RAMSEY COUNTY Euphoria Dimmed: X-Rays’ First Victim A Publication of the Ramsey County Historical Society Page 16

Winter, 1997 Volume 31, Number 4 Rats, Politicans, Librarians Untold Stories of t Old St. Francis Hotel Page 4

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A brightly lighted downtown St. Paul was photographed on the night of September 4, 1952. This view looks west along Seventh Street from Wabasha to St. Peter. The St. Frances is on the right. Minnesota Historical Society photo. KAMdtY BOUNTY HISTORY Executive Director " W " " W " RAMSEY COUNTY Priscilla Famham Editor Virginia Brainard Kunz History RAMSEY COUNTY •/ Volume 31, Number 4 Winter, 1997 HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS John M. Lindley Chair CONTENTS Laurie Zenner President Howard M. Guthmann 3 Letters First Vice President Evangeline Schroeder Second Vice President 4 Rats, Politicians and Librarians Charles H. Williams, Jr. The Untold Stories of the Old St. Francis Hotel Secretary Paul R. Gold Robert F.Garland Treasurer 1 0 Growing Up in St. Paul Arthur H. Baumeister, Jr., Alexandra Bjork- lund, W. Andrew Boss, Mark Eisenschenk, Everyone Knew the Rules for the Rites of Passage Joanne A. Englund, John M. Harens, Marshall R. Hatfield, Judith Frost Lewis, George A. Brenda Raudenbush Mairs, Margaret M. Marrinan, Richard T. Mur­ phy, Sr., Thomond O’Brien, Bob Olsen, Marvin 1 5 “Empty Nests” and Tea at the Ramsey House J. Pertzik, James A. Russell, Vicenta D. Scar- lett, Richard A. Wilhoit, Anne Cowie Wilson. Patsy Raudenbush

EDITORIAL BOARD John M. Lindley, chairman; Thomas H. 1 6 When Euphoria Dimmed: X-Rays’ First Victim Boyd, Thomas C. Buckley, Pat Hart, George McDonald Laurie M. Murphy, Vicenta Scarlett.

HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD 2 0 W hat’s Historic About This Site? Elmer L. Andersen, Olivia I. Dodge, The Saint Paul Building Charlton Dietz, William Finney, Clarence Frame, Otis Godfrey, Jr., Ronald Hachey, Deanne Zibell Weber Robert S. Hess, Fred T. Lanners, Jr., D. W. “Don” Larson, George Latimer, Frank Marzitelli, Joseph S. Micallef, Robert Mir- 2 3 Books ick, Samuel Morgan, Marvin J. Pertzik, J. Jerome Plunkett, James Reagan, Solly Robins. Rosalie E. Wahl, Donald D. Woz- 2 6 - 2 7 1996 Donor Recognition niak.

RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISIONERS Publication of Ramsey County History is supported in part by a gift from Commissioner Susan Haigh, chairman Clara M. Claussen and Frieda H. Claussen in memory of Henry H.Cowie, Jr. Commissioner Tony Bennett and by a contribution from Reuel D. Harmon Commissioner Dino Guerin Commissioner Rafael Ortega Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt Commissioner Jan Wiessner A Message from the Editorial Board Terry Schutten, manager, Ramsey County ^Pow ard the end of 1996, Ronald M. Hubbs, a long-time supporter of history Ramsey County History is published quarterly by the Ramsey County Historical Society, 323 1 in Ramsey County, died. Ron not only had contributed a number of fine ar- Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Street, St. Paul, tides that were published over the years in Ramsey County History, but he also Minn. 55102 (612-222-0701). Printed in was unfailingly enthusiastic in his support for the Ramsey County Historical U.S.A. Copyright, 1997, Ramsey County His­ torical Society. ISSN Number 0485-9758. A ll Society’s publication program. The Society dedicates this issue to his memory rights reserved. No part of this publication and to the great value he placed on history. In it we feature a building—the St. m a y b e re p rin te d o r o th e rw ise re p ro d u c e d Francis Hotel—and a location—Seventh Place—that many residents and visi­ without written permission from the pub­ lis h e r. The Society assumes no responsibility tors know but little understand in terms of their historical significance to St. for statements made by contributors. Paul. A companion piece tells the story of the Saint Paul Building.

John M. Lindley, chair, Editorial Board

2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY What’s Historic About This Site?

The Saint Paul Building And Its 108-Year History Deanne Zibell Weber

nce towering over its neighbors the bank, appointed a three-man build­ Stevens is credited as the architect of at the comer of Fifth and ing committee to oversee a design com­ record, he was undoubtedly assisted by OWabasha in downtown St. Paul, petition for the new building, and evalu­ the “legendary” Harvey Ellis, a gifted the elegant Saint Paul Building, built in ate the preliminary architectural plans.3 artist and draftsman whom Stevens em­ 1889, is now nearly hidden amidst the “No less than eleven architects are ployed sporadically in the late 1880s. modem office buildings nearby. Yet a represented in the competition,” re­ Ellis was known locally for the exquis­ closer look at the structure’s fascinating ported the St. Paul & Minneapolis Pio­ ite pen-and-ink and charcoal drawings history not only reveals the unique per­ neer Press on April 29, 1888.4 The il­ he produced for some of the best- sonalities behind its various profes­ lustrious list of contributors featured known architects in the Twin Cities, in­ sional offices and retail establishments, some of the city’s best young architects, cluding Mould & McNicol and LeRoy but also provides a vivid snapshot of the including recent emigres Emil Ulrici, Buffington. His artistry was so brilliant, changes that have transformed the known for his fine houses; Albert in fact, that some architectural histori­ downtown commercial district. Placed Zschocke, who would go on to design ans have credited the Saint Paul Build­ on the National Register of Historic the “splendid” Hotel Barteau in 1889; ing (among others) wholly to Ellis.9 Places in 1977 and recently renovated and J. Walter Stevens, who already had The final product of their collabora­ to its nineteenth-century appearance, produced several elegant residences on tive effort was an eight-story brown- the Saint Paul Building stands as the prestigious Summit Avenue, utilitarian stone “skyscraper,” one of four tall of­ only surviving multi-story brownstone warehouses in the Lowertown area of fice buildings constructed in St. Paul in in downtown St. Paul and remains one St. Paul, and institutional structures 1889.10 Though buildings more than of the best commercial examples of such as the People’s Church (now gone) four stories in height had quickly be­ Richardsonian Romanesque architec­ and the Goodsell Observatory at Car- come the norm in Chicago and New ture in the Twin Cities.1 leton College in Northfield.5 York after the implementation of tech­ The Saint Paul Building was con­ The task of selecting a single design nological developments in fireproof structed during the late 1880s, an excit­ was not an easy one. “There is great va­ construction and elevator safety, these ing and prosperous time in St. Paul. riety, both in the style of architecture lofty structures only began to prolifer­ Waves of European immigrants had and in the estimated cost,” the newspa­ ate in the Twin Cities after 1880. The come to settle in the new transportation per noted, “and unless the directors Saint Paul Building also followed the hub of the Upper Midwest, courtesy of have already decided about the sort of popular and common style for all types James J. Hill’s Great Northern railway. building they want, they will have a of “modem” construction at this time, This rapidly growing population sparked high old time trying to reach a conclu­ Romanesque revival. It was also known an economic expansion and fueled an sion now.”6 At a special board meeting as Richardsonian Romanesque, after its unprecedented building boom in the on May 9,1888, the building committee early proponent, Henry Hobson Richard­ Twin Cities. reported that although none of the plans son. The Germania Bank, which had been was “exactly what we want___We be­ Many of the style’s characteristic el­ chartered in 1884 to serve some of these lieve the plan submitted by J. Walter ements have been incorporated into the new immigrants, was not immune to the Stevens to be the best, and the architect Saint Paul Building’s facade.11 The construction fever. In September, 1887, is of such known reputation as to war­ massive masonry courses of reddish- its directors approved the purchase of rant us in having full confidence in his brown sandstone, used here to give the property at the southwest comer of supervision of, and expediting the con­ building a weighty, permanent appear­ Wabasha and Fifth streets.2 This prime struction of the building.”7 ance, easily and quickly identify this as location was near the heart of the Stevens’s reputation was not built on a Richardsonian structure. Carved capi­ rapidly developing central retailing and any exceptional skill he had as a de­ tals top both the polygonal columns banking business district. Former Min­ signer; instead, it was due largely to the spanning the lower floors and the colon­ nesota governor and U.S. senator work of the draftsmen employed in his nettes separating the doubled and tripled Alexander Ramsey, then president of busy and talented office.8 Though round-headed windows on the upper

20 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY floors. Stevens and Ellis infused these pany, at the same time as the bank’s typical decorative elements with intri­ iron grilles.18 cate detailing that is reminiscent of The original tenants included physi­ Byzantine design. A less common but cians, lawyers, and other pro­ still distinguishing Richardsonian motif fessionals.19 The building’s first floor is the polychromatic checkerboard pat­ (street level) was reserved for retail en­ tern above the round-headed windows terprises and was separated into four or which pierce the sixth floor. perhaps five storefronts: one each at the The Lauer Brothers Construction comer and along the Wabasha Street Company provided the skilled craftsmen facade; two or possibly three stores had to carve all of this decorative stone­ Fifth Street addresses. Like its counter­ work.12 The company was a young, but part and rival, the National German- already successful St. Paul firm which American Bank, the Germania Bank specialized in masonry work and stone­ sold steamship tickets out of the comer cutting. Before erecting the Saint Paul storefront on the first level for a few Building, the company had previously years. worked on West Publishing Company’s But the assets of the Germania Bank original structure on Kellogg Avenue were liquidated in 1899, after a failure (now the Ramsey County Government at the neighboring Savings Bank of St. Center-West) and Summit Avenue resi­ Paul prompted an unrecoverable ran on dences for businessmen A.B. Stickney deposits.20 The structure’s name re­ and D.R. Noyes. mained the the same until late 1901 or At the time of the construction of the early 1902, when it was rechristened Saint Paul Building, Lauer Brothers the Ernst Building after new owner employed 225 people, some of whom The Saint Paul Building. Minnesota Histori­ cal Society photo. Caspar Ernst. The name changed again worked sawing stone at their steam mill in 1907 to the Pittsburgh Building, pos­ at the foot of Chestnut Street near what sibly because the Penn Mutual Life In­ is now Shepard Road. Besides quarry­ The Germania Bank occupied the surance Company held the note on the ing their own stone from a pit on West entire second story of the new building. mortgage.21 Seventh Street, the company was a reg­ If its interior was even partially com­ Prior to World War I, tenants ranged istered dealer in various other building pleted according to Harvey Ellis’s ren­ from the ordinary to the amusing. products, including “Bayfield brown dering, it was as beautiful and decora­ Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency stone,” from which the Saint Paul tive as the exterior. Ellis’s pen-and-ink occupied offices on the third floor; their Building was probably constructed.13 drawing, printed in a 1904 magazine advertisement in a 1903 directory ad­ The Germania Bank Building was retrospective of his work, featured cof­ monished, “No divorce cases under­ completed in late 1889 or early 1890 for fered wooden ceilings, intricately carved taken, nor any work that will interfere an approximate cost of $165,000.14 The moldings and recessed arches, marble with the marriage relation.” Replacing initial reviews of the building’s design floors, and elegant iron grillework at the steamship ticket office was Myers were uniformly positive: “The carver’s each ornate teller window.17 & Co., specializing in watches, dia­ chisel has been used with luxurious re­ The bank’s wood trim was to be of monds, and jewelry; “Breen the Jew­ sults on the lower story and arabesques either black birch or mahogany. Ac­ eler” moved in after 1902. The Louvre are woven in intricate designs as end­ cording to the minutes of the bank’s Glove Co. rented the Wabasha Street less as the durability of the surface in board of directors, and a preliminary storefront. The building also housed which they are traced,” The Northwest description on file at the St. Paul Build­ ten dentists, an equal number of physi­ Magazine artfully wrote in 1890.15 ing Inspector’s Office, original interior cians’ offices, a dressmaker, and the Four years later, the magazine’s praise features in much of the rest of the build­ law office of Lovely & Edgerton. had not diminished: “The beautiful pro­ ing have remained relatively intact. The The bank’s former quarters on the portions of this building, together with six floors above the bank were to have second floor were rented by Sperry Re­ the rich tone of the material and quiet white pine trim, while the corridors and alty Company, founded as the Dale & but effective ornamental features, are retail areas were finished in white oak. Selby Realty Company in 1900. A bi­ admired by every one who sees it. It ap­ The original floors were either clay tile ography of the company’s founder in­ pears to be pretty well occupied, and or marble. A central iron stairway with dicates that he was “one of the most in­ with a very desirable class of tenants. an iron newel, ornamental railings, and fluential factors in the real estate The bank itself has always enjoyed ex­ slate treads was probably built and in­ activities of this city___When he sold ceptional popularity.”16 stalled by the St. Paul Foundry Com­ the Pittsburg [sic] building [c. 1910],

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 21 the highest mark in the real estate val­ chitects, law firms, the St. Paul Cham­ Richardsonian Romanesque style, see Marcus ues of St. Paul up to that time was ber Orchestra, and “the “Mason Jar Whiffen, American Architecture Since 1780: reached.”22 Sperry Realty and Invest­ Lady,” whose shop on one of the upper A Guide to the Styles (Cambridge, MA: The ment Company, as it became known, floors was filled with her collection of M.I.T. Press, 1969), 133^10. expanded to give its clients “Fire Insur­ Mason jars and glass insulators.23 12. Minutes, 20 March 1889. ance, Real Estate, & Loans,” according A renovation in the mid-1980s re­ 13. Andrew Morrison, The Industries o f St. Paul (St. Paul: J.M. Elstner & Co., 1886), to its prominent signs on both sides of stored the Saint Paul Building to its 155. (At Ramsey County Historical Society, the building. It was a tenant until the nineteenth-century beauty, while still St. Paul) 1930s, when the company moved to a insuring its commercial viability. Thus, 14. Minutes, 16 October 1889. Selby Avenue office. it is perhaps fitting that the building em­ 15. Conde Hamlin, “St. Paul,” The North­ From World War I to the Depression, barks on its second century with The west Magazine 8 (July 1890), 14. the building continued to serve as office Bank of Saint Paul as its most visible 16. “Solid St. Paul. A View of the Present space for various medical and legal pro­ tenant, establishing a distinctive histori­ Business Situation in Minnesota’s Capital fessionals. A trend was developing cal connection with the building’s orig­ City,” The Northwest Magazine 12 (Novem­ among the retailers who rented the store­ inal owners. ber 1894), 21-22. fronts: during these years, the building 17. “Sketch for interior of bank by Harvey was seldom without a cigar store or Deanne Zibell Weber, a St. Paul resi­ Ellis,” Western Architect 3 (February 1904), n.p. Although the drawing does not identify confectionery. H. Mandehr’s Cigar Store dent, has a master’s degree in Medieval the bank, it does identify J.W. Stevens as the and Renaissance history from Duke was followed by Bernard Skalowski’s architect. Three other pieces of evidence sug­ establishment (c. 1904), the H.W. John­ University. She has researched and gest strongly that this is a sketch of the Ger­ son Cigar Store (1911-1917), and then written several building nominations mania Bank. First, in “Catalogue of the Etch­ the United Cigar Store (1922-1928). for the National Register of Historic ings and Architectural Exhibit of the Loan Replacing the Colonial Fruit and Con­ Places. Exhibition St. Paul October 1890,” located in fectionery Store (1910-1911) was Pear­ the LeRoy Buffington papers, Northwest Ar­ son’s Confectionery Store. Pearson’s chitectural Archives, entry #76 is identified al­ moved in 1926, but the legendary Footnotes most identically to the caption on the drawing Wood’s Chocolate Shop would remain 1. Charles W. Nelson and Susan Zeik, Na­ in the magazine. Furthermore, entry #60, also in its home on Fifth Street until 1984. tional Register of Historic Places Inventory/ by Harvey Ellis for J.W. Stevens, Architect, is labelled “Preliminary design for entrance to The building was renamed the Saint Nomination Form for the Germania Bank Building, 1 April 1977, in the files of the State Germania Bank.” Secondly, the Germania Paul Building in 1934. From World Historic Preservation Office, Minnesota His­ Bank is the only bank building J.W. Stevens is War II into the 1950s, the building suf­ torical Society, St. Paul. known to have designed. Third, the coffered fered from wartime vacancies; many of 2. Minutes of the Germania Bank Board of ceilings evident in the drawing were present the medical professionals had long Directors, 14 September 1887, Manuscripts in the bank as late as the 1980s. since moved out. The most visible ten­ Division, Minnesota Historical Society. 18. Minutes, 20 March 1889 and 19 Febru­ ants, of course, continued to be the re­ 3. Ibid., 15 February 1888. ary 1890; “Detailed Statement of Specifica­ tailers. According to the abstract of title, 4. “Realm of Real Estate,” St. Paul and tion for the Erection of Buildings,” n.d., on Florsheim Shoes rented the entire, con­ Minneapolis Pioneer Press, 29 April 1888, file at the St. Paul Building Inspector’s Office, solidated Wabasha Street storefront in p. 15. St. Paul. 1939 “for the purpose of retail selling 5. Minutes, 19 June 1888; Larry Millett, 19. All information for the tenants was found by cross-checking the photographs (c. of shoes, hosiery, spats, rubbers, slip­ Lost Twin Cities (St. Paul: Minnesota Histori­ cal Society Press, 1992), 134; David Gebhard 1895-1970) at the Minnesota Historical Soci­ pers, shoe-trees, garters, belts, sus­ and Tom Martinson, A Guide to the Architec­ ety, all titled “Germania Bank,” against R.L. penders, shoe findings, handkerchiefs, ture o f Minnesota (Minneapolis: University of Polk & Co.’s St. Paul City Directory for the ties, and other items.” Minnesota Press, 1977), 84, 86, 299; “John years 1890, 1895, 1903, 1904, 1910, 1911, Gabbert’s Furniture Store rented the Walter Stevens,” n.a., n.d., typed ms. in folder 1915, 1920, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1935, and same space for a short stint in 1969 or “John Walter Stevens,” architect’s files at 1942. 1970. In the meantime, the Boy Scouts Northwest Architectural Archives, University 20. Minutes, 19 July 1899. of America and Bausch & Lomb glass of Minnesota, St. Paul. 21. Abstract of Title for Lots 1 & 2, Block and plastics laboratories reportedly 6. “Realm of Real Estate.” 21, St. Paul Proper, in possession of Art rented office space. The aptly-named 7. Minutes, 9 May 1888. Baumeister. Fifth Street Bootery took over the large 8. The information about J.W. Stevens is 22. Entry for “James Farrell Sperry,” in from Millett, 133. Henry A. Castle, History o f St. Paul & Vicin­ retail space by 1980. According to a 9. Roger G. Kennedy, “The Long Shadow ity, vol. 3 (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., longtime St. Paul columnist, some of of Harvey Ellis,” Minnesota History 40 (Fall 1912), 959. the more recent and less visible, but no 1966): 101; Millett 134-35. 23. Gary Hiebert, “St. Paul Bldg. Has a less interesting, tenants have included a 10. Millett 112. Historic Foundation,” St. Paul Skyway News, justice of the peace, a music teacher, ar­ 11. For more information about the 21 November 1989,6-7.

22 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY St. Paul’s first public Market House at Seventh and Wabasha, about 1870. It was built by Vetal Guerin, a French-Canadian who was the first settler on this tract of land. Minnesota Historical Society photo. See article beginning on page 4.

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. Postage PAID Published by the Ramsey County Historical Society St. Paul, MN 323 Landmark Center Permit #3989 75 West Fifth Street Saint Paul, Minnesota 55102