Ramsey County History – Winter 2018: “Another Siberia, Unfit for Human Habitation: Saint Paul’s Super Ice Palaces 1886, 1887, 1888”

Another Siberia, Unfit for Human Habitation: Saint Paul’s Super Ice Palaces 1886, 1887, 1888
Author: Bob Olsen

When a New York newspaper correspondent criticized St. Paul in 1885 as “another Siberia, unfit for human habitation,” local boosters banded together and initiated St. Paul’s first Winter Carnival in February 1886 to glorify all the outdoor activities that are possible in Minnesota’s cold climate. Architect Charles E. Joy inspired the leaders of that first Winter Carnival to build an impressive ice palace based on a Canadian design. This article focuses on the ice palaces of 1886, 1887, and 1888, all of which had different designs, impressive size, and architectural complexity. Joy designed the 1887 and 1888 ice palaces. The article includes sidebars that identify some of the more important ice palaces of subsequent Winter Carnivals; prominent architects who designed ice palaces; and a feature on the 2018 Ecolab Ice Palace.
PDF of Olsen article