 The west border was once an agri-industrial and milling processing center served by the Northern Pacific Railway.Today the grain silos and factories along the length of the highway are set to make way for new residential condos, apartment buildings, and a new greenway connecting Minnehaha Falls and the Midtown Greenway.This area is also anchored by the Minnehaha Mile, a biking street that contains more antique, vintage, retro, and secondhand shops than any other commercial corridor in the state of Minnesota

The city did not acquire land south of Franklin Avenue until 1881 and 1883 with the last half of Longfellow annexed in 1887 from Richfield.