren Kilde.

Mackubin St. The street is named for Charles Mackubin (1820?-1863). He served in the Minnesota legislature but little else is known about him.

Madison St. Robert Bly (born 1926) is a poet and author. He is most well-known for his book, Iron John: A Book About Men (1990). He was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, and lived on a farm south of the county seat, Madison, Minnesota.

Madson St. Iowa native John Madson (1923–1995) is considered the father of the modern prairie restoration movement; his books include Where the Sky Began, Stories from under the Sky, Up on the River, and Tallgrass Prairie. He wrote extensively on natural history and resource conservation for Audubon, Smithsonian, and National Geographic, among many others. His book, Up on the River: People and Wildlife of the Upper Mississippi is about the river "between the saints" (St. Louis and St. Paul).

Magnolia Ave. Quentin Blake, (born 1932) is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's writer. He may be known best for illustrating books written by Roald Dahl. His book, Mister Magnolia (published 1980)  won the Kate Greenaway Medal. From 1999 to 2001 he was the inaugural British Children's Laureate.

Magoffin Ave. Susan Shelby Magoffin (1827 – 1855) was the wife of a trader from the United States who traveled on the Santa Fe Trail in the late 1840s. The diary in which she recorded her experiences has been used extensively as a source for histories of the time.

Maiden Ln. The Crane Maiden is a children’s story by Miyoko Matsutani (born 1926). The street likely takes its name from Maiden Lane in London, England, which  was the home of François-Marie Arouet (1694 – 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire. He was a  philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state. (thanks to Donald Empson and his book, The Street Where You Live for this information)

Mailand Rd. This connection stretches the street name but is worth the mention. The Okee Dokee Brothers (Justin Lansing and Joe Mailander) canoed the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to Saint Louis in 2011. They wrote children's songs on the way and released an album entitled, Can You Canoe? Great fun.

Main St. Every Minnesotan should know of Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951). He was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, and was the first American to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. His book, Main Street, is about a young woman who leaves Saint Paul to marry a doctor in a small town.

Mancini St. The street is named for the Mancini family. Nick  Mancini owns Mancini’s Char House on West Seventh Avenue in Saint Paul. This author has been privileged to have dined there several times. There may be more famous Mancini's but none so gracious.

Manitoba Ave. Jean Margaret Laurence (1926 – 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer and one of the major figures in Canadian literature.  She was born in Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada.

Manitou Ave. The street is named for the word that refers to the “mysterious and unknown powers of and of the universe.” (from Don Empson’s book) The Manitous: The Spiritual World of the Ojibway was published in  1995 and is a collection of stories edited by  Basil Johnston. The Manitou Messenger is the student newspaper for St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Manomin Ave. Manomin is a variant spelling of manoomin, the Ojibwe word for wild rice. A Minnesota county, Mahnomen, carries on the name. The Ojibwa: Wild Rice Gatherers, published in 2003 and written by Therese DeAngelis tells the story.

Manton St.

Manvel St.

Maple St. Miracles on Maple Hill is a 1956 novel by Virginia Sorensen. It won the 1957 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature.

Margaret St. Margaret Atwood, (born 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She edited The New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse,  published in 1982.

Maria Ave. Maria is the leading female character in the film and theatrical version of West Side Story, the adaptation of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

Marillac Ln. The street is named for Saint Louise DeMarillac (1591-1660). Her story is told in More Saints: Lives and Illuminations, published in 2007 and written by Ruth Sanderson.

Marion St. Marion Tweedy is the maiden name of Molly Bloom in James Joyce's Ulysses.

Market St. Nikki McClure is an author and illustrator of a number of children's books including To Market, To Market, published in 2011.

Marshall Ave. James Marshall (1942 – 1992) was a writer of children's books, probably best known for the George and Martha series of picture books (1972–1988).

Mary Lane Pamela Lyndon Travers, (born 1899 – 1996), was an Australian born novelist, actress and journalist. She wrote under the pen name P. L. Travers. In 1933, she began writing her series of children's novels about the English nanny Mary Poppins.

Maryland Ave. Edgar Allan Poe (born 1809 – 1849) was an author, poet, editor, and literary critic. He died in Baltimore, Maryland.

Marzitelli St. Frank Marzitelli (1916-2000) was a Saint Paul city administrator  and the head of the St. Paul Ramsey Arts and Science Council. He was instrumental in getting the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts built in St. Paul.

Matilda St. Matilda is a children's novel by British author Roald Dahl (1916-1990). It was published in 1988.

Matterhorn Ln. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist.  He wrote A Tramp Abroad about his travels in Europe which include hiking the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It was published in 1880.

Maury St. Maury Dean is an American musician, professor and author, whose book "The Rock Revolution" (published 1966) is in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian.

May St. Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) was a novelist best known as author of the Little Women. May Sarton (1912 – 1995), was an American poet, novelist and memoirist.

Maynard Dr. Joyce Maynard (born 1953) is an author and had a long-running syndicated newspaper column entitled, Domestic Affairs.  In 1988 she published  her memoir, At Home in the World, which revealed the story of the relationship she had with author J. D. Salinger when he was 53 and she was 18. Rapunzel and the Seven Dwarfs: A Maynard Moose Tale by Willy Claflin (born 1944) is a children’s book which retells and mixes up several classic fairy tales.

Mayre St. Mayre Griffiths is the home name of the fictional name of the character Trot in L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz. Trot is introduced in the novel, The Sea Fairies (1911) and first appears in an Oz book in The Scarecrow of Oz (1915). Trot is a little girl, in case you haven't read the series.

Maywood St. Robert  Bloch (1917 – 1994) was a prolific American fiction writer, primarily of crime, horror, fantasy and science fiction, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock. He wrote the line "Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk," (a quote borrowed by Stephen King and often misattributed to him). (from wikipedia) He grew up in Maywood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

McAfee St. Reinhold Niebuhr (1892 – 1971) was an American theologian and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses was published in  1987 and written by Reinhold Niebuhr and edited by Robert McAfee Brown. Niebuhr authored the Serenity Prayer. The version most of us know is as follows: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.

McBoal St.

McKinley St. Robin McKinley (born 1952) is an author of fantasy and children's books. Her 1984 novel The Hero and the Crown won the Newbery Medal.

McKnight Rd. Reginald McKnight (born 1956) is the editor of African American Wisdom, published in 1996 by New World Library.

McLean Ave. Roderick McLean (died June 9, 1921) was a Scottish poet who attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria on March 2, 1882, at Windsor, England, with a pistol.   McLean's motive was the polite “thanks but no thanks” letter he received in reply to some poetry that he had mailed to Queen Victoria. Victoria subsequently wrote to her eldest daughter, “It is worth being shot at – to see how much one is loved”. McLean was sentenced to  life in an asylum. Such are the travails of being a poet or a poetry critic.

Mechanic Ave. Mechanic Arts High School in Saint Paul was the second high school in the city of St. Paul. Both Roy Wilkins, President of the NAACP, and Harry Blackmun, Supreme Court Justice, graduated from there. The school closed in 1976.

Mendota St. Joseph Godfrey (1835–1909) was an African American who escaped from slavery in Mendota, Minnesota and settled into a Dakota community in the Lower Sioux Agency, and fought on their side during the Dakota War of 1862. He was the only African-American combatant of the war. You can read his story in Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862, edited by Gary Clayton Anderson and Alan R. Woolworth. Your local library can find you the electronic resource.

Mercer St. Mercer Mayer (born 1943) is an children's book writer and illustrator. He has published over 300 books. Mayer is probably best known for his "Little Critter" and "Little Monster" series of books.

Merriam Ln. Eve Merriam (1916 – 1992) was an American poet and writer. She was especially known for her young children’s books.

Merrill St. James  Merrill (1926 –  1995) was an American  poet whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1977) for Divine Comedies .

Michael St. Michael  Ende ( 1929 –1995) was a German writer of fantasy and children's fiction. He is best known for his epic fantasy The Neverending Story.

Michigan St. Nancy Willard (born 1936) is a writer: novelist, poet, author and occasional illustrator of children's books. She won the 1982 Newbery Medal for A Visit to William Blake's Inn. She was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Middleton Ave. Kate Middleton (born 1982) is now Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge  after marrying Prince William of England. There are one or two books about her. And her husband. And her children. And her in-laws.

Midway Pkwy.

Milford St. Nancy Milford (born 1938,) is an American biographer. Milford is best known for her book Zelda about F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife Zelda Fitzgerald, published in 1970  and for Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, which was published in 2001.

Mississippi River Blvd. There are a few books about the Great River. Try this one: Our Historic Upper Mississippi: Including a Traveler's Guide of Things to Do and Things To See Along the River, published in 1991 and written by Duane R. Lund.

Mill St. David Macaulay (born 1946) is a British-born American illustrator and writer. His most well-known book is Cathedral (1973). He won the Caldecott Medal in 1991 for Black and White (1990). He is the author of Mill, a children’s book about mills developed in New England throughout the nineteenth century.

Miller Crest Ln.

Milton St. Don Empson’s book tells us that the street was named for the English poet, John Milton (1608-1674), author of the epic poem, Paradise Lost. He wrote a sequel called Paradise Regained. It wasn’t quite as popular. Milton Hershey (1857 –1945) was the founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company and the "company town" of Hershey, Pennsylvania. The 2008 children's book, Milton Hershey: Young Chocolatier by M.M. Eboch  tells his story.

Minnehaha Ave. Minnehaha is a fictional Native American woman featured in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha.

Minnesota St. The website, Minnesotafunfacts.com has a long list of Minnesota authors. Carol  Brink (1895 – 1981) was an American author of over thirty juvenile and adult books. Her novel Caddie Woodlawn won the 1936 Newbery Medal. She lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for forty-two years. August Wilson (1945 – 2005) was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. He lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1978-1990.

Mitchell Ave. Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (born 1928) is a children's literature writer. She is the author of the picture book, Mitchell is Moving, published in 1998. It tells the story of a dinosaur who has to move and his neighbor Margo who tries to stop him.

Mohawk Ave. Drums Along the Mohawk (1936) is a novel by Walter D. Edmonds (1903-1998). The story follows the lives of fictional Gil and Lana Martin, settlers in the Mohawk Valley of the New York frontier during the American Revolution.

Monroe Ct. James Howe (born 1946) is the author of over 80 juvenile and young adult books, including the Bunnicula series, about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables. One of his books is Howie Monroe and the Doghouse of Doom (2003).

Montana Ave. Will James (1892 - 1942) was an artist and writer of the American West. He is known for writing Smoky the Cowhorse, for which he won the 1927 Newbery Medal. He lived in Billings, Montana.

Montcalm Ct. Major General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm was a real-life British general in 1757. He figured prominently in the French and Indian War. He is included as a character in The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper (1789 – 1851). The street was named for him. (thanks to Donald Empson and his book, The Street Where You Live for this information)

Montgomery St. Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874 – 1942), was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908.

Montreal Ave. The Jewish Public Library (JPL) is a public library located in Montreal, Canada. The library contains the largest circulating Judaica collection in North America.

Montrose Ln. Legend of Montrose is an historical novel by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) , set in Scotland in the 1640s during the Civil War. It forms, along with The Bride of Lammermoor, the 3rd series of Scott's Tales of My Landlord. The two novels were published together in 1819. (thanks to Donald Empson and his book, The Street Where You Live for the source of this information)

Moore St. Marianne Moore (1887 –1972) was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit. From 1925 until 1929, Moore served as editor of the literary and cultural journal The Dial.  She was a great admirer of Muhammad Ali, for whose spoken-word album, I Am the Greatest!, she wrote liner notes.

Morgan Ave. Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel is a 1996 biography of the author of The Cat in the Hat by Judith & Neil Morgan.

Morningside Circle Columbia University in the City of New York, is located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. The university has published a few books. That's called an understatement.

Morton St. Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters (1951) is a children’s book that tells the story of the real-life Sarah Morton who lived in the American colonies in 1644.

Mound St. King of the Mound: My Summer With Satchel Paige by Wes Tooke. A children’s book about a young boy who gets to spend a summer with the baseball great, Satchel Paige. Paige was one of the many great ballplayers in the Negro Leagues. There a number of books about the league, all worth reading. One such is A Negro League Scrapbook by Carole Boston Weatherford, published in 2995.

Mounds Blvd. Julilly House Kohler (1908 – 1976) was a member of the Kohler family of Wisconsin and a children's author who lived in Kohler, Wisconsin. She was active in social work and community projects, and was well known for advocacy for the preservation of Indian Burial Mounds. There are six mounds left in Indian Mounds Park. You can read about the history of Minnesota’s burial mounds in Minnesota's Indian mounds and Burial Sites: A Synthesis of Prehistoric and Early Historic Archaeological Data  by Constance M. Arzigian and Katherine P. Stevenson.

Mt. Airy St. Carmel McCaffrey is an Irish-American lecturer and author of books on Irish history, literature, culture, and language at Johns Hopkins University and at the Smithsonian Institution. She lives in Mt. Airy, Maryland.

Mt. Curve Blvd.

Mt. Hope Ave.

Mt. Hope Drive

Mt. Ida St. Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (1862 – 1931) was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, and an early leader in the civil rights movement. Rabble Rousers: 20 Women Who Made a Difference is a 2003 children’s book by Cheryl Harness. Wells-Barnett’s story is included.

Mulberry St. And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is Theodor Geisel's first children's book. It was published under his pen name, Dr. Seuss. Published by Vanguard Press in 1937.

Munster Ave.

Murray St. The Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowlings, married Neil Scott Murray in 2001. She uses the name Joanne Murray on occasion.

Myrtle Ave. The Myrtle is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone. It tells the story of a woman who wished for a child, even a sprig of myrtle, and gave birth to such a sprig. She and her husband put it in a pot and tended it. A prince saw it, took a fancy to it, and finally persuaded her to sell it to him.

Mystic St. Paul Goble is an English-born American writer and illustrator of children's books, especially Native American stories. His book The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses won a Caldecott Medal in 1979. He also authored the children’s book, Mystic Horse published by HarperCollins in 2003.