Website of Joe Landsberger

 

Is not wisdom based on being well informed?
Plato, 429 – 347 BCE
Greek philosopher
 

origin story: west seventh street, saint paul, mn“Origin Story of

Fort Road/West Seventh Street,
the Township/City of Saint Paul,
the Territory/State of Minnesota,
Glacial Age Forward”

will be available by advanced subscription. The book contains 400+ pages and 1000+ images, documented with 240+ endnotes—all on the history of West Seventh neighborhoods, area code 55102 and 55116.

Send email request for more information.

 

It was the old days, the old ways.
Back then, there wasn’t the luxury of being “careful.” Rather a problem of existence was identified and confronted. But the confrontation wasn’t with neighbors, but rather to the challenge at hand.

The native Dakota, and later immigrants, relied on survival skills. It wasn’t just brawn, but collective action that was communicated within a like-speaking community.

This is one story of those earliest inhabitants of our neighborhoods:

Table of Contents

Foreward: Method 1
Eras of the West End 2
Dakota era 4
European Extractive Colonialism 20
1783: American expansionism 24
1819: Fort Snelling at Bdote 25
A Transitional Time 30
From Claims to Plats 38
Minnesota Identity 46
Minnesota Survey 48
Marginalization 56
Red River carts 60
Reserve Township 64
Rural Migration 64
Urban Migration 66
Upper Landing/River Flats/The Levee 70
Limestone, Brick, Tunnels 80
Irvine Park 94
West-town, Downtown 104
Dakota Uprising 112
Seven Corners, Seventh Street 116
Pleasant Avenue 130
German Settlement 134
“Bohemian” Settlement 164
Little Bohemia 196
Uppertown, Uppertown Triangle 208
Italian Settlement 216
Irish Immigration 228
Peasant Valley 232
Dairies of the West End 248

 Widening West Seventh/Infrastructure 250
Seven Corners West 260
James to Victoria 260
Benevolent Societies 272
Schools/Community Centers 290
Taverns (and brothels) 298
Minnesota’s Waterways 304
Railroad Transportation 312
City Railway/Metro Transit 316
West End car culture 320
Smith Avenue High Bridge 322
Shepard Road Freeway 328
West End Arts and Entertainment 350
Artists and Activists who made history 360
Community Reporter 374
West Seventh/Fort Road Federation 378
Affiliations 398
Bibliography 399
Endnotes 403
About the author 414
Postscript and postimage 417

 

This history has been built with locally-sourced contributions

  1. Cover design by Teresa Pojar based on Loughridge illustration
  2. Illustrations by Stuart Loughridge
  3. Photography by Craig Johnson
  4. Illustrations/photography by Joe Landsberger
  5. 85% of 1055 images vintage, including Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS), Ramsey County History Center (RCHS), Library of Congress, Czech and Slovak Sokol Minnesota.
  6. Cartography by Nat Case, incasellc.com with Dr. Roderick Squires
  7. Editing by Jane McClure, Becky Yust and Joan Sedlacek
  8. Reviews by neighbors in selected content areas
  9. Assistance by RCHS Research Associate Rich Arpi particularly building permits from 1880 and West Seventh/Fort Road Federation archives.
  10. Gale Family Library Research Services
  11. Noted contributions by Greg Brick (subterranean connections), Justin Tweet (geology), Scott Olson (brickworks), particularly Betty Moran (1943-2024, RIP)
  12. Book layout consultation by Paul Nylander, Illustrada
  13. Printing and publication services by Michelle Hovde Bastian, InstyPrint West Seventh
  14. Hardcover marbling by Caron Moore
  15. Hardcover binding by Jeff Dahlin, E & L Bindery
  16. Research and authorship by Joe Landsberger documented with 255 endnotes.

 

For more information, email Joe Landsberger