Charles M. Loring

Charles M. Loring

Charles Morgridge Loring (November 13, 1833 – March 18, 1922) was an American businessman, miller and publicist. Raised in Maine to be a sea captain, Loring instead became a civic leader in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he was a wealthy flour miller and in Riverside, California where he helped to build the first city hall. He was a popular and generous man who enjoyed many friendships and business associations.

Loring is remembered as the influential commissioner and president of the first Minneapolis park board. Considered the "Father of the Park System" in Minneapolis, Loring encouraged the city to work with Horace Cleveland, one of the first landscape architects, and park superintendents William W. Berry and Theodore Wirth. The city built what has been called, "the best-located, best-financed, best-designed, and best-maintained public open space in America."

Read more about Charles M. Loring:  Family and Early Life, Flour Milling, Electricity and Rail, Other Associations, Park Board, City of Riverside, Legacies