Saint Paul (city)

Saint Paul (city), city in southeastern Minnesota, capital of the state, and seat of Ramsey County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, at its confluence with the Minnesota River. Saint Paul and neighboring Minneapolis form the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Besides being the seat of the state government, Saint Paul is also a commercial, manufacturing, transportation, and educational center. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is located near the city.

Educational institutions in Saint Paul include a branch campus of the University of Minnesota (1851), Hamline University (1854), Luther Seminary (1869), Bethel University (1871), Macalester College (1874), the University of Saint Thomas (1885), Concordia University-Saint Paul (1893), William Mitchell College of Law (1900), Northwestern College (1902), the College of Saint Catherine (1905), and Metropolitan State University (1971).

The city’s museums include the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society History Center, the Minnesota Children’s Museum, and the Gibbs Farm Museum, containing structures from the mid- and late 1800s. In front of the City Hall and County Courthouse (1931) stands the large onyx statue Vision of Peace (the name was changed from Indian God of Peace in 1994) by the Swedish-American sculptor Carl Milles. Other points of interest in Saint Paul are Como Park, which includes a zoo, conservatory, amusement park, and Japanese gardens; the State Capitol (completed 1905), designed by the American architect Cass Gilbert; the Cathedral of Saint Paul (1915); a house built in the late 1800s for the railroad baron James J. Hill; and Historic Fort Snelling, a restored fort from the 1820s.

The city’s Irvine Park Historic District contains houses from the end of the 19th century, including the Alexander Ramsey House, home of the first governor of the Minnesota Territory. Saint Paul is the birthplace of American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, and visitors can view the building in which he did some of his writing. The city’s annual events include the Saint Paul Winter Carnival and the Minnesota State Fair. Many summer and winter outdoor-recreation spots are in the area.

In 1805 a United States expedition, led by Zebulon M. Pike, set out to explore the headwaters of the Mississippi River, a region inhabited by the Sioux people. Pike negotiated a treaty with them for land in the region, and Fort Snelling was established in 1820 at the nearby confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. In 1840 Pierre “Pig’s Eye” Parrant, a French-Canadian trader, became the first settler at the site of modern Saint Paul. The community was known as Pig’s Eye until 1841, when the present name was adopted at the urging of Father Lucien Galtier, who had built a local chapel dedicated to Saint Paul. The community was made the capital of Minnesota Territory in 1849 and continued to be the seat of government when Minnesota entered the Union in 1858.

Saint Paul incorporated as a city in 1854, and became the northern terminus for steamboats traveling the river. The first railroad reached the city in the mid-1860s, and under the direction of railroad financier James J. Hill, Saint Paul was connected by rail to the West Coast through the state of Washington in 1893. The Great Northern Railway helped Saint Paul become an important distribution hub from which agricultural goods were shipped; soon after it developed as a manufacturing center.

Saint Paul covers a land area of 137 sq km (53 sq mi), with a mean elevation of 214 m (703 ft). According to the 2000 census, whites are 67 percent of the population, Asians 12.4 percent, blacks 11.7 percent, Native Americans 1.1 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.1 percent. The remainder are of mixed heritage or did not report race. Hispanics, who may be of any race, are 7.9 percent of the people. Population 270,230 (1980); 272,235 (1990); 275,150 (2005 estimate).