Hepsy Hearts Harriet Island
1912
Name: Hepsibah Ohage
Age: 123
Neighborhood: Saint Paul’s West Side
Swimming Hole: Harriet Island
Quote: “ I have to get down to the island pretty early, but the elephants swim whenever they want because they always have trunks with them.”
1904
Harriet Island’s beach, pools, bathing pavilions and showers were once popular destinations for bathers. Other recreational facilities on the island included two large gymnasiums, handball courts picnic grounds, tennis courts and a zoological garden. The island park was named for Harriet E. Bishop, who came to town in 1847 to open the first permanent school in the city. She also organized a Sunday School and wrote a book called “Floral Home, or First Years of Minnesota.”. Harriet Island became part of the West Side of Saint Paul when a swampy channel between the island and the mainland was filled in 1948.
That lower picture says 1904. But, as great of a picture of Harriet Island as it it, the part that stands out most to me is the fact that half the high bridge is missing. My understanding is that the old bridge was completed in 1888…I bet you can clear this up for me…
The original bridge, built in 1895, was damaged by a storm in 1904. The southernmost five spans had to be rebuilt.
Thanks!