Faithful followers of this blog may have noticed by now how typical it was to build a wooden footbridge across the top of a falls. Since the postcard views are always taken from the bottom, we can reasonably conclude that this is the preferred viewpoint for most. Indeed, I have stood at the tops of falls where all you can see is the lip of water before it makes the plunge. It would seem, then, to make more sense to build footbridges across the bottoms of the falls. Unless, of course, the bridge was an important part of the shot. I think this is consistent with the taming and conquering of nature that reveals itself in so many of these vintage postcards.

In the 1930s when this postcard was printed, this was part of someone’s backyard though open to the public. Known as Noonans’ Little Bit o’ Heaven, it was the creation of Phil Noonan, described as prominent in the local butter and egg trade. By the 1940s he had donated it to the city for preservation as a park, which it remains today. When the family had the postcards printed up they saw fit to add the statistic that the flow rate of the waterfall was 85 gallons per minute.

I sent it to the one person I know with the surname Noonan.

The most photographed site in Minnesota, as of this month the park surrounding these falls was the site of a large homeless encampment, with cold temperatures and proximity to snow plows becoming urgent concerns of the city.