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

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 on a special train and made a stop in St. Paul. Although the train arrived late at night, by the next morning, there were swarms of people at the Union Depot to see it. During five-and-a-half hours, an estimated 100,000 people walked by the symbol of freedom. It was displayed in a wood frame made of heavy oak on a flatbed railway car parked at the foot of Broadway near the rear of the Depot. All St. Paul schools were closed that day to see the famous icon. The Liberty Bell and its entourage left the city a little after noon.
PDF of Dowd article