State Heritage Grants Include St. Paul Projects Preserving Local History

Several St. Paul organizations are among the recipients of nearly $277,000 in statewide grants awarded to preserve Minnesota history through the Minnesota Historical Society. The…
Origin Story Part The Twelfth: Robert Sweeny Sketches Early St. Paul

Robert Ormsby Sweeny (1830-1902) arrived in St. Paul in 1852 as near the first documented Quaker to the territory. His mother Rachel Ormsby (1797-1841) was…
Origin Story Part The Eleventh: Water Water Everywhere And A Dangerous Drop To Drink

The land of skyblue waters, Minnesota, did not provide clean drinking water for its growing population. In the West End, the glacial landscape created a…
Origin Stories Part The Tenth: Origins Of The Church Of St. Paul

In 1680 Franciscan Louis Hennepin, a Catholic missionary, began exploring Minnesota along with French and métis fur traders. In 1727 two Jesuits, Michael Guignas and…
St. Patrick’s Day Parade Tradition Marches On In St. Paul for 60th Year

When green-clad marchers step into downtown St. Paul this March, they will be continuing a tradition that stretches back more than a century — and…
In “Saints and Sinners,” Local Author Tells the Unknown Story of the Founding of St. Paul

For many Minnesotans, St. Paul’s early history is reduced to a handful of familiar names and half-remembered legends. In “Saints and Sinners: The Pioneers of…
Origin Stories Part the Ninth: Origins of St. Paul, Radically Revised

The City of St. Paul was birthed with the expulsion of immigrants by the U.S. military. In the 1600s French explorers, traders and missionaries came…