Saint Paul (pop. 311,527) is the capital and second largest city of Minnesota. Only Minneapolis, St. Paul’s “twin city,” has more people. The metropolitan area that includes St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Bloomington has 3,690,261 people. St. Paul lies in southeastern Minnesota. The city serves as the distribution and transportation center for a rich Midwestern farm area.
In 1840, several families and a French-Canadian trader named Pierre Parrant founded a settlement that grew into St. Paul. The settlement was first known by Parrant’s nickname, Pig’s Eye. It became St. Paul after the construction in 1841 of a church dedicated to that saint.
The city.
St. Paul covers 56 square miles (145 square kilometers), including 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) of inland water. It is the seat of Ramsey County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, but most of it is on three terraces on the north bank. The lowest terrace consists of factories and railroad yards. The business district stands on the middle terrace, and homes occupy the highest one.
The State Capitol is at the north end of Wabasha Street in downtown St. Paul. The City Hall and County Courthouse share a building that stands south on Wabasha, on the north bank of the river. The Cathedral of St. Paul, a city landmark, is on Summit Avenue.
Many downtown buildings are linked by enclosed pedestrian bridges over the streets. This skyway system spans about 5 miles (8 kilometers).
The city’s population includes groups of German, Irish, Polish, and Scandinavian descent. African Americans, American Indians, Asians, and Hispanic Americans make up about half of St. Paul’s population.
Economy.
St. Paul ranks as an important distribution and transportation center. Retail and wholesale warehouses operate in the city and its suburbs. Dozens of trucking lines serve the Twin Cities area.
Railroads provide St. Paul with freight service. Passenger trains use a terminal in St. Paul. Many airlines serve St. Paul Downtown Airport, south of the Mississippi River, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, southwest of the city. Barges on the Mississippi carry goods to and from St. Paul.
Service industries—including government, health care, education, finance and insurance, and retail trade—employ many people in the St. Paul area. The area has hundreds of factories. The chief manufactured products include ammunition, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, food products, furniture, medical devices, motor vehicles, plastics, and wood products.
Education and cultural life.
The Saint Paul Board of Education, which has seven members elected for four-year terms, supervises the city’s public school system. The city also has many parochial and private schools.
The city’s institutions of higher learning include Concordia University, St. Paul; Hamline University; Macalester College; Metropolitan State University, which is a part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system; St. Catherine University; several colleges and departments of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus; and the University of St. Thomas.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is the city’s main daily newspaper and the oldest in the state. The newspaper was founded in 1849 as the Minnesota Pioneer. The St. Paul Public Library serves the city.
St. Paul’s places of interest include Summit Avenue, with its many old mansions that were once owned by wealthy business executives. Other popular attractions are the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, the Minnesota History Center, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Skylark Opera.
The city’s park system includes numerous recreation sites. The St. Paul area has more than 30 lakes. Major annual attractions in St. Paul include the Winter Carnival in January and February and the Minnesota State Fair, held from late August through Labor Day.
St. Paul is the home of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League. Three professional sports teams play at facilities in neighboring Minneapolis. The Minneapolis teams are the Minnesota Twins baseball team of the American League, the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League, and the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association.
Government.
St. Paul has a mayor-council form of government. The voters elect a mayor and seven City Council members to four-year terms. St. Paul gets most of its revenue from property taxes.
History.
Sioux Indians lived in what is now the St. Paul area long before white people arrived. In 1819, the U.S. Army established Fort St. Anthony in a temporary building there. Between 1820 and 1822, American soldiers under Colonel Josiah Snelling built Fort St. Anthony as a permanent fort. The fort covered a large area on the west side of the Mississippi River and soon attracted settlers. It was renamed Fort Snelling in 1825.
In 1840, several families and a French-Canadian trader, Pierre Parrant, left the military property. They moved farther east and founded the settlement that became St. Paul. In 1841, Lucian Galtier, a Roman Catholic priest, built St. Paul’s Chapel there. Steamboats began to stop at the settlement. St. Paul soon became an important fur-trading post and a busy river port.
In 1849, St. Paul was incorporated as a town and became capital of the Minnesota Territory. About 840 people lived in the town at that time. The settlement that became Minneapolis was established in 1849. During the mid-1800’s, St. Paul was the leading commercial center of the Northwest.
St. Paul received its city charter in 1854. It had a population of 10,401 by 1860. During this period, the rich farmlands around St. Paul and jobs in the nearby forests and iron ore mines attracted thousands of European immigrants. The railroad financier James J. Hill helped the civic, cultural, and industrial development of St. Paul in the late 1800’s. For example, he donated funds to build a library and the Cathedral of St. Paul. By 1893, Hill had extended the Great Northern Railway from St. Paul to Puget Sound in the state of Washington (see Hill, James Jerome ). Also at this time, Archbishop John Ireland became a civic and religious leader in St. Paul. He helped establish immigrants and other settlers in the area.
St. Paul prospered through trade and transportation. Large flour mills helped Minneapolis grow. During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Minneapolis grew faster than St. Paul because of greater industrial development.
St. Paul’s economy slumped during the 1920’s and the Great Depression of the 1930’s. By 1940, downtown St. Paul had become old and shabby. In the 1950’s, city leaders began to plan urban renewal projects.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s, St. Paul completed many downtown construction and rehabilitation projects. The new constructions included the Capitol Centre, which featured apartment and office buildings and stores; the St. Paul Civic Center; the 1,900-seat Ordway Music Theatre (now the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts); and the 37-story World Trade Center (now Wells Fargo Place). One major rehabilitation project was Landmark Center, a performing arts and cultural center.
A new Smith Avenue High Bridge was completed across the Mississippi River in St. Paul in 1987. It replaced the original Smith Avenue High Bridge, which was demolished in 1985.
In the late 1990’s, St. Paul again began extensive renovation of its downtown and riverfront areas. The projects included the construction of the Science Museum of Minnesota, which opened in 1999, and a new sports and entertainment arena, which was completed in 2000 on the site of the former St. Paul Civic Center. In the early 2000’s, several projects aiming to revitalize the city’s riverfront were complete or underway. These projects include the Upper Landing, which features housing, commercial space, and public parkland.
For the monthly weather in Minneapolis-St. Paul, see Minnesota (Climate) .
