On an empty, overgrown lot located at the corner of Armour and Hardman Avenues in South St. Paul sits the only remaining vestige of what was once the largest livestock operation in the world. Developed on 260 acres along the Mississippi River, five miles south of downtown St. Paul, the stockyards employed over 6,000 people […]
Archives for December 2019
Wabasha Street Caves
Opened in 1933 on St. Paul’s West Side, the Castle Royal was publicized as the “World’s Most Gorgeous Underground Nightclub” by local newspapers. Performers such as Cab Calloway, the Dorsey Brothers and Harry James performed at the club during its heyday. Rumor also has it that patrons of the club included gangland legends such as […]
South St. Paul Post Office
On August 30, 1933 at 9:45 AM, just outside the South St. Paul Post Office, one officer was shot dead and another severely injured when the Barker-Karpis Gang robbed two bank messengers escaping with $33,000 in payroll intended for employees of Swift and Company. A Brazen Crime Around 9:10 AM that morning, South St. Paul […]
Lincoln Court Apartments – St. Paul
On March 31, 1934 around 10:30 AM, John Dillinger, along with Mary Evelyn “Billie” Frechette, and Homer Van Meter, were involved in a shootout with two FBI agents and a local police detective at the Lincoln Court Apartments in St. Paul. During the exchange of gunfire, Dillinger was wounded in the leg and escaped to […]