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Ramsey County History – Fall 1974: “The 1850s Shaping of St. Paul”

Virginia Brainerd Kunz

The 1850s Shaping of St. Paul Author: Virginia Brainard Kunz An 1856 photo of a dogsled team beneath the Summit Avenue bluff displays “the disparity in housing and jumbled placement of buildings” that characterized the city at the time. Minnesota Pioneer editor James Goodhue advocated replatting the whole mess…

Ramsey County History – Fall 1978: “James Henry Skinner’s Mansion Reflects Summit Avenue in Its Prime”

Caroline Harney

James Henry Skinner’s Mansion Reflects Summit Avenue in Its Prime Author: Caroline Harney A history and description of the house at 385 Portland Avenue, St. Paul, designed by Clarence H. Johnston Sr. The design of the mansion “combines Georgian and neo-classical styles,” and the construction is all brick. “The…

Ramsey County History – Spring/Summer 1975: “Fences”

Lansing Shepard

Fences Author: Lansing Shepard An essay on fences, followed by a two-page photo essay (11 images, historical and contemporary) of fences and fence-building. PDF of Shepard article…

Ramsey County History – Fall 1974: “John Ayd’s Grist Mill and Reserve Township History”

Donald Empson

John Ayd’s Grist Mill and Reserve Township History Author: Donald Empson Ayd Mill Road takes its name from John Ayd, a German immigrant, who bought 160 acres bounded by present-day Lexington, Victoria, St. Clair, and Randolph avenues in 1854. There in 1860 he built the only grist mill and…

Ramsey County History – Spring 1972: “Old Federal Courts Building—Beautiful, Unique—Its Style of Architecture Faces Extinction”

Eileen Michels

Old Federal Courts Building—Beautiful, Unique—Its Style of Architecture Faces Extinction Author: Eileen Michels From 1901 to 1967, all federal offices in St. Paul were in this building. Now mostly empty, the building is in danger, and with it, “a unique local example of a style of architecture that is…

Ramsey County History – Spring 1971: “Irvine Park and Its Faded but Spendid Mansions”

Ramsey County Historical Society

Irvine Park and Its Faded but Splendid Mansions A two-page photo essay on Irvine Park. PDF of Irvine Park…

Ramsey County History – Fall 1969: “Norman Kittson and the Fur Trade”

Clarence W. Rife and Holly Walters

Norman Kittson and the Fur Trade Authors: Clarence W. Rife and Holly Walters Few Minnesota pioneers painted on a bigger canvas than Norman Kittson (1814–1888). He traded furs around Fort Snelling in the 1830s, then he moved farther and farther north and west, to Pembina. He battled…

Ramsey County History – Fall 1968: “Bernheimer Block Is Gone But Memories Linger On”

Ramsey County Historical Society

Bernheimer Block Is Gone But Memories Linger On The Bernheimer Block, on East Third Street (now Kellogg Boulevard) at the corner with Minnesota, was built in 1859. It was the site of many noteworthy events: the first Civil War enlistments; the first velocipede demonstrations; one of the first…

Ramsey County History – Spring 1968: “In North St. Paul: Boom, Boom, Bust, Come-back!”

Edward J. Lettermann

In North St. Paul: Boom, Boom, Bust, Come-back! Author: Edward J. Lettermann North St. Paul was an early planned community, first residential, then industrial. Just as industrial development seemed to be taking hold, the Panic of 1893 came along. Still, developer of North St. Paul (and historian)…