Longfellow Zoological Gardens--Minneapolis, Minn.

A Minneapolis businessman and showman named [[Robert "Fish" Jones]] first bought a property near the edge of downtown Minneapolis in 1886. He converted the three-acre property into a zoo for the animals which he had collected since his arrival in Minneapolis in 1876.
The amount of animals he kept, however, soon grew and Jones was forced to move from the property on Hennepin Avenue to an area in south Minneapolis. Then, in 1906, he opened the zoo to the public. The zoo was popular, and continued to grow as Jones eventually added zebras, monkeys, orangutans and a polar bear which was said to have come from Norway. He also had a wide array of birds from the Grey Crowned Crane to the flamingo to storks. The zoo was also known for its seals
The zoo continued to prosper, although complaints from neighbors about noise and smell were perpetual.
In 1930, Jones died. His family tried to keep his zoo open, but failed and the zoo had to be closed down. Many of the animals were sold or given the Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1934 the land where the zoo once stood was given to the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.
It was rumored that several seals escaped the zoo into nearby Minnehaha Creek, although this was never proved. The land where the zoo once stood is now residential.