Ramsey County History – Winter 2009: “Stanford Newel, Proposal Rock, and Newell Park Widows: Newell Park Celebrates Its Centennial”

Stanford Newel, Proposal Rock, and Newell Park Widows: Newell Park Celebrates Its Centennial
Author: Krista Finstad Hanson

This article was timed to help Newell Park celebrate its hundredth anniversary in 2008. It starts with the early history of the land, which had been bought and sold often in the 1880s. Hamline Village, which included the university, was annexed into St. Paul in 1885. William Marshall bought the area at Fairview Avenue and Pierce Butler Road and platted it out. It included a frog pond that Hamline students often visited, sometimes to court. The Newell Park Improvement Association was organized in 1912 and, among other things, successfully pushed for the erection of a pavilion at the park in 1929. A strong booster club was formed in 1932. The site went into decline after World War II, but there were still activities and meetings at the park. In recent years, the pavilion was restored, and the windows were un-bricked. There is also a sidebar on Stanford Newel.
PDF of Hanson article