Clara Parsons might not be as well-known as developers Carl Hansen or Samuel Thorpe, who built large subdivisions in Edina, but she made her mark in Morningside by building homes one by one along Alden Drive in the early 1900s.
She and her husband, E. Dudley Parsons Sr., were among the first to move to the newly platted Morningside neighborhood, buying seven lots in 1907, about 3.5 acres, and building their home at 4220 Alden.
The Parsons raised chickens and cows and grew vegetables to supplement Mr. Parson’s teaching salary at Minneapolis schools. “We used to cut all of the wood necessary to cook with and for winter heat,” their son, E. Dudley Jr., remembered in a 2006 edition of Edina’s About Town publication. “[And] we sold milk to the neighbors. I delivered the milk in shiny tin pails with tight-fitting covers.”
The farm did not last long. Like many early homeowners in the neighborhood, the Parsons bought their land with an eye to future development. Clara was one of many Morningside housewives who sold off lots and built homes to add income to the family coffers. While their husbands worked in the city, women often served as designer and general contractor on building projects.
Clara wrote, “The great joy about the building on the lot is that I do like to build and am right now having such fun getting bids from contractors... They each say they know just how it should be done and the other fellow doesn’t, but believe me, [the one] who can show the smallest figures is the man who gets it.”
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Find the history of your house at the Edina History Museum,
4711 W. 70th St.
Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
Saturdays, 10 a.m. to noon.
