Catalog
Ramsey County History – Fall 1974: “Promoters Waxed Lyrical in “Selling” St Paul”
Virginia Brainard KunzPromoters Waxed Lyrical in “Selling” St Paul Author: Virginia Brainard Kunz A publication entitled The Minnesota Year Book for 1853, published in St. Paul, offered its readers information on a host of subjects. Among them were: the makeup of the Territorial Legislature and its salient acts, including a Prohibition…
Ramsey County History – Fall 1974: “The 1850s Shaping of St. Paul”
Virginia Brainerd KunzThe 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 – Spring/Summer 1977: “The Plowing of America: Early Farming Around St. Paul”
Rodney C. LoehrThe Plowing of America: Early Farming Around St. Paul Author: Rodney C. Loehr An anecdotal piece: a quick summary of early settlement in St. Paul and how people acquired farmland (and the money to buy it.); a description of typical frontier dwellings; the crops grown; dealing with the chronic…
Ramsey County History – Spring/Summer 1975: “How St. Paul Came to Lose the “Red River War””
Dennis HoffaHow St. Paul Came to Lose the “Red River War” Author: Dennis Hoffa The Selkirk or Red River Colony, later Winnipeg, so far from St. Paul, was a vital source of commerce and wealth in the city’s first few decades. Starting in 1844, the ox carts trundled south laden…
Ramsey County History – Fall 1974: “John Ayd’s Grist Mill and Reserve Township History”
Donald EmpsonJohn 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 – Fall 1974: “The Necessities of Life, Available Early on the Frontier”
Kevin GalvinThe Necessities of Life, Available Early on the Frontier Author: Kevin Galvin Six businesses operating downtown in 1859 were still in actively running in 1974. The author traces their histories. Philip Fabel began selling handmade shoes in 1856. His descendants still run the store. Albrecht Furs began in 1855,…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1974: “Minnesota’s Wandering State Fair and How It Settled in St. Paul”
Gordon HayesMinnesota’s Wandering State Fair and How It Settled in St. Paul Author: Gordon Hayes People connived and schemed to get and keep the Minnesota State Fair for over 30 years from 1854 to 1885. The outcome represented a rare win for St. Paul in its rivalry with Minneapolis. The…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1974: “Explorers, Traders, Farmers: The Early History of St. Paul”
Anne CowieExplorers, Traders, Farmers: The Early History of St. Paul Author: Anne Cowie The basic geology of the river gorge, the early explorers, Pike’s purchase, Fort Snelling, the Selkirk refugees, Pig’s Eye and the expulsions from Fort Snelling, Vetal Guerin, Abraham Perry, Louis Robert, Norman Kittson, Henry Jackson, Lucien Galtier,…
Ramsey County History – Fall 1973: “Highland–Groveland–Macalester Park: The Old Reserve Township”
Donald EmpsonHighland–Groveland–Macalester Park: The Old Reserve Township Author: Donald Empson Settlement and development of the southwest corner of the city, bounded by Marshall Avenue on the north, Dale Street on the east, and the Mississippi everywhere else. The first permanent settler was William Finn in 1848. Formal land sales…