The Old Home building was built in 1912 for the Minnesota Milk Company. Its original, more utilitarian design gave way in 1932 to a sleek Art Deco exterior, with a black stone base and many distinctive details. One prominent feature was a bas…

The Ford Building, 117 University Av. W., was built in 1914. It was designed by John Graham, with the firm of Keyes and Coburn. It was a sub-assembly plant for ford motor vehicles, only turning out about 500 vehicles per year. It and a Minneapolis…

Manufacturing uses were present along University and throughout the Frogtown neighborhood. Examples include the 1914 Ford Building, 117 W. University, an early motor vehicle manufacturing building and the former Old Home Dairy building at Western…

The Schott Building at 935-937 University Av. is a prime example of a well-preserved University Avenue storefront. The building, which currently houses a secondhand store, has been home to many different types of retail businesses over the years. It…

The Brioschi-Minuti Studio and Showroom at 908 W. University Av. is one of University Avenue’s most well-preserved storefronts, even though the use of the property has changed. Brioschi-Minuti was an ornamental plaster and sculpture showroom. Its…

The Victoria Theater, at 825 University Av., was one of three University Avenue movie theaters that catered to Frogtown children and families. The other was the Faust at University and Dale (see tour Frogtown: Lost Frogtown) and the Centre Theater…

This structure at 344 W. University Av., which is more than 70 years old, has retained much of its original character. It was one of a handful of funeral homes in the Frogtown neighborhood and is the only one left today. The National Funeral Home,…

This building at 312-316 University Av., with apartments above and main floor retail and office space below, is one of University Avenue’s remaining and largely intact Victorian retail buildings. It has housed many different retail businesses over…

Other key commercial districts in the neighborhood include Dale Street and the Dale-Como-Front intersection, which abuts the North End, Lower Rice Street and several small pockets of commercial property and converted commercial and small industrial…

Hooray for Hollywood! Frogtown’s unique contribution to the early film industry began at 823 University Avenue. A film projectionist named Charles Bell came to St. Paul from Seattle in 1908. He operated his own movie theater for a short time before…

University Avenue was once one of Saint Paul’s “auto row” districts, where people could shop for cars. Owens Motor Sales (now Lifetrack Resources) at 709 University Av. (1917, second floor 1922-23) is one of the last vestiges of an auto industry…