Ramsey County History – Winter 1997: “Rats, Politicians, Librarians: The Untold Stories of the Old St. Francis Hotel and the Rich Historical Legacy of Seventh Place”

Rats, Politicians, Librarians: The Untold Stories of the Old St. Francis Hotel and the Rich Historical Legacy of Seventh Place

Author: Paul R. Gold

Seventh Place—old West Seventh Street between Wabasha and St. Peter—has been many things over the years. It was Vetal Guerin’s farmland, the site of the first city market and city hall, temporary home to state government, the St. Paul Public Library, and the St. Francis Hotel (1916–1955.) Many famous people stayed at the hotel—Charles Chaplin, Harry Houdini, Cab Calloway, and Babe Ruth—to name just a few. The block was also an entertainment center, with the Orpheum and Riviera theaters. This article evokes the vanished time when downtown flourished.

PDF of Gold article