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…

For over a century, St. Paul regarded Indian Mounds Park as a recreational area. Now, it’s being recognized for its history as a cemetery for at least seven tribes

In 1857, six months before Minnesota became a state, German stonemason George Amos built a limestone saloon near St. Paul's Upper Landing. For the next six years, the saloon served lager beer to the…

Nestled among the bustling restaurants and bars of West Seventh Street is one of the city's oldest standing private residences, the Justus Ramsey House. Built circa 1852, the small limestone residence…

Although this vigorous Italianate house has lost its corner tower and part of its wraparound porch, it still offers many exuberant details, such as the attenuated columns and ornate brackets found on…

A mix of rigor and romanticism. The main mass of the house is quite subdued, its forms outlined by long bands of precisely detailed ornament. By contrast, the house’s pointy-headed tower, from which a…

An exceptionally well-preserved Italianate house that includes a Hamm’s Brewery and whose wife, Emma, was the sister of their next-door neighbor, Otto Muller. This house was built in 1880.

A historic limestone church, built for what is now Minnesota’s oldest Baptist congregation, founded in 1847 when pioneer teacher Harriet Bishop established a Sunday School. The first church was on…

[Built in 1874, Assumption Church is] St. Paul’s oldest functioning church structure and a nationally significant example of the nineteenth-century revival style variously known as Romanesque,…

The first bridge here opened in 1886 and served until the early 1920s, when a higher bridge was required to accommodate a raised railroad platform at St. Paul Union Depot. Designed by Toltz, King and…

The first bridge here opened in 1859; at that time, only two other bridges- the Hennepin Avenue Suspension Bridge (1855) in Minneapolis and a railroad bridge (1856) at Rock Island, IL- spanned the…

Nicholas Arvanitis and his brother founded the Original Coney Island Café in 1923. Nicholas Arvanitis grew up in Greece, immigrated to the U.S. in 1908, fought in World War I, and, as a result, earned…

The Euclid View Flat Apartment building was designed by Hermann Kretz and built in 1895. Kretz, a German-born architect who immigrated to America in 1880, was responsible for other local buildings…

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…

1910-1962 3M 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…

Setting the Cornerstone, Building 21 President William L. McKnight, accompanied by chief engineer E. M. Johnson, supervised the installation of the cornerstone in October 1939. The mason worked for…

Working for Job Betterment The majority of employees in the Saint Paul Plant worked in the factories and received hourly pay. The company sought to offer competitive wages and working conditions…

“I Want to Work at 3M” Many early 3M employees, including William L. McKnight and Archibald G. Bush, had “business” training or high school training in “mechanic arts.” When William Viervering was…

Women at Work Women have worked at 3M since its early years and have played ever more varied and diversified roles. In 1916, the year the company made its first profits and began to pay dividends on…

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…