St. Paul
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St. Paul, city, capital of Minnesota, U.S., and seat of Ramsey county. Situated in the southeastern part of the state, St. Paul is at the head of navigation on the Mississippi River near its confluence with the Minnesota River. The city adjoins Minneapolis on the west, and together they form the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the largest conurbation in the state and in the U.S. north-central region. Suburban communities include Roseville (north), Maplewood (north and east), Woodbury (east), Cottage Grove (southeast), and South St. Paul and Eagan (south).
St. Paul, the state’s second most populous city (behind Minneapolis), lies along a deep S-shaped bend of the Mississippi and is built on a series of bluffs rising from the river to the surrounding plains. Eight lakes are located wholly or partially within the municipal boundaries, and the city maintains more than 160 parks. The climate is cool temperate, with long, cold winters and warm summers. High river levels in spring have caused damaging floods on occasion, as in 1965 and 1993, but control measures have been undertaken to reduce the problem. Inc. village, 1849; city, 1854. Area city, 56 square miles (145 square km). Pop. (2010) 285,068; Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington Metro Area, 3,279,833; (2020) 311,527; Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington Metro Area, 3,690,261.
History
Sioux and Ojibwa peoples were early inhabitants of the area. In 1680 the Franciscan missionary Louis Hennepin passed the site, and in 1766 explorer Jonathan Carver probed a nearby cavern (since known as Carver’s Cave). In 1805 Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike, leader of an American expedition to explore the headwaters of the Mississippi River, made a treaty there (never officially ratified) with the Sioux for possession of the region, including the site on which the military outpost Fort Snelling (now a state park) was later built. The first land claim was made in 1838 by tavern owner Pierre (“Pig’s Eye”) Parrant; he was closely followed by Abraham Perry. The settlement was known as Pig’s Eye Landing until 1841, when Roman Catholic missionary Lucien Galtier built a log chapel dedicated to the apostle Paul. In 1849 St. Paul became the capital of the newly formed Minnesota Territory, and it was made the state capital when Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858.
St. Paul’s historic importance in the development of the Upper Midwest was as a commercial centre that utilized its strategic location on the Mississippi. Furs were its first products for the outside market. In 1862 the first train left the city on the 10-mile (16-km) track of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. In 1883 a great celebration marked the completion of the Northern Pacific Railway from St. Paul to the West Coast, and 10 years later the Great Northern Railway, under the leadership of James J. Hill, was completed, with St. Paul as the eastern terminus (both railways are now part of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation). These railroad developments made the city the gateway to the Pacific Northwest and spurred its growth. In 1886 the St. Paul Union Stockyards were established, and the livestock market (later moved to suburban South St. Paul) became one of the world’s largest. Meatpacking plants also flourished in the city, but during the 1970s the market dramatically declined in size, and most major packing plants closed.
In the 1920s and ’30s, St. Paul became known as a safe haven for gangsters from other Midwestern cities; some of the locales formerly associated with them have become tourist attractions. Economic difficulties and migration to the suburbs contributed to a decline in the central city in the mid-20th century, but, beginning in the mid-1970s, the city undertook large-scale urban renewal projects, redeveloping downtown business and residential areas.
St. Paul’s population grew steadily during the first half of the 20th century, nearly doubling between 1900 and the peak year of 1960 (when it reached 313,411). The number of people subsequently declined, as had happened in Minneapolis, though in St. Paul the drop was not nearly as sharp as it was for its western neighbour. By about 1990 the city’s population was again increasing. Throughout the city’s history the great majority of its residents have been of European (largely German and Irish) ancestry, but that proportion has been decreasing as the number of African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics has grown; the latter three groups now constitute about one-third of the population.
The contemporary city
St. Paul is a major education, health care, government, financial, and industrial centre. Highly diversified manufactures include automobiles, chemicals, computer products and software, tools, machinery, and medical equipment. Insurance, high-technology industries, food processing, oil refining, and convention business are also important. The city is corporate headquarters of 3M (Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company). The Twin Cities region is a rail and trucking centre and includes a major international airport on the southwestern corner of St. Paul. The Skyway, a system of enclosed, climate-controlled pedestrian walkways located at the second-floor level, connects various points in the downtown area.
St. Paul is the home of some dozen institutions of higher education, including the main campus of the College of St. Catherine (Roman Catholic; 1905), the University of St. Thomas (Roman Catholic; 1885), Hamline University (Methodist; 1854), Macalester College (1874), Bethel University (Baptist; 1871), Luther Seminary (Lutheran; 1869), Concordia University (Lutheran; 1893), a campus of Metropolitan State University (1971), and a part of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (1851), campus. The state capitol, Minnesota’s third, was designed by architect Cass Gilbert and was completed in 1904. Dominating the concourse of the 20-story city hall and county courthouse (1931) is Vision of Peace, a 36-foot- (11-metre-) high statue of white Mexican onyx, by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles. Other historic buildings include the Alexander Ramsey House (1872), the James J. Hill House (1891), the Landmark Center (1902), and the Cathedral of St. Paul (1915). Sibley House Historic Site preserves the 1836 home of Henry Sibley, Minnesota’s first governor.
The city’s cultural institutions include the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Minnesota Transportation Museum, and a children’s and a historical museum. The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is the home of the Minnesota Opera and the renowned St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Como Park on the city’s northwest side has a conservatory and a zoo. The Xcel Energy Center (opened 2000) houses the Wild, Minnesota’s professional ice hockey team. Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (1988), which includes St. Paul’s riverfront areas, is headquartered in the city. The annual St. Paul Winter Carnival features parades and other outdoor events and ice and snow sculptures.