The Dubious Beginning

 
This is the Northgate Mall in either the late 1950's or early 1960's, complete with totem poles and a canoe motif above the bus stop. Northgate Mall has the distinction of being America's first shopping mall -- Makes sense for the rainy Northwest, though it looks pretty sunny in the old postcard shot on the left.



 

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  1. Actually, the first indoor shopping mall in America is Southdale Center in Edina, MN.

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  2. Northgate Mall in Seattle opened in 1950, so Southdale was a little late to the party in 1956, despite what Wikipedia says. To be fair one could make finer distinctions between the two designs (amount of enclosure, climate control, etc.) when declaring which is the earliest true shopping mall but most would agree that Northgate checks off all the correct boxes.

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