F.L. Wright’s 1907 Minneapolis Double Wides
These 1907 photos were taken around Minneapolis and environs by St. Paul photographer F.L. Wright. They were reprinted, hand colored and and published as postcards by the Wright, Barrett & Stilwell. The company was primarily involved in the sale roofing materials, but they did a brisk stationary and postcards business on the side. These are [...]
The Spangenberg Residence Then and Now
Built in 1864, the yellow limestone walls of the Frederick Spangenberg House’l came from banks of the Mississippi River. The rocks were hauled up on a sled by oxen. Frederick Spangenberg was a German immigrant dairy farmer. His 80-acre farm become the best part of Saint Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood. The house was occupied [...]
The Big River in ’52
In 1952 the Mississippi flood waters managed to work their way over Robert Street and almost halted traffic in Saint Paul’s Loop district. The First National Bank building was never threatened. Spectators crowded the edge of downtown as the Mississippi approached a 14 foot flood stage and overflowed its banks. On April 9th water [...]
The Marshall Avenue Bridge
The current Marshall Avenue Bridge replaced an old wrought-iron span erected for horse and buggy traffic in 1889. The previous bridge was designed by J.S. Sewall of St. Paul. Built on three stone piers the old bridge had hinges at each end and in the crown of each arch to allow for expansion and contraction [...]
Seeing Double at Bridal Veil Falls
You can still find this small waterfall just north of the Franklin Ave bridge. These falls were once the endpoint of Bridal Veil Creek, but the creek was incorporated into the sewer system and now runs underground. The falls are about 15 ft below East River Road and about 100 ft above the Mississippi [...]
