Dome of the old Dakota County Courthouse

Images tagged "dome-of-the-old-dakota-county-courthouse"

On this date in 1841, Father Lucien Galtier dedicates a log church in the area that was known then as Pig's Eye. Located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River between what are now Minnesota and Cedar streets, the log structure was built in just a few days by eight French Canadian settlers using logs cut on the spot and secured by wooden pins. The roof was constructed of steeply slanting bark-covered slabs, donated by a mill owner in Stillwater. At the church's dedication, Galtier declared: "Pig's Eye, converted thou shalt be, like Saul; Arise, and be, henceforth, Saint Paul!" The town would eventually take the name St. Paul as well and was incorporated in 1849. Over the years, the log church was expanded, and by 1851, the area's first bishop, Joseph Cretin, formally named the log church "the Cathedral of Saint Paul". Eventually outliving its usefulness as a church, the structure later served as the first school of the Sisters of St. Joseph. In 1856, its logs were dismantled, numbered, and hauled up to the new location for St. Joseph's Academy on St. Anthony Hill (now Cathedral Hill). Unfortunately, the plan to rebuild the chapel as a historic site were never realized and the logs were burned for heat.

Chapel of St. Paul circa 1855 (MHS)

Armour Gates

December 12, 2019 By htc

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 […]

Highland Park Water Tower

April 3, 2019 By htc

Sitting in the shadows of two modern, sky-blue water towers in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood is the most visible symbol of the city’s water utility. The Highland Park Water Tower has been a fixture in the neighborhood since 1928 when the city constructed the 134-foot structure to supply water to nearby residents. [Go to […]

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial

January 28, 2019 By htc

Shortly after news of Fort Sumter’s fall reached Washington D.C. on April 14, 1861, Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsey, who had been visiting the nation’s capitol to address conflicts within the Minnesota Republican party, immediately offered 1000 men to the Secretary of War on behalf of the State of Minnesota. With this commitment, Ramsey became the […]

Hiawatha and Minnehaha

November 30, 2018 By htc

Just above the falls of Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis, perched on the southwest side of its rushing waters, sits an unassuming symbol of the area’s original inhabitants. The sculpture of Hiawatha and Minnehaha has been a fixture in Minnehaha Park for over 106 years greeting visitors as they make their way to the falls. Its […]

New York Life Eagle

July 31, 2018 By htc

Perched atop the bluffs of the Summit Hill neighborhood overlooking the Mississippi River in St. Paul is an imposing bronze sculpture of an eagle clutching a rock with its wings spread as she watches over her young. One might imagine the sculpture was originally created and installed in this location to symbolize a guardian keeping […]

Witch’s Hat Water Tower

July 31, 2018 By htc

Rising above the treetops of the Prospect Park neighborhood in Minneapolis is a structure that one might expect to find in medieval times rather than in modern day Minneapolis. The Prospect Park Water Tower, also referred to as the Witch’s Hat, was designed by Norwegian born architect Frederick William Cappelen in 20th Century Revival style, […]

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Dome of the old Dakota County Courthouse

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