Ramsey County History – Fall 1973: “Memories of Early St. Paul: Perilous Escape from Fire down Eighty-Foot Bluff”

Memories of Early St. Paul: Perilous Escape from Fire down Eighty-Foot Bluff
Authors: Mrs. George R. Becker with George A. Rea

The author’s father and uncle, August and Charles Mueller, were working in a downtown tailor shop when fire broke out on May 17, 1870. To save themselves they had to jump (or let themselves fall) out the back windows and down the 80-foot riverside bluff. Both were severely injured but survived, though with permanent disabilities. Neither could return to tailoring. August and Louise Albrecht Mueller operated Mueller’s Fancy Goods Store downtown for 20 years. The author grew up in the downtown neighborhood. She describes the neighborhood, the uses for “fancy work,” the courting customs, and school fashions of the time.
PDF of Becker & Rea article