Catalog
Ramsey County History – Summer 2002: “Singles, Doubles and Pairs, Fours and Quads—Life on the Mississippi: The 132 Years of the Minnesota Boat Club and Its Rich History”
Jim MillerSingles, Doubles and Pairs, Fours and Quads—Life on the Mississippi: The 132 Years of the Minnesota Boat Club and Its Rich History Author: Jim Miller A history of the Minnesota Boat Club from its 1870 founding to the present. It began as a sporting and social club for well-to-do…
Ramsey County History – Summer 2002: “The Road to the Selby Tunnel, Or How to Make It Up the St. Anthony Hill”
Virginia Brainard KunzThe Road to the Selby Tunnel, Or How to Make It Up the St. Anthony Hill Author: Virginia Brainard Kunz St. Paul’s hills posed a challenge for the street railways of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This article describes the earliest days of horsecars, the problem of…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2002: “The Fire Insurance Patrol: Gone But Not Forgotten”
John S. SonnenThe Fire Insurance Patrol: Gone But Not Forgotten Author: John S. Sonnen The Fire Insurance Patrol, a private organization incorporated in 1895, was financed by small assessments on fire insurance policies. When a fire broke out, the patrol rushed to the conflagration, usually getting there before the fire department…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2002: “Doing History in Ramsey County and St. Paul: A Review Essay”
John M. LindleyDoing History in Ramsey County and St. Paul: A Review Essay Author: John M. Lindley Like the late nineteenth century spate of local history books about St. Paul, the author comments on a similar recent flourishing of St. Paul history and gives several short summaries of the works. Among…
Ramsey County History – Fall 1998: “Banker and Philanthropist Richard C. Lilly: The Man Who Led Two Lives”
Virginia Brainard KunzBanker and Philanthropist Richard C. Lilly: The Man Who Led Two Lives Author: Virginia Brainard Kunz Richard Lilly began work on a road crew at age fifteen, after his father was disabled in an accident. By age thirty-three, in 1918, he was president of St. Paul’s second-largest bank. In 1929,…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1998: “Westminster Junction and Its Tunnels—An 1880s ‘Highway Intersection’ for the Railroads”
Andrew J. SchmidtWestminster Junction and Its Tunnels—An 1880s ‘Highway Intersection’ for the Railroads Author: Andrew J. Schmidt Modern cities do a remarkable job of hiding infrastructure below ground. This article describes the below-ground engineering of railroad access to St. Paul through the Trout Brook corridor. Too narrow to…
Ramsey County History – Summer 1997: “
Demian J. HessThe Last of its Kind in Minnesota: The Old Wabasha Bridge and How it Linked East to West Author: Demian J. Hess The current Wabasha Street Bridge is the third at that location. This article tells the story of the first two bridges (built in 1859 and 1888–89, respectively), their…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1995: “The Great Railway Excursion of 1854—‘The Most Notable Event of the Year'”
Virginia Brainard KunzThe Great Railway Excursion of 1854—‘The Most Notable Event of the Year Author: Virginia Brainard Kunz The completion, in 1854, of the first railroad line to the Mississippi to Rock Island, Ill., provoked an excursion of more than 1,200 people upriver to the head of navigation, St. Paul. It was…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1992: “A Nationwide Sense of Crisis: The 1922 Shopmen’s Strike in St. Paul and the Northwest”
W. Thomas WhiteA Nationwide Sense of Crisis: The 1922 Shopmen’s Strike in St. Paul and the Northwest Author: W. Thomas White The 1922 rail strike was the most severe since 1894. Workers endured the loss of a wildcat strike in 1920, then a series of wage reductions. On July 1 some 400,000…