One of three Hamm residences on Greenbrier, the Muller home was built in 1891 for Otto Muller and his bride Marie Hamm, the daughter of Theodore and Louise Hamm. Otto Muller moved to St. Paul from New York in 1872 and soon began to work at…

Three splendid houses grace the eastern side of Greenbrier--once called Cable Street. All of them were connected with the extended Hamm family who decided to remain close to their company instead of moving to more prestigious areas. All three of the…

If you go east on Margaret Street and cross Greenbrier, you will come to a red brick pillar in a small park with a plaque— a small remnant of the old Hamm Mansion. The historic home was located on the northern section of the area and the rest was…

William Hamm donated this park located at the corner of Greenbrier in memory of his father in 1910. The land for this “mini park,” as the city calls it, was created when Lyman Dayton's Addition and Irvine’s Second Addition met up at an angle.…

The W. F. Stutzman Block, a Victorian commercial structure stands at 721-733 East Seventh Street. It was designed by August Gauger and constructed in two stages from 1885 to 1889, with the easternmost tower area going up last. Two of the original…

The “Home for the Friendless” as it was first called, was founded in 1867 to provide shelter for destitute women and children. A group of twelve women - including pioneer teacher Harriet Bishop - from various local churches, formed a sewing group to…

The Dayton’s Bluff Commercial Club was started in 1905 to provide a place for social exchange and community leadership. The clubhouse at 770 East Seventh Street was built for meetings and socializing for the area’s professional class. Later…

It is Bridge 90386 according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, but architectural historians almost speak in reverent tones when they talk about the Seventh Street Improvement Arches. They consider them one of the most important feats of…

The Carver’s Cave overlook at the western end of Indian Mounds Park is known for its vista and is one of the most photographed river scenes in the metro area. The overlook was rebuilt in 1995-96, including some low decorative walls, ornamental…

On October 16, 2006, two new sculptures were officially dedicated in Indian Mounds Park. They were part of the Minnesota Rocks! International Stone Carving Symposium. It was a Public Art Saint Paul program which brought sculptors from around the…

The Saint Paul Municipal Forest is located at the eastern edge of Indian Mounds Park. Most people in the city and even in Dayton’s Bluff know that it exists as a separate entity. The twenty-five acre site is located along Burns Avenue and is…

Air travel was changing from a novelty to a serious form of transportation by the 1920’s. The federal government supported this new industry by paying to have planes deliver mail. Over 600 airway beacons were constructed by the post Office and the…

In 1900, because of large attendance in the park, a small refreshment pavilion was built at Earl Street. It was sometimes used for concerts. Unfortunately, it was burned down the next year “evidently the work of vandalism.” The current pavilion…

Some 12,000 years ago, groups of people followed the big game up the Mississippi River as the glaciers melted. If they happened to stop in what is today’s Indian Mounds Park they must have been awed by the panorama. There was a huge waterfall that…

William Schornstein was a prominent member of the local German American community. The first mention in the historic record said that listed him as a bartender at the Tivoli, a downtown tavern. By the 1880’s he had a combination saloon and grocery…

Sitting high on a hill, this red brick and sandstone Queen Anne house at 827 Mound Street can easily be seen by cars zipping along the nearby freeway. It was constructed in 1891 by Peter and Marie Giesen. Peter Giesen came to St. Paul from Germany…

Germans were one of the earliest immigrant groups that came to Saint Paul. As many of them became prosperous, they moved into Dayton’s Bluff and built substantial homes for their families. Several, including the home of Adolph and Anna Muench, were…

Edward Devitt (1911-1992) was born into an Irish working class family in Saint Paul. He attended Van Buren Elementary School where he was a younger schoolmate of Warren Burger and Harry Blackmun. After the death of his father in 1921, the family…

Harry Blackmun (1908-1999) and his family lived at 847 East Fourth Street after they moved to St. Paul from southern Illinois in 1910. His father was a businessman who owned nearby groceries at 198 Bates and 376 Maria. Harry attended Van Buren…

Former chief justice of the U. S. Supreme Court Warren Burger (1907-1995) lived with his six siblings in a two-bedroom cottage at 695 Conway from 1914 to 1933. His father worked as a railway cargo inspector and sometime traveling salesman so the…