IIn planning for the freeway (I-94) connecting the two Twin Cities, MnDOT presented two options. One was to the north of the Rondo neighborhood along a series of mainline railroad trackage. But the…

Most of the original Rondo Avenue and much of the historic Rondo neighborhood were destroyed when Interstate 94 was built. The street was named for an early settler, Joseph Rondeau. Part of the…

A block from Rice Park stands the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Renamed in 1984 for the executive director of the NAACP and longtime civil rights advocate, the auditorium has been an important venue for…

Saint Adalbert School, 260 W. Edmund Avenue. The school first opened its doors in 1882, using spaces including the priest’s residence and the sacristy as classroom space. A wooden school was built and…

Saint Adalbert’s Catholic Church, 265 Charles Avenue, was built in 1911 to serve Polish Catholics. Today its three-tiered twin front towers greet many Vietnamese worshippers. The original church…

Frogtown’s largest church is Saint Agnes Catholic Church, 548-50 Lafond Avenue. The current church is the third church built on this site since 1887, when Archbishop John Ireland founded the parish to…

Frogtown had parochial schools including Saint Agnes (530 W. Lafond Av.), Saint Adalbert (260 W. Edmund Av.) and Saint Vincent (645 Virginia St.) Catholic schools and Trinity/Saint Stephanus and Saint…

- 624 W. Central Avenue - Saint James AME Church was organized in 1876 in a one-room house near Seventh and Robert streets. The church had its ups and downs with membership but finally found a site…

- 507 N. Dale Street - The beautiful Gothic Revival style brick church was a landmark in Frogtown from 1919 until its demolition in 2010. The church, designed by Saint Paul architect William Alban,…

Less is known about Saint Matthew’s Lutheran School at 501 N. Dale St. Some histories indicate that the congregation did briefly operate a school. But other histories indicate the building, which…

(Within Great Northern Business Park North) Walk around some of St. Paul's historic buildings and look for metal base plates, which often bear the name of the St. Paul Foundry. The foundry was…

(Lowertown Commons) - 300 East Fourth Street (between Wall and Broadway) - - 1905 - Originally built for the Saint Paul Rubber Company, this building supported the tremendous weight of E. W.…

- 375 N. Oxford Street - Saint Peter Claver was founded in 1892, thanks to the efforts of Archbishop John Ireland. The church has its roots in a congregation that worshipped downtown, starting in…

The Saint Stanislav Kostka Church was established in 1872, serving both Polish and Czech parishioners but with services in Czech.

Trinity/Saint Stephanus Lutheran School got its start downtown in 1861 as Trinity Lutheran School. In 1888, the church congregation bought property at Lafond and Grotto and built a new two-story…

Saint Stephanus Lutheran Church was built in 1890 at Lafond and Grotto to serve a German Lutheran congregation. The building has been renovated twice, after a 1925 fire and a 1990 windstorm. Visitors…

Saint Vincent de Paul began in 1888 to serve Frogtown’s Irish Catholics. Its congregation has many Hmong members today. In 1888 the local conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society opened a…

Saint Vincent de Paul School, 643 Virginia St. The school’s groundbreaking was in November 1900. The school opened in July 1901, with 190 children. Four Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet, who lived…

Saloons in the West End formed a complex network of social support “agencies.” Local bars served as places to leave messages, sources of employment information, and social networking sites.

Located just a couple of hundred feet west from the Haas House at 241 West George is the Samuel Dearing House. Augustus Gauger, German-born and prolific St. Paul architect, designed this one, and…