Most of the industrial buildings in and around the Dale Street shops were large, utilitarian structures. One exception was the main office building for the St. Paul Foundry, which stood at 500 Como Av. The two-story brick building was designed by noted architect Clarence Johnston, The building was commissioned by foundry owner C.M. Powers and built in 1901. The brick building had many attractive features, including brick and stone detailing, arched windows, transom windows and rafters supporting broad eaves. It had a tall and prominent flagpole as well. By 2000 it was gone, making way for the great Northern Business Park. But it lasted longer than the nearby Foundry Park, a North End park on Burgess Street where factory workers took breaks
]]>What is now Saint Paul Fellowship was designed in 1907 and built in 1908 as University Avenue Congregational Church, and is located at Victoria and Sherburne avenues. It was designed by noted architect Clarence H. Johnston. Johnston was one of Minnesota’s most prolific architects, designing everything from carriage houses to state institutional buildings.
Although the Carpenter Gothic church Congregational church is not as large and grand as other churches and synagogues Johnston designed over the years, it is still a distinctive building among Saint Paul’s places of worship. It retains many of its exterior and interior elements, although an addition was tacked on many years ago. Its features include a tapered tower with spire, arched windows and filigreed bargeboards.
The current church was the third one the University Avenue congregation built in Frogtown. An earlier church stood at Sherburne and Avon Street. The congregation was founded in 1895.
University Avenue Congregational Church was once a very large and active congregation, with most of its members from the Frogtown neighborhood. The congregation held outdoor events where its current building addition now stands.
It was one of the most prominent Congregational churches in the Twin Cities, but its membership dwindled starting in the 1950s.
Other congregations occupied by the building after the original congregation moved out.
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