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Confluence: A History of Fort Snelling

Reviewer: Matthew W. Wright

2022 Minnesota Book Award Winner Confluence: A History of Fort Snelling Hampton Smith St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2021 256 pages; hardcover; $34.95 The past six years have seen the publication of two new histories of Fort Snelling…

A Life on the Middle West’s Never-Ending Frontier

Reviewer: Meredith Cummings

A Life on the Middle West’s Never-Ending Frontier Willard L. “Sandy” Boyd Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2019 394 pages; hard cover; 22 b&w photos; $35 A Life on the Middle West’s Never Ending Frontier is a well-written and sometimes humorous and self-deprecating memoir by St. Paul native…

Ramsey County History – Spring 2009: “Minnesota Politics and Irish Identity: Five Sons of Erin at the State Capitol”

John W. Milton

Minnesota Politics and Irish Identity: Five Sons of Erin at the State Capitol Author: John W. Milton The author, a former state senator, researched the five men of Irish extraction who are honored in the State Capitol. The first is “The Senator: Nicholas David Coleman (1925–1981),” a St. Paulite…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2009: “Courthouse Sculptor: Lee Lawrie”

Paul D. Nelson

Courthouse Sculptor: Lee Lawrie Author: Paul D. Nelson A look at renowned sculptor Lee Lawrie (1887–1963), who designed the exterior artwork for the New York Rockefeller Center and the St. Paul City Hall and County Courthouse. His specialty was architectural sculpture or, so to speak, carving on buildings. Lawrie…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2005: “Ramsey County Historical Society’s Collection of Building Permits and the Story of the DeLoop Parking Ramp”

Robert F. Garland

Ramsey County Historical Society’s Collection of Building Permits and the Story of the DeLoop Parking Ramp Author: Robert F. Garland St. Paul began to require building permits in 1883. This is the story of one downtown property, the DeLoop Parking Ramp, which the author researched using these permits, now…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2004: “From Farm to Florence: The Gifted Keating Sisters and the Mystery of Their Lost Paintings”

Margaret M. Marrinan

From Farm to Florence: The Gifted Keating Sisters and the Mystery of Their Lost Paintings Author: Margaret M. Marrinan This article centers on two Irish farm girls, Anysia and Sophia Keating who became nuns and developed into prolific painters. The mystery had to do with a search for information…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2004: “A Century Ago: Hundreds of Thousands Greet the Liberty Bell the Day It Came to Town”

Susan C. Dowd

A Century Ago: Hundreds of Thousands Greet the Liberty Bell the Day It Came to Town Author: Susan C. Dowd The Liberty Bell, with its twenty-four-inch-long crack, came to St. Paul on June 6, 1904. The nation’s “most cherished relic” was on its way from Philadelphia to St. Louis…

Ramsey County History – Fall 2002: “St. Gaudens’ New York Eagle: Rescue and Restoration of St. Paul’s First Outdoor Sculpture, Icon of Its Past”

Christine Podas-Larson

St. Gaudens’ New York Eagle: Rescue and Restoration of St. Paul’s First Outdoor Sculpture, Icon of Its Past Author: Christine Podas-Larson The New York Eagle is one of St. Paul’s most famed outdoor sculptures. It became a fixture in downtown in 1887 when the New York Life Insurance Company…

Ramsey County History – Spring 1964: “Sod Shanty on the Prairie: Story of a Pioneer Farmer”

William L. Cavert

Sod Shanty on the Prairie: Story of a Pioneer Farmer Author: William L. Cavert A brief recounting of some basic facts about the Gibbs family and their house and farm. Heman and Jane Gibbs came to St. Paul in April 1849 and quickly moved onto the 160 acres in…