- A Powerful Political Influence (1874-1969) - Nellie Griswold Francis, wife to William T. Francis (the first black to receive a diplomatic appointment), was a strong political influence in her own…

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…

Many skilled black artisans were recruited to Saint Paul to work on buildings going up in the early 1900s. Many of them arrived from Georgia with the marble used in those buildings. Casiville Bullard,…

Even though pre-Civil War legislation attempted to restrict the movement of African Americans to Minnesota, free blacks and fugitive slaves continued to come. The highest concentration of blacks…

In the 1800s Saint Paul served as the head of navigation on the Mississippi River. The lower landing provided entry for most of the people and goods coming North. Like many early groups to the region,…

(1831-1900) When the steamboat Northern arrived in 1863 carrying labor and equipment to defuse a Dakota Indian uprising, it also towed a raft of 76 ex-slaves that had been found drifting. The…

- Saint Paul Early Settler, 1799-1884 - James Thompson arrived at Fort Snelling as a slave in 1827. He married an Ojibwe woman and learned the language. In the 1830s, he was hired by missionary…

The first significant point of entry for African Americans was in bondage to officers stationed at Fort Snelling. Although slavery was never legal in Minnesota, Army officers were allowed to bring…

(Johnson's Service Station) -271 East Kellogg Boulevard (between Wacouta and Wall) - - 1907, J. Walter Stevens - Since before the Civil War, Wells Fargo expedited national parcel delivery in…

(James J. Hill Office Building) - 281-99 East Kellogg Boulevard (between Wall and Broadway) - -1887, James Brodie - James J. Hill's success at building a railroad empire made him Saint Paul's…

- 300 Broadway Street (at Kellogg) - -1894, Edward P. Bassford - Real estate investors financed this warehouse for use by Farwell, Ozmun, and Kirk, hardware wholesalers. At the turn of the…

(Northern Warehouse Building) - 308 Prince Street (at Broadway) - - 1907-08, Northern Pacific Railway Company - The Northern Pacific Railway completed construction to the West Coast in 1883.…

(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.…

(Market House) - 289 East Fifth Street (between Wall and Broadway) - - 1902, J. Walter Stevens - Like many others in Lowertown, this warehouse was built as a rental property with considerable…

- 281-87 East Fifth Street (at Wall) - - 1904, Reed and Stem - In 1897, Crane and Ordway Company led the Northwest in the manufacture of valves, fittings, and supplies for steam engines. Their…

- 258-60 East Fifth Street (between Wacouta and Wall) - 1883 - This narrow storefront preserves the scale of Saint Paul buildings from the generation preceding the warehouses that dominate…

(American House) - 352 Wacouta Street (between Fourth and Fifth) - - 1895, Cass Gilbert - Adjacent buildings illustrate Cass Gilbert's commercial work in the 1890s. After nearly forty years of…

(Spin Knits Fabric Company) - 350-64 Sibley (at Fifth) - - 1882, attributed to J. Walter Stevens - The buildings on the south side of Mears Park share many business connections. Noyes Brothers…

(Cosmopolitan Building) - 366 Wacouta Street (at Fifth) - -1911, James F. Denson, architect; C.A.P. Turner, engineer - -1923 addition, Clarence Johnston Jr., architect - Finch, Van Slyck, and…

(Gilbert Building) - 413 Wacouta Street (between Sixth and Seventh) - - 1893-94, Cass Gilbert - The Boston Northwest Realty Company saw great money-making potential in the commercial expansion…