Minnesota doesn’t typically come to mind when you think about slavery and the Civil War. It’s also not a place that’s figured into the national imagination when it comes to Black activism, either—at least, not until recently. However, as part of the…

From One Product to Thousands 3M had its beginnings in 1902 at one small location in northern Minnesota. 3M's Saint Paul headquarters grew to become the heart of a major corporation between 1910 and 1962. Founded in 1902, Minnesota Mining and…

1910-19623M was located on Saint Paul’s East Side for almost 100 years and the company was headquartered here until 1962. Visit the site of 3M’s historic campus at 900 Bush Avenue and you will encounter a series of illustrated panels that recall the…

3M Engages the Community “By contributing to, and participating in civic projects, 3M and 3M employees have helped to strengthen the bond of community relationship. The unique characteristic of 3M's contribution to the many communities of which it…

Industrial & Commercial Products Salesmen were the first marketers of 3M sandpapers and “Three-M-ite” abrasive cloth. Following the lead of William L. McKnight and Archibald G. Bush, they went to furniture and automobile factory floors to…

Bubblicious 2014 Material: steel, aluminum, solar lighting This sundial-inspired artwork evokes the visual imagery of creatures whose bodies are comprised of 90% or more water - jellies, rays, and mushrooms. A project of the East Side Arts Council…

German workers and German bosses had a monopoly on brewing beer in St Paul, as they did almost everywhere in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As historian Gary Brueggeman has explained (“Beer Capital of the State-St Paul’s…

Rapinwax Paper operated in Frogtown for many years at 293 Como Av. The company made wax paper for food handling and food preservation. In the days before plastic wrap and resealable plastic food bags, wax paper was a staple in every kitchen and…

- The dispute between Charles Comiskey and orgainzed labor over the opening of Lexington Park - On April 30, 1897, St. Paul's legendary Lexington Baseball Park opened to the public for the first time, the start of nearly 60 years as the site…

Saint Paul’s West End is Minnesota’s first urban neighborhood. With West 7th/Fort Road as its spine, it extends from Seven Corners near downtown to the overlook on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Fort Snelling. This was also the…

A thousand years ago the area around the confluence of Trout Brook and Phalen Brook near the Mississippi River was a marshy flood plain. By the early 1900s, the entire delta had been expanded by filling and became an industrial railroad corridor. As…

When German immigrant and former butcher/saloon owner Theodore Hamm bought a struggling business on Phalen Creek in St. Paul in 1864, would he have thought it would become one of the largest breweries in the country? That first year there were five…