Neighborhood growth radiated from downtown, with most of the growth to the west and north. Many of the earliest dwellings were single-family homes or duplexes. Small corner stores, taverns and other businesses, most of which have been converted to…

- Dale Street and Minnehaha Avenue - (Northeast corner) The Dale Street Shops were part of a large industrial park, at the northeast corner of Dale Street and Minnehaha Avenue. Built as part of what became the Great Northern Railway, the Dale…

(Empire Builder Business Park) - 23-27 Empire Drive - Built in 1882, the shops and the people who worked in them did every aspect of work imaginable for locomotives, freight and passenger rail cars for what became the Great Northern Railway.…

The best view of the railroads is from the east sidewalk of the Dale Street Bridge, where the railroads passed through what is now Great Northern Business Park. A railroad was first chartered by the Minnesota Legislature in 1857 and received a…

The Nickel Joint, 501 W. Blair Ave., is not only a traditional Frogtown working-class bar with meat raffles, a jukebox and a "Cheers" vibe, it has been home to the Baseball Old Timers Hot Stove League since January 1939. The original group…

Willard's is believed to be the second-oldest bar in Saint Paul. A West End watering hole, The Spot, is the only place that is older. Willard's opened in 1908 as Kohl’s, which is what it was known as until 1970. Neighborhood lore has it…

- 439 University Avenue - Kim Long was the name of one of the city’s first Vietnamese restaurants and one of the first businesses to shape what became Little Mekong. It was named after its owner, who had come to Saint Paul from Vietnam in 1975.…

- 320 University Avenue - Lao Family Community of Minnesota, Inc. is a non-profit mutual assistance association founded in 1977 as the Hmong Association of Minnesota. It was founded as a nonprofit mutual assistance program. Lao Family has been…

Little Mekong is a business and cultural district in Saint Paul, located between MacKubin and Galtier streets along University Avenue. This area’s mix of retail, restaurant and service businesses are run by people from many cultures, but…

One of Frogtown’s best known native sons of the 20th century was famed American artist LeRoy Neiman. He was born in 1921 in Braham and was of Swedish and Turkish descent. His birth name was Runquist but his father deserted the family when he was…

- 585 Fuller Avenue - Camphor United Methodist Church, 585 Fuller Ave., was founded in 1919. The congregation worshiped in a number of locations, including the former Danish Norwegian Methodist Church located at 13th and Broadway streets…

- 451 W. Central Avenue - Mount Olivet Baptist Church, 451 W. Central Av., was founded in March 1922. It was first named Saint Paul Independent Baptist Church. It was later changed to Mount Olivet Baptist Church. Its first services were in the…

- 475 MacKubin Street - The St. Philip's Episcopal Church traces its origins to 1868 and a congregation organized as Saint Mark’s. After founding Pastor Rev. T. H. N. Gerry died the group disbanded a year later. Saint Philip’s was founded…

- 624 W. Central Avenue - Saint James AME Church was organized in 1876 in a one-room house near Seventh and Robert streets. The church had its ups and downs with membership but finally found a site for its own building near Jay and Fuller streets…

- 375 N. Oxford Street - Saint Peter Claver was founded in 1892, thanks to the efforts of Archbishop John Ireland. The church has its roots in a congregation that worshipped downtown, starting in 1888. In 1892, one of the founding members,…

- 743 Central Avenue - Pilgrim Baptist Church was started in 1863 by Rev. Robert T. Hickman and his prayer group, who called themselves “Pilgrims.” Its current building at 743 Central Av. dates from 1928 and is on the National Register of…

Dietsch’s Hall, 601 N. Western Ave., was another historic gathering place for the Frogtown German community. It was built in 1890 by Joseph Steinkamp, who operated a bar and other businesses in the easternmost part of the brick building. The…

German House, or Deutsches Haus at 444 Rice St., was a community focal point for decades. In the 19th and early 20th century, Saint Paul had dozens and dozens of German groups – singers, musicians, dancers, gymnasts or turners, sports groups,…

Frogtown once had a mansion district along University and Sherburne avenues, near today’s state capitol. The mansions of some of Saint Paul’s richest and most powerful people looked out over the downtown area. One mansion owner was William…

Aurora Park was the site of an ill-fated Saint Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace in 1896. Weather didn’t cooperate and the palace had to be scaled back from a more grand size. Fort Karnival was more of an ice stockade and was designed by military…