History of Saint Paul, Minnesota
Encyclopedia
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
is the second largest city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Ramsey County
Ramsey County, Minnesota
Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849. As of 2010, the population was 508,640. Its county seat is St. Paul, which is also Minnesota's state capital. The county is named for Alexander Ramsey , the first governor of the Minnesota Territory...
, and the state capital of Minnesota. The origin and growth of the city was spurred by the proximity of Fort Snelling, the first major United States military presence in the area, and by its location on the Upper Mississippi River
Upper Mississippi River
The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of Cairo, Illinois, United States. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river flows approximately 2000 kilometers to Cairo, where it is joined by the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi...
, with the northernmost natural navigable port on the mighty river.
Fort Snelling was established in 1819, at the confluence of the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and Minnesota
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
rivers in order to establish American dominance of the fur-trading
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
industry on the rivers. As the whiskey trade started to flourish, the military officers in Fort Snelling banned the distillers from the land the fort controlled, with one retired fur trader turned bootlegger
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
, Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant
Pierre Parrant
Pierre “Pig’s Eye” Parrant is recognized as being the first person of European descent to live within the borders of what would eventually become the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota...
particularly irritating the officials. Parrant moved his abode and operation downstream about 5 miles (8 km) to the north bank of the river in what is now downtown Saint Paul. An 1837 treaty with the natives secured the city for white settlement. By the early 1840s the area had become important as a trading center, a stopping point for settlers heading west, and was known as Pig's Eye
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
or Pig's Eye Landing. The Minnesota Territory
Minnesota Territory
The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:...
was formalized in 1849 with Saint Paul named as its capital. In 1854, Saint Paul incorporated as a city and in 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the union
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with Saint Paul becoming the capital of the 32nd state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
.
Natural geography played a role in the settlement and development of Saint Paul as a trade and transportation center. The Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
valley in this area is defined by a series of stone bluffs that line both sides of the river. Saint Paul developed around Lambert's Landing, the last place to unload boats coming upriver at an easily accessible point, some 14 miles (23 km) downstream from Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway after it partially collapsed in 1869...
, the geographic feature that defined the location of Minneapolis and its prominence as the Mill City. This made Saint Paul a gateway to the Upper Midwest for westbound settlers heading for the Minnesota frontier or the Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
. In 1858 more than 1,000 steamboats unloaded cargo and passengers at Saint Paul. At first, a cart and wagon road, the Saint Anthony Trail to the Red River
Red River of the North
The Red River is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada...
valley, led from Saint Paul, followed by numerous railroads that were headquartered in Saint Paul, such as the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
, which are today part of the BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
. For well over a hundred years, Saint Paul was a frontier town and a railroad town. Today it is more influenced by commerce and its function as the state capital. It has been called "The Last City of the East."
The flavor of the city has been defined by its people. Throughout its history, first-generation immigrants have been dominant, introducing their languages, religions, and cultures. The influx of peoples is illustrated by its institutions, built by French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
, German, Swedish, Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, Czech, Austro-Hungarian, Polish, Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
, and Hmong people
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
.
Geological history
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
and Ordovician
Ordovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...
time, from approximately 505 to 438 million years ago, shallow tropical seas covered much of then-equatorial southeastern Minnesota. During this time, the sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
s that constitute the bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
of St. Paul were deposited
Deposition (geology)
Deposition is the geological process by which material is added to a landform or land mass. Fluids such as wind and water, as well as sediment flowing via gravity, transport previously eroded sediment, which, at the loss of enough kinetic energy in the fluid, is deposited, building up layers of...
. The most visible of these are the 156 feet (48 m) to 166 feet (51 m) thick layer of St. Peter Sandstone
St. Peter Sandstone
The St. Peter Sandstone is an Ordovician formation in the Chazyan stage of the Champlainian series. This sandstone originated as a sheet of sand in clear, shallow water near the shore of a Paleozoic sea and consists of fine-to-medium-size, well-rounded quartz grains with frosted surfaces...
, the lowest layer of sedimentary rock above the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in Saint Paul, which is overlain by a thin—3 foot (0.9144 m) to 5.5 feet (2 m) thick—layer of Glenwood Shale
Glenwood Shale
The Glenwood Shale is a thin Ordivician shale formation in the sedimentary sequence characteristic of the upper Midwestern United States. It lies under the Platteville Limestone and above the Saint Peter Sandstone. Together, these three units represent a sequence of sea-level rise during Ordovician...
, and capped by a 28 feet (9 m) thick layer of Platteville Limestone
Platteville Limestone
The Platteville Limestone is the Ordivician limestone formation in the sedimentary sequence characteristic of the upper Midwestern United States. It overlies the thin Glenwood Shale, which overlies the thick Saint Peter Sandstone...
. These units are overlain by the fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
iferous Decorah Shale
Decorah Shale
The Decorah Shale is a fossiliferous shale that makes up the lower most formation in the Galena Group. The Decorah lies above the Platteville Limestone and below the Galena Limestone in the sedimentary sequence that formed from the shallow sea that covered central North America during Ordovician Time...
, which is in some places completely eroded and in others up to 95 feet (29 m) thick, and exposed at the brickyards, a popular fossil hunting location in Lilydale Park. All of the units exposed on the surface in St. Paul are of Ordovician age. Marine fossils can be seen embedded in limestone structures, such as the Henry Hastings Sibley
Henry Hastings Sibley
Henry Hastings Sibley was the first Governor of the U.S. state of Minnesota.-Early life and education:...
House.
About 20,000 years ago, the area was covered by the Superior Lobe of the Laurentide ice sheet
Laurentide ice sheet
The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered hundreds of thousands of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the northern United States, multiple times during Quaternary glacial epochs. It last covered most of northern North America between c. 95,000 and...
, which left the St. Croix moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
on the Twin Cities as it receded. Later the Grantsburg Sublobe of the Des Moines Lobe also covered the area. These thick layers of ice cut through the Platteville limestone cap rock with tremendous force, forming tunnel valleys, and released glacial meltwater. The result was a series of troughs in the limestone, which were filled by glacial till and outwash deposit as the glaciers receded. Sometimes the sediment would be mixed with huge chunks of ice, which would leave voids, or kettles, in the soil. These kettles later filled with water and became Lake Como
Lake Como (Minnesota)
Como Lake is a lake up to deep in St. Paul, Minnesota. It, along with the neighboring Como Park, has been a recreation area for residents of the Twin Cities for more than a century. It was named in 1848 by local farmer Charles Perry. A pavilion sits on the west side of the lake, and plays host...
and Lake Phalen
Lake Phalen
Lake Phalen is an urban lake located in Saint Paul, Minnesota and in its suburb of Maplewood. It is one of the largest lakes in Saint Paul and is the centerpiece of the Phalen Regional Park System. The lake drains into the Mississippi River after traveling through Phalen Creek...
.
Glacial River Warren
Glacial River Warren
right|thumb|210px|The course of the Minnesota River follows the valley carved by Glacial River WarrenGlacial River Warren or River Warren was a prehistoric river that drained Lake Agassiz in central North America between 11,700 and 9,400 years ago...
was a prehistoric river that drained Lake Agassiz
Lake Agassiz
Lake Agassiz was an immense glacial lake located in the center of North America. Fed by glacial runoff at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined, and it held more water than contained by all lakes in the world today.-Conception:First...
in central North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
between 11,700 and 9,400 years ago. Lake Agassiz, which was up to 600–700 feet (~200 m) deep, and at various times covered areas totaling over 110,000 square miles (~300,000 km2), was formed from the meltwaters of the Laurentide Ice Sheet
Laurentide ice sheet
The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered hundreds of thousands of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the northern United States, multiple times during Quaternary glacial epochs. It last covered most of northern North America between c. 95,000 and...
during the Wisconsonian glaciation of the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
. The enormous outflow from this lake carved a wide valley now occupied by the much-smaller Minnesota River
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
and the Upper Mississippi River
Upper Mississippi River
The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of Cairo, Illinois, United States. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river flows approximately 2000 kilometers to Cairo, where it is joined by the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi...
below its confluence with the Minnesota. Blocked by an ice sheet to the north, the lake water rose until about 9,700 years Before Present
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
(BP), when it overtopped the Big Stone Moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
, a ridge of glacial drift left by the receding glacier, at the location of Browns Valley, Minnesota
Browns Valley, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 690 people, 285 households, and 171 families residing in the city. The population density was 878.5 people per square mile . There were 317 housing units at an average density of 403.6 per square mile...
. The lake's outflow was catastrophic at times, creating a wide valley to Saint Paul, where the massive River Warren Falls
River Warren Falls
The River Warren Falls was a massive waterfall on the glacial River Warren initially located in present-day Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The waterfall was 2700 feet across and 175 feet high.-Geologic history:...
once graced the landscape. Over 1700 years this waterfall retreated upstream and undercut the Mississippi at the site of Fort Snelling. The falls then split. The Mississippi falls migrated upstream to form Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway after it partially collapsed in 1869...
and create Minnehaha Falls
Minnehaha Falls
Minnehaha Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River located in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from Lake Minnetonka in the west and flows east for 22 miles through several suburbs west of Minneapolis and then through south Minneapolis. Including Lake Minnetonka, the watershed for the...
in Minneapolis. The River Warren falls receded west in the Minnesota River valley until they reached an older buried river valley about two miles (3 km) west of the confluence, where the falls were extinguished. The high bluffs on either side of the river represent the channel dug by the River Warren as it carried massive volumes of water through Saint Paul.
Native Americans
Effigy mound
Sites in the U.S. of similar history may be found at Indian Mounds ParkAn effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, religious figure, or human figure. Effigy mounds were only built during the Late Woodland Period .Effigy mounds were constructed in many...
were constructed by the Hopewell culture
Hopewell culture
The Hopewell tradition is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BCE to 500 CE. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related...
, one of several Native American Mound builders approximately 2000 years ago. The dead were buried with artifacts, indicating a religious tradition. The mounds built by the Hopewell culture were built in a distinctive fashion, burying the deceased's ashes; the Dakota Indians later used the same site to bury their dead, wrapping the bodies in animal skins. From about 1600 to 1837 the Dakota Indians lived near the site of the Mounds. Just below the mounds was a large cave at the base of the bluff. Carver's Cave
Carver's Cave
Within Indian Mounds Park in St. Paul, Minnesota is a plaque memorializing Carver's Cave. The following is the exact text from the plaque:Repeated attempts were made by French and British Explorers to discover a northwest passage...
was called by the Dakota, "Wakân Teepee"—sacred lodge, or dwelling of the Great Spirit. The entrance was 3 foot (0.9144 m) tall by 10 feet (3 m) wide and the interior was 20 feet (6 m) tall by 30 feet (9 m) wide, with a large lake extending forward 129 feet (39 m). Hieroglyphics of rattlesnakes and bears were cut into the sandstone walls. Following the 1837 Treaty of St. Peters
Treaty of St. Peters
Treaty of St. Peters may be one of two treaties conducted between the United States and Native American peoples, conducted at the confluence of the Minnesota River with the Mississippi River, in what today is Mendota, Minnesota....
, the roughly 200 Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
living on the bluffs of Saint Paul vacated the area and moved to the west side of the Mississippi River. The land was soon inhabited by French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
Voyageurs who staked claims to plots on Dayton's Bluff
Dayton's Bluff
Dayton's Bluff is a neighborhood located on the east side of the Mississippi in the southeast part of the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, which has a large residential district on the plateau extending backward from its top. The name of the bluff commemorates Lyman Dayton, for whom a village and a...
.
Early settlement
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
claimed the land east of the Mississippi and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, then Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and again France claimed the land west of the river. In 1787 land on the east side of the river became part of the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
. From 1837 to 1848, Saint Paul grew from a few traders with tents and shacks on the riverside to a small town with settlers starting to put down roots; in 1840, the town had only nine cabins scattered between the Upper and Lower Landings. Some were members of the failed Selkirk Colony in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, but they were soon joined by first-generation American pioneer
American pioneer
American pioneers are any of the people in American history who migrated west to join in settling and developing new areas. The term especially refers to those who were going to settle any territory which had previously not been settled or developed by European or American society, although the...
s. No structures in Saint Paul have survived from this period. In 1841, Father Lucien Galtier
Lucien Galtier
Lucien Galtier was the first Roman Catholic priest who served in Minnesota. While he was a native of France, the place of his birth is uncertain and even the year, some sources claiming 1811 but his tomb bearing the date December 17, 1812. In the 1830s, people were settling across the Minnesota...
established a Catholic chapel, Saint Paul's Chapel, on the bluffs above the landing (near present-day Second Street and Cedar Street), naming it in honor of his favorite saint and because of the pairing with Saint Peter's Church in Mendota
Mendota, Minnesota
Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The name comes from the Dakota word for "where the waters meet." The population was 198 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, 5 miles (8 km) upstream and across the river. About that time, the name of the settlement was formally changed to Saint Paul as a more worthy name than "Pig's Eye" (French: L'Oeil du Cochon) and in honor of the new chapel. In 1847, the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
school teacher, Harriet Bishop came from Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
(via New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) and opened the city's first school in a cabin at St. Peter Street and Kellogg Boulevard. There she taught children of diverse ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds and supported the temperance movement
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
. Harriet Island was named for her. In 1849, the Minnesota Territory
Minnesota Territory
The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:...
was formalized and Saint Paul was named as its capital. Justus Ramsey's younger brother, Alexander Ramsey
Alexander Ramsey
Alexander Ramsey was an American politician. He was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.Alexander Ramsey was elected from Pennsylvania as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the 28th and 29th congresses from March 4, 1843 to March 4, 1847...
, a Philadelphia politician moved there to become the first territorial governor. In 1850, the city narrowly survived a proposed law to move the capital to Saint Peter when territorial legislator, Joe Rolette
Joe Rolette
Joseph Rolette was a well-known American fur trader and politician during Minnesota's territorial era and the Civil War. His father was Jean Joseph Rolette, often referred to as Joe Rolette the elder, a French-Canadian and a trader himself. Joseph Rolette’s mother was Jane Fisher, who married Joe...
disappeared with the approved bill.
Early boom years 1849-1860
“awoke early, found out Boat landed at St. Paul's discharging flour. I took a walk up the steep bluff and took a view of the town generally. The Upper or new town is laid out on a wild looking place situated on high bluffs which have a steep face to the River & Rocks projecting. The lower, or Old French town, is composed of about 10 or 15 houses, some of the them bark roofs. In this part is found Half breed Indians & French and Canadian French. This part stands on a lower ground just above a ravine where Carver’s Cave is. Site of upper town is more broken and it stands on a succession of benches of sand. There is a great many of people here. Many of them have for a covering their wagons and tents. There is two large frame hotels going up and a great many small frame building scattered among the bushes, for the greater part of the ground where the new town stands is not yet grubbed out, full of hazel bushes and scrub oaks. They area asking as high as $500 for lots. I think they will have a great deal of work to do here before they will have things as they should be. There is a slough 100 yards wide between the town and the river, over which they build a causeway to get from the River to the town. Between the river and the slough there is barely room for three or four warehouses. Two are here erecting.”
Minnesota's first newspaper, the Minnesota Pioneer, the forerunner of today's Pioneer Press
Pioneer Press
The Pioneer Press publishes 50 local newspapers in the metropolitan Chicago area. It is a division of the Sun-Times Media Group. Pioneer Press' headquarters is in Glenview...
, was established by James M. Goodhue in 1849. Just west of downtown Saint Paul is the neighborhood of Irvine Park
Irvine Park Historic District
Irvine Park is a neighborhood just west of downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota that contains a number of historic homes. The neighborhood was platted by John Irvine and Henry Mower Rice in 1849. At the center of the neighborhood is Irvine Park, a New England-style public square...
; it was plat
Plat
A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....
ted by John Irvine and Henry Mower Rice in 1849, and Saint Paul's oldest house, the Charles Symonds House (1850) is located there. Other surviving homes from this period include the Justus Ramsey Stone House
Justus Ramsey Stone House
The Justus Ramsey Stone House is the oldest known house still standing in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The house, located at 252 West 7th Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
(1851), the Benjamin Brunson House
Benjamin Brunson House
The Benjamin Brunson House is one of the oldest houses remaining in Saint Paul, Minnesota it was built ca. 1856 in the area known as "railroad island," being surrounded by tracks. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
(1856), the William Dahl House
William Dahl House
The William Dahl House was built by William Dahl and his Irish wife, Catherine Margaret Murphy in 1858, the home was moved from 136 13th Street in 1997....
(1858), the David Luckert House
David Luckert House
The David Luckert House is a 1858 limestone house; one of the oldest homes in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
(1858), and the Johan and Maria Magdalena Schilliger House
Joseph Brings House
The Joseph Brings House also known as the Johan and Maria Magdalena Schilliger House, originally located at 314 Smith Avenue North, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, the home was built between 1859 and 1862 by John Schilliger, and purchased by Brings in 1863; a cooper, Joseph Brings was born...
(1859–1862). By mid-decade, a primitive capitol, a courthouse (a Greek Revival building designed by David Day), and a small prison had been built. The first bridge to cross the Mississippi River in Saint Paul was the Wabasha Street Bridge
Wabasha Street Bridge
The previous bridge was an iron cantilever deck-truss bridge, which was an advanced engineering feat at the time. That bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989...
, a wooden Howe Truss bridge completed in 1859. As the population grew, so too did religious and cultural institutions. German-Jewish pioneers formed Saint Paul's first synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in 1856 and the German cultural society, Leseverein built Athenaeum, a Deutsches Haus for theatrical productions. In the early 1850s, the city's one Catholic parish was divided into three factions; the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, German, and Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
groups each held service in their native tongues in one building. By 1856, the Diocese allowed the German Catholics to have their own parish, and the first Assumption Church was built. In 1853, the Baldwin School and in 1854, the College of Saint Paul were founded by a Presbyterian minister; these were to later combine to become Macalester College
Macalester College
Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a campus in a historic residential neighborhood...
. The city's musical traditions began with informal concerts in homes; piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
s and melodeon
Melodeon (organ)
A melodeon is a type of 19th century reed organ with a foot-operated vacuum bellows, and a piano keyboard. It differs from the related harmonium, which uses a pressure bellows. Melodeons were manufactured in the United States sometime after 1812 until the Civil War era...
s were brought up the river by steamship. No longer cutoff from the outside world, the first telegraph line reached Saint Paul in 1860.
Full steam growth
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
, disembarking in Saint Paul. Farms were staked out in the vast countryside, including the Davern Farm
William and Catherine Davern Farm House
The William and Catherine Davern Farm House is an Italianate farmhouse built in 1862 in Saint Paul, Minnesota; it is one of a small number of surviving farmhouses in Saint Paul. William Davern was a member of the first territorial legislature. The house is listed on the National Register of...
(1862) and the Spangenberg Farm
Frederick Spangenberg House
The Frederick Spangenberg House is the oldest limestone farmhouse still standing in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota; its yellow limestone walls came from banks of the Mississippi River and hauled by stoneboat over snow to the building site. The house, located at 375 Mount Curve Avenue is...
(1864). Wealthy businessmen such as James C. Burbank, the owner of the Minnesota Stage Company, which held a state-wide monopoly controlling 1600 miles (2,575 km) of stage-lines by 1865, started to spend their fortunes building grand estates. Burbank's Home
Burbank-Livingston-Griggs House
The Burbank-Livingston-Griggs House is one of the first examples of Italianate or Tuscan order architecture in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The house, located at 432 Summit Avenue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Chicago architect Otis L....
(1862–1865) was one of the first mansions to be built high on the bluffs on Summit Avenue. By the end of the 19th century, his was only one of hundreds of impressive edifices in the Historic Hill District, the West Summit Avenue Historic District, the Woodland Park District
Woodland Park District
The Woodland Park District includes several blocks of historic single-family houses and multi-family dwellings in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is roughly bounded by Marshall and Selby Avenues and Arundel and Dale Streets. The area is an island within the Historic Hill District....
, Dayton's Bluff
Dayton's Bluff
Dayton's Bluff is a neighborhood located on the east side of the Mississippi in the southeast part of the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, which has a large residential district on the plateau extending backward from its top. The name of the bluff commemorates Lyman Dayton, for whom a village and a...
, and the Irvine Park Historic District
Irvine Park Historic District
Irvine Park is a neighborhood just west of downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota that contains a number of historic homes. The neighborhood was platted by John Irvine and Henry Mower Rice in 1849. At the center of the neighborhood is Irvine Park, a New England-style public square...
, where the powerful and wealthy resided.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
with little wealth and few English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
skills settled in the ravine of Phalen's Creek, or Swede Hollow
Swede Hollow
Swede Hollow was a neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was one of a large group of neighborhoods collectively known as the East Side, lying just to the east of the near-downtown Railroad Island neighborhood, and at the northwestern base of Dayton's Bluff...
. The creek, named for Edward Phelan
Edward Phelan
Edward Phelan, also Phalen or Felyn, was an early settler of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Phelan was born in approximately 1811 in Derry, Ireland and later became, along with John Hays and William Evans, one of the first settlers of Saint Paul. Phelan was later accused of Hays' murder, the first ever in...
runs from Lake Phalen
Lake Phalen
Lake Phalen is an urban lake located in Saint Paul, Minnesota and in its suburb of Maplewood. It is one of the largest lakes in Saint Paul and is the centerpiece of the Phalen Regional Park System. The lake drains into the Mississippi River after traveling through Phalen Creek...
to the Mississippi. Many lived in shanties in the creek valley, which served as an open sewer; the creek also provided water power for industries such as Excelsior Brewery (later Hamm's Brewery
Hamm's Brewery
Hamm's is the name of a former American brewery in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hamm's breweries were also found in other cities, such as San Francisco.-History:...
). A similar community just downstream called Connemara Patch also existed for Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrants.
True to history, the downtown area was home to several well-known brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s; the first was known to have opened in 1868, providing employment for some women in the untamed frontier town. One stylish madam, Mary Robinson reported property worth $77,000 in 1870. Others were not so fortunate. Kate Hutton was shot and killed by a lover, and presumably other ladies of the night were victims of violence; Henrietta Charles died of syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
at age 38. In 1872 Horace Cleveland
Horace Cleveland
Horace William Shaler Cleveland was a noted American landscape architect, sometimes considered second only to Frederick Law Olmsted...
visited the city and proposed a city-wide park system; shortly thereafter Lake Como
Lake Como (Minnesota)
Como Lake is a lake up to deep in St. Paul, Minnesota. It, along with the neighboring Como Park, has been a recreation area for residents of the Twin Cities for more than a century. It was named in 1848 by local farmer Charles Perry. A pavilion sits on the west side of the lake, and plays host...
was purchased, eventually to be the anchor of Como Park, Zoo, and Conservatory. Later, in 1899, Lake Phalen
Lake Phalen
Lake Phalen is an urban lake located in Saint Paul, Minnesota and in its suburb of Maplewood. It is one of the largest lakes in Saint Paul and is the centerpiece of the Phalen Regional Park System. The lake drains into the Mississippi River after traveling through Phalen Creek...
was also purchased by the city.
Cable car (railway)
A cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required...
covered 20 miles (32.2 km) of city streets by 1880, but by 1891 they were all replaced by electric streetcar lines. The outlying neighborhoods grew out of the placement of the streetcar lines and short lines, Merriam Park in 1882, Macalester Park in 1883, Saint Anthony Park in 1885, and Groveland in 1890. In 1885 a New York reporter wrote that Saint Paul was "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation" in winter. Offended by this attack on their Capital City, the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce decided to not only prove that Saint Paul was habitable but that its citizens were very much alive during winter, the most dominant season. Thus was born the Saint Paul Winter Carnival
Saint Paul Winter Carnival
In 1885, a New York reporter wrote that Saint Paul was "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation" in winter. Offended by this attack on their Capital City, the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce decided to not only prove that Saint Paul was habitable but that its citizens were very much alive during...
. In 1886 King Boreas the First was crowned and the first Winter Carnival commenced. This festival also featured an ice castle, an elaborate creation made from the ice of Minnesota lakes, which has evolved into an internationally recognized icon for Saint Paul's festival. Foreign-language newspapers flourished, with local publications in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, and Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
. African-Americans read The Appeal and Jewish immigrants read the Jewish Weekly.
Convenient transportation and an increasingly dense population contributed to an outbreak of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
in 1898. Soldiers mustering for the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
were encouraged by 40,000 visitors and 500 soldiers took ill from the exposure. By the turn of the century, resentment of the newest immigrants began to take hold. Henry A. Castle wrote that the earliest immigrants, primarily from the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Holland, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
easily reached the standards expected of them. In contrast, by the 1880s, most new immigrants were unskilled workers from southern Europe
Southern Europe
The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...
, eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. He described them as illiterate, unable to be assimilated into the city's culture, and often without families. He said they drained the economy by working here and sending money back to their homelands.
Saint Paul’s historic Landmark Center
Landmark Center (St. Paul)
St. Paul’s historic Landmark Center, completed in 1902, originally served as the United States Post Office, Court House, and Custom House for the state of Minnesota. It was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke, who served as Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1891-92...
, was built in 1902 and originally served as the Federal Court House and Post Office for the Upper Midwest. It stands like a time capsule in beautiful Rice Park. This beautiful building and exciting destination has stood the test of time and evolved into an arts and culture center for Saint Paul. As a courthouse, John Dillinger
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
, Machine Gun Kelly
Machine Gun Kelly
George Kelley Barnes , better known as "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster during the prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most famous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon & businessman Charles Urschel in July 1933 for which he,...
, and Baby Face Nelson
Baby Face Nelson
Lester Joseph Gillis , known under the pseudonym George Nelson, was a bank robber and murderer in the 1930s. Gillis was known as Baby Face Nelson, a name given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature...
were tried in the building.
Railroads
Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad was a shortline railroad in the state of Minnesota in the United States which existed from 1857 to 1879. Founded as the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad, it was the state's first active railroad. It went bankrupt, and the state changed its name to the Saint Paul...
was the beginning of a vast network of rails that would dominate transportation in the Upper Midwest
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the midwest. Although there are no uniformly agreed-upon boundaries, the region is most commonly used to refer to the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and...
. Railroad magnate, James J. Hill
James J. Hill
James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
bought the railroad in 1879 and began to create the profitable Great Northern Railway, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean. By the end of the century, rail lines criss-crossed Saint Paul heading west with pioneers, and returning east with the products of the prairies. Hill displayed his colossal wealth by building the largest home
James J. Hill House
The James J. Hill House, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was built by railroad magnate James J. Hill. The house, completed in 1891, is near the eastern end of Summit Avenue near the Cathedral of Saint Paul. The house, for its time, was very large and was the "showcase of St. Paul" until James J. Hill's...
in the city (36000 square feet (3,344.5 m²)) overlooking the cityscape to the east and the Mississippi River to the south. He also endowed the James J. Hill Reference Library
James J. Hill Reference Library
James J. Hill, The Empire Builder's civic legacy is the in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. This public business research library is open to the public and its resources can be used for free on site...
and Saint Paul Seminary
Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity
The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was founded by Archbishop John Ireland in 1894, to provide ordained priests for the ever-increasing Catholic population of the Upper Midwest. The seminary now sits on the south campus of the University of St. Thomas,...
. The city also bustled with streetcars, owned by the Twin City Rapid Transit Company. By 1886, Carver's Cave
Carver's Cave
Within Indian Mounds Park in St. Paul, Minnesota is a plaque memorializing Carver's Cave. The following is the exact text from the plaque:Repeated attempts were made by French and British Explorers to discover a northwest passage...
had been subsumed by the rail yard that was then located between the river and the steep bluffs. Two hundred fifty trains passed by each day, so if the railroad construction did not obliterate it, the vibration certainly would have.
The state capitol
Cass Gilbert
- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
and modeled after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
—the unsupported marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
is the second largest in the world, after Saint Peter's. At a cost of USD $4.5 million, it opened in 1905. The exterior is made of Georgian
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
marble and Saint Cloud granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. The interior walls are constructed of 20 different types of stone, including Mankato
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. Above the southern (main) entrance to the building is a gilded
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
quadriga
Quadriga
A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...
called the Progress of the State
Progress of the State
Progress of the State is the title of a group of sculptural figures that sits above the south portico, at the main entrance to the state capitol at Saint Paul, in the U.S. state of Minnesota....
which was sculpted by Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
and Edward Clark Potter
Edward Clark Potter
Edward Clark Potter was an American sculptor best known for his equestrian and animal statues. His works include the "Fortitude" lion in front of the New York Public Library.-Early years:...
. It was completed and raised to the roof of the capitol in 1906. On the floor of the rotunda
Rotunda (architecture)
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
under the dome is a large star, representing the "North Star State." Above is a 6 feet (2 m) crystal
Crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...
chandelier. Art-work and gold-leaf are used liberally to decorate the legislative structure. The building's opulence is testimony to the great wealth the state generated at that time.
Commerce and industry
As Minneapolis boomed as a millGristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
ing city, Saint Paul flourished in financing and commerce. Brewers, Anthony Yoerg and Theodore Hamm arrived with their German recipes for beer and found a thirsty population here. Bohn Manufacturing Company, a cabinet-maker, rode the wave as households replaced their ice box
Ice Box
The Ice Box is a 5,010-seat multi-purpose arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was adapted for hockey upon the Lincoln Stars' arrival in 1997. The Ice Box is located at 1800 State Fair Park Drive, on the Nebraska State Fair grounds....
es with refrigerators, becoming Seeger Refrigerator Company, eventually to be bought out by Whirlpool Corporation. In 1906 the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company moved from Duluth
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
to Saint Paul, later to become 3M
3M
3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....
, a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company. Banks financed railroads, mills, and housing for the booming economy and burgeoning population. Grand buildings such as the Germania Bank Building
Germania Bank Building
The Germania Bank Building is an 1889 Richardsonian Romanesque office tower in Saint Paul, Minnesota built of sandstone, designed by J. Walter Stevens and draftsman Harvey Ellis. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
(1889), the Manhattan Building (1889), the Merchants National Bank
Merchants National Bank (Saint Paul)
The Merchants National Bank or Brooks Building is a commercial building in Saint Paul, Minnesota built in 1892 as a financial center.The structure, designed by Edward P. Bassford, uses sandstone in a Richardsonian Romanesque style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
(1892), and Pioneer and Endicott Buildings
Pioneer and Endicott Buildings
The Pioneer and Endicott Buildings are two buildings in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The 1890 Endicott building forms L-shape around 1889 Pioneer building. The Endicott building was designed by Cass Gilbert and James Knox Taylor; the Pioneer building was designed by Solon Spencer Beman in the Romanesque...
(1889–1890) soared in Lowertown, where arriving businessmen and new immigrants couldn't help but be impressed by them. Blocks of Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
storefronts with upper-level apartments sprouted along the city streets. Some surviving ones include the Schornstein Grocery and Saloon
Schornstein Grocery and Saloon
The Schornstein Grocery and Saloon is a commercial/residential building in Saint Paul, Minnesota; it was built in 1884 for $5,000 in the French Second Empire style, this Dayton's Bluff business was designed by architect Augustus F. Gauger . It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
(1884), the Walsh Building
Walsh Building
The Walsh Building in Saint Paul, Minnesota was designed by Edward Payson Bassford, in 1888. The Romanesque building has been used as a residence, school, and manufacturing facility. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
(1888), the Rochat-Louise-Sauerwein Block
Rochat-Louise-Sauerwein Block
The Rochat-Louise-Sauerwein Block are a group of buildings that comprise one of the few remaining intact Victorian commercial blocks in Saint Paul, Minnesota; built 1885-1895 by Castner, Hermann Kretz, and Edward P. Bassford. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
(1885–1895), and the Otto W. Rohland Building
Otto W. Rohland Building
The Otto W. Rohland Building was a grocery store and meat market in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Rohland immigrated from Germany in 1867; this Victorian shop/residential building was built in 1891 and served as Rohland's grocery store and meat market into the 1950s; one source says the market was at 461...
(1891). With wealth and leisure time, cultural institutions emerged, such as the Shubert Theatre
Fitzgerald Theater
The Fitzgerald Theater is the oldest existing stage venue in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the home of American Public Media's A Prairie Home Companion. It was one of many theaters built by the Shubert Theatre Corporation, and was initially named the Sam S. Shubert Theater...
now Fitzgerald Theater. Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
funded three libraries in the city: the Saint Anthony Park
St. Anthony Park Branch Library
The St. Anthony Park Branch Library is a branch of the St. Paul Public Library. A Carnegie library built in 1917, it is on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1999 a rotunda was built on to the back of the building. This new section houses the branch’s children’s collection, one of the...
, Riverview
Riverview Branch Library
The Riverview Branch Library is a 1916 Beaux Arts library building designed by Cameron and Company; it is one of three Carnegie Libraries in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is located in the West Side neighborhood. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
, and Arlington Hills
Arlington Hills Library
The Arlington Hills Library is a 1916 Beaux Arts library building designed by Cameron and Company. It is one of three Carnegie Libraries in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
libraries, while James J. Hill
James J. Hill
James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
endowed the Saint Paul Public Library/James J. Hill Reference Library
James J. Hill Reference Library
James J. Hill, The Empire Builder's civic legacy is the in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. This public business research library is open to the public and its resources can be used for free on site...
. In 1924 the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
opened the Twin Cities Assembly Plant
Twin Cities Assembly Plant
Ford Motor Company's Twin Cities Assembly Plant is located next to the Mississippi River in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest Ford plant still in operation, having been first built in 1924. Today, the plant manufactures the Ford Ranger pickup...
; the site is located on the Mississippi River adjacent to a company-owned dam, which generates hydroelectric power. Somewhat unique to this site are the sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
tunnels beneath the 125 acre (0.5058575 km²) factory. Ford mined silica to make glass for the automobiles produced here, leaving an extensive tunnel system deep into the river-side bluffs. The plant was converted to produce armored vehicles during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Higher education
Higher education has played a prominent part in the city's history.
Hamline University
-Red Wing location :Hamline was named in honor of Leonidas Lent Hamline, a bishop of the Methodist Church whose interest in the frontier led him to donate $25,000 toward the building of an institution of higher learning in what was then the territory of Minnesota. Today, a statue of Bishop Hamline...
(1854) Hamline was founded and named after Methodist Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline
Leonidas Lent Hamline
Leonidas Lent Hamline was an American Methodist Episcopal bishop and a lawyer. He is the eponym of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and also of Hamline Avenue and Hamline United Methodist Church, also in St. Paul.Hamline studied for the ministry, but afterward studied law, and practiced...
, who provided USD $25,000 of his own money to launch the school. The university opened in Red Wing, Minnesota
Red Wing, Minnesota
Red Wing is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mississippi River. The population was 16,459 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Goodhue County....
, with the premise that the school would eventually move to Saint Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
. A statue of the bishop, sculpted by the late professor of art Michael Price, stands on campus. In 1869, the university shut down its operations after enrollment dropped drastically due to the Civil War. The first building at the Red Wing site was torn down in 1872. A new building opened in 1880 in Saint Paul's Midway neighborhood housing 113 students. The building burned in 1883, and the following year, a new building was developed: Old Main, Hamline's oldest remaining building.
In 1917, Hamline actively responded to the call of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
by incorporating an Army Training Corps at the university. More buildings developed after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. By 1928, Hamline consisted of Old Main (classrooms and administration), Manor House (women's residence hall), a Methodist church, and Goheen Hall (men's residence hall). Hamline faced tough challenges during the U.S. economic depression of the early 1930s. After World War II, Hamline's choir and theater department became a musical reference in Minnesota. The choir would eventually become nationally renowned, and would travel overseas. By 1950, enrollment surpassed 1000 students, and the board of directors decided on further development. New developments included two new residential halls (Sorin and Drew halls), a cultural center (Bush Student Center), a new carpentry center (VanHemert Hall) a new arts center, and a new science center (Drew Hall of Science). All of these projects were completed in the mid 1960s.
Macalester College
Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a campus in a historic residential neighborhood...
(1885) had its beginnings due to the efforts of the Reverend Dr. Edward Duffield Neill
Edward Duffield Neill
Edward Duffield Neill was an American author and educator.Neill was born in Philadelphia. After studying at the University of Pennsylvania for some time, he enrolled at Amherst College and graduated from Amherst in 1842, then studied theology at Andover.After ordination as a Presbyterian minister,...
, who had founded two schools in Saint Paul and nearby Minneapolis which were named after M.W. Baldwin, a locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
builder and friend of Neill's. With the intention of turning his Saint Paul Baldwin School into a college, Neill turned to Charles Macalester, a businessman from Philadelphia, for sponsorship. Macalester donated a building near Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway after it partially collapsed in 1869...
, and the college was chartered in 1874. The college moved to its present location in 1885 after building an endowment and seeking the help of the Presbyterian Church. The College first admitted women in 1893, and despite being affiliated with a religious institution, remained open to students of other faiths.
Macalester was largely carried through financial hardship and brought to prominence by Dr. James Wallace, father of DeWitt Wallace
DeWitt Wallace
DeWitt Wallace , also known as William Roy was a United States magazine publisher. He co-founded Reader's Digest with his wife Lila Wallace and published the first issue in 1922.Born in St...
. Wallace was acting president of the college from 1894 to 1900, president from 1900 to 1906, and professor until just before his death in 1939. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the college developed a reputation for internationalism
Internationalism (politics)
Internationalism is a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all...
under the presidency of Charles Turck (later the namesake of Turck Hall), who recruited overseas and created a more diverse student body. Macalester's positive reputation grew during the 1960s, when it consistently drew many National Merit Scholars, enough to come in at the country's top ten. During this time the college also benefitted greatly from DeWitt Wallace's success with Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
. Macalester continued to develop into the 1990s, building its endowment and adding new facilities and equipment.
University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...
(1885) began as an all-male, Catholic seminary. John Ireland
John Ireland (archbishop)
John Ireland was the third bishop and first archbishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota . He became both a religious as well as civic leader in Saint Paul during the turn of the century...
, archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by the prelature of an archbishop which administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis...
started the Saint Thomas Aquinas seminary, which became a liberal arts college
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
in 1894. A gift from local railroad tycoon James J. Hill
James J. Hill
James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
provided funds to establish the Saint Paul Seminary apart from the college. The College of Saint Thomas became a military-based school for undergraduates in 1906 and awarded its first academic degrees in 1910. Before that, the school gave out two-year diplomas in commercial and classical programs. In 1915, the college and Saint Thomas Military Academy for high school students split into two institutions and in 1965 the academy moved to Mendota Heights, Minnesota
Mendota Heights, Minnesota
At the 2000 census, there were 11,434 people, 4,178 households and 3,237 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,222.2 per square mile . There were 4,252 housing units at an average density of 454.5 per square mile...
. The college later dropped its military distinction in 1922.
From the late 1920s through the mid-1930s, the Holy Cross Fathers, who run the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, controlled the college's administration. The diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
called those priests in to help with the school's financial problems; they were known as a crisis intervention team of sorts for parochial schools of that time. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, St. Thomas served as a training base for naval officers, which kept the school open when men who would have attended college were fighting in the war. After the war, in 1948, the college established 'Tom Town' on the eastern end of the lower quadrant, which is currently home to the O'Shaughnessey-Frey Library. Tom Town consisted of white, barrack-like housing units for faculty, students and their families. The units helped to meet housing demand after WWII.
Concordia University (1893) was founded by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...
. It is part of the 10 member Concordia University System
Concordia University System
The Concordia University System is an organization of ten colleges and universities throughout the United States operated by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod . All ten institutions are named "Concordia" and all include professional church work programs as part of their curricula. The CUS was...
. It was founded to provide a Christian learning environment to high school students planning to go into professional ministries with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Current enrollment is about 2,800.
The first predecessor of William Mitchell College of Law
William Mitchell College of Law
William Mitchell College of Law, or WMCL, is a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Accredited by the American Bar Association , it offers full and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor degree....
(1900) was founded by five prominent St. Paulites (Hiram F. Stevens
Hiram F. Stevens
Hiram Fairchild Stevens was an American lawyer, politician, and academic from Minnesota. He was one of the five co-founders of William Mitchell College of Law and a charter member of the American Bar Association....
, Ambrose Tighe
Ambrose Tighe
Ambrose Tighe was an American lawyer, politician, and academic from Minnesota. He was one of the five co-founders of William Mitchell College of Law.-Early life:...
, Moses Clapp, Thomas D. O'Brien
Thomas D. O'Brien
Thomas D. O'Brien was an American lawyer, judge, and academic from Minnesota. He was one of the five co-founders of William Mitchell College of Law and a justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court....
, and Clarence Halbert). St. Paulites Warren E. Burger
Warren E. Burger
Warren Earl Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger had conservative leanings, the U.S...
and John B. Sanborn, Jr.
John B. Sanborn, Jr.
John Benjamin Sanborn, Jr. was a lawyer, politician, and United States federal judge from the state of Minnesota. His record of public service spanned more than fifty years.-Early life and education:...
received their law degrees from William Mitchell, while fellow native Harry Blackmun
Harry Blackmun
Harold Andrew Blackmun was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 until 1994. He is best known as the author of Roe v. Wade.- Early years and professional career :...
taught at the school prior to his judicial service.
The Saint Paul campus of the St. Catherine University
St. Catherine University
is a private university in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan. It was established first as a women's junior college in 1966 and became a women's four-year university in 1988. It became a co-educational university in 2004.-External links:*...
(1905) was founded by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet. It was named for Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
.
Luther Seminary
Luther Seminary
Luther Seminary is the largest seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America . Located in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of St...
(1917) (ELCA
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
) was initially formed through the merger of three institutions in 1917 in conjunction with the merger of three Norwegian Lutheran Churches to create what was later named the Evangelical Lutheran Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church (United States)
The Evangelical Lutheran Church or ELC was formed in 1917 as the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America .-Background:The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was formed by merger of the Hauge Synod , the Norwegian Synod , and the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America...
. The ELC became part of the ALC in 1960.
Religion
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
John Ireland
John Ireland (archbishop)
John Ireland was the third bishop and first archbishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota . He became both a religious as well as civic leader in Saint Paul during the turn of the century...
in 1904. At Ireland's direction, the archdiocese commissioned well-known French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Beaux-Arts architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Emmanuel Louis Masqueray
Emmanuel Louis Masqueray
Emmanuel Louis Masqueray was a Franco-American preeminent figure in the history of American architecture, both as a gifted designer of landmark buildings and as an influential teacher of the profession of architecture.-Biography:...
, who was also the chief architect of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and construction began in 1906. Masqueray's open design allows visitors unobstructed views of the altar and pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
. The German, French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, and Polish Catholics had earlier calved from the more prominent Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
parish forming the Church of the Assumption, the Church of Saint Louis King of France, and the Church of Saint Casimer (and Saint Adalbert's Church), respectively. The German-Catholic Parish at the Church of the Assumption spun off several additional German Parishes: Sacred Heart (1881), Saint Francis de Sales (1884), Saint Matthew (1886), the Saint Agnes (1887), and Saint Bernard (1890). Our Lady of Guadalupe Church formed in the early 1930s to serve the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-speaking immigrants in West Saint Paul.
Not to be eclipsed by the Catholic factions, the Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
organized and built the first Central Presbyterian Church
Central Presbyterian Church (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Central Presbyterian Church is a church in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. The congregation was founded in 1852 and built its first building in 1854, which was later enlarged during the 1870s. The rapidly growing congregation outgrew the building, so they built a new church building in 1889...
building in 1854, which was later enlarged during the 1870s. The rapidly growing congregation outgrew the building, so they built a new church in 1889. The building, an example of Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
architecture, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. The First Baptist Church of Saint Paul
First Baptist Church of Saint Paul
The First Baptist Church of St. Paul is an historic church building in Saint Paul, Minnesota. When it opened on May 31, 1875, it was the largest and most costly church in Saint Paul, described in the Pioneer Press as "the finest piece of architecture west of Chicago". It is listed on the National...
built their building in 1875, and it was the largest and most costly church in Saint Paul, described in the Pioneer Press as "the finest piece of architecture west of Chicago." In 1909 Arlington Hill Lutheran Church was opened on Saint Paul's East Side, ministering in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, rather than the typical Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
of that time in that neighborhood.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
congregation in Saint Paul. The congregation was founded on November 15, 1866 by Reverend Robert Hickman and a group of escaped slaves from Boone County, Missouri
Boone County, Missouri
Boone County is a county centrally located in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the eighth most populous county in Missouri. In 2010, the population was 162,642. Its county seat, Columbia, is the fifth largest city in Missouri and the anchor city of the Columbia Metropolitan Area.-History:Boone...
. They were smuggled up the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
on the steamer War Eagle with the help of Union Soldiers
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
and the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
. By 1900 this group had created four additional black churches in the city.
Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
was prominent in Saint Paul from its earliest times; in 1856, eight German-Jewish merchants founded Mount Zion Temple. They were accepted in the community, both because they were Germans and because they were among the first residents of the frontier town. By 1900, the Jewish population in the city reached 5000, but many of the more recent immigrants were from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and they sometimes clashed with the more established German Jews. Today, seven synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s dot Saint Paul.
West Side
Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was a treaty signed on July 23, 1851, between the United States government and Sioux Indian bands in Minnesota Territory by which the Sioux ceded territory. The treaty was instigated by Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of Minnesota Territory, and Luke Lea,...
, the West Side belonged to the Dakota people, and hence unavailable for settlement. After the 1851 treaty, it was available, but due to frequent flooding, prior to 1880, few people lived on the "flats." French-Canadians, Irish, and especially Germans lived on the banks and bluffs out of the flood zone; in 1874, the West Side was annexed by the city of Saint Paul. In 1882 a trainload of 200 Eastern European Jews arrived, having fled genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
in their homelands. Having no money, they initially set up tents on the lowlands on the West Side, Saint Paul. The tents gradually gave way to small houses and over the subsequent three decades, more refugees joined them, coming from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Synagogues and a Hebrew school were built. The neighborhood was bound by geography, with the river forming the west, north, and east boundaries and the bluffs demarking the southern one. Elevation divided the area economically and ethnically. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the flats began to be populated by Mexican-Americans who came to Minnesota to work in meat packing plants and the sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
fields, and settled there permanently. The Neighborhood House, a community support resource for social services was founded by the eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an Jews, and became a haven for the Mexican immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s. The organization provided services such as English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, sewing, and cooking classes, and employment referrals. As the Jewish residents built wealth and moved to higher ground, they rented their modest houses on the lowlands to the Mexican immigrants. The African-American architect, Clarence W. Wigington
Clarence W. Wigington
Clarence Wesley "Cap" Wigington was an African-American architect who grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. After winning three first prizes in charcoal, pencil, and pen and ink at an art competition during the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in 1899, Wigington went on to become a renowned architect across...
(1883–1967) designed several structures in the city, including the Harriet Island Pavilion
Harriet Island Pavilion
The Harriet Island Pavilion, currently known as the Clarence W. Wigington Pavilion, is a park pavilion on Harriet Island just across the Mississippi River from downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was designed by Clarence W. Wigington, the nation's first black municipal architect, and renamed for...
. Little is left of the historical lowlands, as in the early 1960s, the entire neighborhood was bulldozed for urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
, destroying most of the historic structures on the lower West Side; but many of the homes of the wealthier residents on the high bluffs survive, including the Heimbach House
Edward and Elizabeth Heimbach House and Carriage House
The Edward and Elizabeth Heimbach House and Carriage House is an 1890 high Victorian style two story, brick house in Saint Paul, Minnesota in the West Side neighborhood; the house has an octagonal tower and dome and a detached carriage house...
and the Anthony Yoerg House
Anthony Yoerg, Sr. House
The Anthony Yoerg Sr. House was the home of Anthony Yoerg , a Bavarian immigrant who constructed Minnesota's first brewery; the house is located high on the bluffs and the brewery was located just below the house on the lowlands in Saint Paul, Minnesota's West Side neighborhood. It is listed on...
.
1904 tornado
On August 20, 1904, Saint Paul and much of the Twin Cities area was struck by damaging thunderstormThunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
s and tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es. In Saint Paul, hundreds of buildings were damaged or destroyed causing USD $1.78 million in damages in the city. The A section of the 180 feet (55 m) High Bridge over the Mississippi River was blown down, and parts of it landed in homes on the flats under the bridge. Three people were killed and more than 50 injured in the downtown area, most of whom were at the Tivoli Concert Hall and the (Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
) Empire Theater near the Wabasha Street Bridge
Wabasha Street Bridge
The previous bridge was an iron cantilever deck-truss bridge, which was an advanced engineering feat at the time. That bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989...
. The German-American Bank building and Pioneer Press building both sustained heavy damage, with each losing most of their upper floor windows. Electrical lines were lost, cutting off communication to the city and complicating the relief efforts.
Before it was torn from its mountings, the U.S. Weather Bureau anemometer
Anemometer
An anemometer is a device for measuring wind speed, and is a common weather station instrument. The term is derived from the Greek word anemos, meaning wind, and is used to describe any airspeed measurement instrument used in meteorology or aerodynamics...
atop the Pioneer Press building's roof in Saint Paul recorded a one minute sustained wind speed measurement of 110 miles per hour (177 km/h) with a gust to 180 miles per hour (290 km/h). Each of those are Minnesota records that still stand today. Even though the measured wind gust could have been strong enough to classify as an F3
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
tornado, it is unknown whether the damage was caused by a tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
or a straight line wind
Microburst
A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes, which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts...
s because a condensation funnel was never observed.
Twentieth century
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
, Polish, Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
and Hmong
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
immigrants. The Czech-Slovak Protective Society (C.S.P.S.
Czech-Slovak Protective Society
The Czech-Slovak Protective Society and the Czecho Slovakian Association are or were organizations supporting the welfare of Czech and Slovak immigrants to the United States....
) Hall was built to provide community to the Czech-Slovak
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
population while the 1923 Payne Avenue State Bank
Payne Avenue State Bank
The Payne Avenue State Bank was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by W. L. Alban in 1923. Located in a predominantly new immigrant area of Saint Paul, Minnesota, the bank initially served Irish, Swedish, German, and Italian immigrants in Saint Paul's East Side neighborhood. The formidable brick...
served Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n, German, Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
, and other European settlers who lived in the East Side neighborhood. World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
brought a violent wave of anti-German sentiment to the city. The Saint Paul Public Schools
Saint Paul Public Schools
Saint Paul Public Schools is a school district that covers all of the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota.Saint Paul supports a robust network of publicly-funded primary and secondary schools....
stopped teaching he German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(which had been standard fare), German Christians congregations experienced harassment from the Minnesota National Guard
Minnesota National Guard
The Minnesota National Guard is composed of approximately 14,000 soldiers of the Minnesota Army National Guard and Airmen of the Minnesota Air National Guard, serving in 63 communities across the state. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal...
, the 18 feet (5 m) statue of "Germania" was removed from the Germania Life Insurance Company building, sauerkraut
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut , directly translated from German: "sour cabbage", is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid...
was temporarily renamed "Liberty Cabbage," and hamburger
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
s were dubbed Salisbury Steak
Salisbury steak
Salisbury steak is a dish made from a blend of minced beef and other ingredients, which is shaped to resemble a steak, and usually is served with gravy / brown sauce. Hamburger steak is a similar product, but differs in ingredients....
.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
brought labor shortages and new opportunities for African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s in the city. The Twin City Ordnance Plant in nearby New Brighton
New Brighton, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,206 people, 9,013 households, and 5,903 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,343.9 people per square mile . There were 9,121 housing units at an average density of 1,373.5 per square mile...
employed as many as 20% of the black adults in the area. After the war the G.I. Bill provided unprecedented education and professional training to blacks in the city. Tragically, Rondo Street, once the heart of the African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
middle class in the city was destroyed, when the neighborhood was razed to make way for Interstate 94
Interstate 94 in Minnesota
In the U.S. state of Minnesota, Interstate 94 runs east–west through the central portion of the state. The route connects the cities of Moorhead, Fergus Falls, Alexandria, St...
. According to Roy Wilkins
Roy Wilkins
Roy Wilkins was a prominent civil rights activist in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s. Wilkins' most notable role was in his leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ....
, Rondo Street had been one of the city's best locations, with tree-lined streets and abundant music, emanating from Victrolas, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, and player piano
Player piano
A player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in...
s. Like many U.S. cities, Saint Paul endured rioting in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King. The unrest stemmed out of despair and protests against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. The outcome was state legislation and private sector programs designed to combat racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
.
Recent history
Upper Mississippi River
The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of Cairo, Illinois, United States. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river flows approximately 2000 kilometers to Cairo, where it is joined by the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi...
was completed in the 1950s, flooding on the West Side flats has become a rarity, and quality housing for low- and middle-income families has been built there. Much of the activity is now geared toward preserving Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
traditions, with programs to celebrate music, ballet, and history of the Mexican immigrants in Saint Paul. The West Side bustles each year to celebrate Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is a holiday held on May 5. It is celebrated nationwide in the United States and regionally in Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla, where the holiday is called El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla...
, El Grito
El grito
El grito is an Argentine novel, written by Florencia Abbate on her debut. It was first published in 2004.- Summary :It's a short novel that takes place at the end of 2001 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the middle of the economic meltdown that brought the country to the brink of social disintegration...
, and Día de la Independencia
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
.
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
immigrants from Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
. America's involvement in the war in Vietnam created millions of refugees from Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. Many had aided the opposition forces; others were displaced as regimes changed. With extraordinary encouragement from Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
, Saint Paul and Minneapolis received large numbers of these new immigrants between 1976 and the present, as they found their way to Minnesota. As with each ethnic group in Saint Paul's history, the newest immigrants speak their native languages, live in somewhat segregated communities, and start out with few monetary assets.
The city continues to be a financial center with the headquarters for The Travelers Companies. Many of the large buildings in Lowertown, such as the Commerce Building and the Finch, Vanslyck, and McConville Dry Goods Company Building
Finch, Vanslyck, and McConville Dry Goods Company Building
The Finch, Vanslyck and McConville Dry Goods Company Building is a classical revival industrial building designed by James E. Denson, built by George Grant Construction Company, in 1911 and 1923; it is part of Lowertown Historic District in Saint Paul, Minnesota; it fronts Mears Park and is...
are residential condominiums and apartments.
Saint Paul's Xcel Center was chosen to host the Republican National Convention
2008 Republican National Convention
The United States 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008...
in 2008. For the first week in September, the city was flush with delegates, protestors, lobbyists, and law enforcement agents.
See also
- History of MinnesotaHistory of MinnesotaThe history of the U.S. state of Minnesota is shaped by its original Native American residents, European exploration and settlement, and the emergence of industries made possible by the state's natural resources. Minnesota achieved prominence through fur trading, logging, and farming, and later...
- History of Minneapolis
- List of Registered Historic Places in Ramsey County, Minnesota