German-born Albert Koehler, who actually had the first name of Heinrich, was a foreman at Hamm’s Brewery. He married Wilhemina Hamm, the daughter of Theodore and Louise Hamm. Since there was little…

Nature made it an island, but it is an island now only in name, its back channel filled in 1950 to connect it to the shore. It takes its name from Harriet Bishop (1817 -- 1883), who came from…

From downtown Saint Paul, Wabasha Street crosses the Mississippi and marches due south until the bluffs force it to jog left. The bluffs here -- deep sandstone beneath a thin limestone cap -- tell…

Find this intersection (just south and one block west of the Robert Street bridge), and what do you see? Not much? Well, only because you came several decades too late. Had you had the foresight to…

People of Mexican origin or descent began to come to St. Paul around the time of World War I. Oftentimes they were migrant agricultural workers who found reasons to stay year-round, working in the…

Across the street from one another in Prospect Terrace are two prominent French Second Empire homes. The first, the Durkee House is located at 58 Prospect Boulevard. Built round 1875, this is one…

Across from the Durkee House is another French Second Empire at 361 Stryker. The James Melady House is believed to have been built around 1885. The term Second Empire refers to the reign (1852-1870)…

There are two Brueggeman residences in Prospect Terrace within a block and a half from one another. The first is located at 382 Winslow. Martin Brueggeman made a fortune in brewing and spent a lot…

Located one block south and one block east from the Minea House is the Edward and Elizabeth Heimbach House at 64 West Delos. Martin Brueggemann (see John and Mary Minea House) also built this one…

Located a short distance further east from the Heimbach House are the Grady Flats - a beautiful rowhouse with parapets, turrets, and finials at the roofline.

If you make your way one block south and two blocks west of the Grady Flats, you will be at the Eugene and Christina Villaume House on 123 West Isabel. Eugene Villaume, born in St. Michel, France,…

After the Yoergs built their new brewery in 1870, It did not take long for competitors to show up: Brueggeman, Banholzer, Stahlman, Schmidt, and Hamm. The last two grew giant, with Schmidt's…

A few houses down on West Isabel is another French Second Empire home Yoerg Sr. built for his son, Anthony Junior, who followed him in the beer business. The other sons, Louis and Frank, did so too.…

Directly below the Yoerg residences, nestled into the bluff at Ohio Street, was his brewery, which was lost to a fire in 1958. Follow Isabel Street west to Ohio; there you will see an outcropping of…

Built in 1902, St. Matthew’s is probably the second-oldest school building in the city, after St. Joseph’s Academy/Christ’s Household of Faith (1863). The school itself, originally housed in the first…

On your way up Humboldt, take a left on Winifred Street and stop at Jerabek’s New Bohemian Coffeehouse and Bakery. There is nothing historic about the building, but the family has been operating a…

A short distance south of St. Matthew's School, at the corner of Humboldt and George, you will find Riverview Library. The industrialist (founder of US Steel) and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie…

Continuing west on George Street, there are three residences worth admiring. Just south of the Riverview Library is the Rau-Strong House at 2 East George. Adam Rau was a stonecutter and…

Half a mile west of the Rau-Strong House is the Charles Haas House at 214 West George. Note the wonderful front porch and attic windows above. Built in 1889. Charles Haas was born in Indiana…

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…