Helping the Sun Shine Brighter for Farmers Robert Freeman on Mount Ramsey Harlan Stoehr — page 14 Winter 2013 Volume 47, Number 4 Preserving a “Fine Residential District”: The Merriam Park Freeway Fight Tom O’Connell and Tom Beer, page 3 The front cover of the May1967 issue of Minnesota Highways magazine, the official Minnesota Department of Highways employee newsletter between 1951 and 1976. At the time this cover illustration was drawn, the nation was in the midst of building the vast Interstate Highway system that was largely paid for with federal money. This illustration conveys an idealized view of how the new freeways would safely and efficiently transport automobiles and trucks into and out of a city. Plans that called for the construction of an interchange on I-94 in St. Paul at Prior Avenue produced plenty of controversy and called into question some of the underlying assumptions behind these new roadways. Image courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Digital Libary. RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY RAMSEY COUNTY Executive Director John M. Lindley Founding Editor (1964–2006) Virginia Brainard Kunz Editor Hıstory John M. Lindley Volume 47, Number 4 Winter 2013 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ON DECEMBER 20, 2007: Paul A. Verret President The Ramsey County Historical Society inspires current and future generations Cheryl Dickson to learn from and value their history by engaging in a diverse program First Vice President of presenting, publishing and preserving. William Frels Second Vice President Julie Brady Secretary C O N T E N T S Carolyn J. Brusseau Treasurer 3 Preserving a “Fine Residential District”: Thomas H. Boyd Immediate Past President The Merriam Park Freeway Fight Anne Cowie, Joanne A. Englund, Tom O’Connell and Tom Beer Thomas Fabel, Howard Guthmann, Douglas Heidenreich, Richard B. Heydinger, Jr., 14 Helping the Sun Shine Brighter for Farmers John Holman, Kenneth H. Johnson, Elizabeth M. Kiernat, David Kristal, Robert Freeman on Mount Ramsey Carl Kuhrmeyer, Father Kevin M. McDonough, Harlan Stoehr Nancy W. McKillips, Susan McNeely, James Miller, Robert Muschewske, Richard H. Nicholson, Jeffrey Slack, 22 “Cold Blooded Fraud”: Ralph Thrane. The White Bear Lake Sewer Project of 1926–1935 Director Emeritus James Lindner W. Andrew Boss EDITORIAL BOARD Anne Cowie, chair, James B. Bell, Publication of Ramsey County History is supported in part by a gift from Thomas H. Boyd, John Diers, Clara M. Claussen and Frieda H. Claussen in memory of Henry H. Cowie Jr. Douglas Heidenreich, James Miller, and by a contribution from the late Reuel D. Harmon John Milton, Debra Mitts- Smith, Laurie M. Murphy, Paul D. Nelson, Richard H. Nicholson, Jay Pfaender, David Riehle, Steve Trimble, Paul A. Verret, Mary Lethert Wingerd. A Message from the Editorial Board HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD William Fallon, William Finney, George amsey County is changing every day—witness the new light rail cor- Latimer, Joseph S. Micallef, Marvin J. Pertzik, James Reagan, Rosalie E. Wahl. R ridor on University Avenue—a transportation line that we could not RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS have envisioned a few years ago. In this issue, we remember some earlier Commissioner Rafael Ortega, chair Commissioner Toni Carter changes. Harlan Stoehr recounts the professional life of Robert Freeman, Commissioner Blake Huffman the longtime Ramsey County agricultural extension agent who began his Commissioner Jim McDonough Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire job in the 1920s, when the county contained over 1,000 farms, and su- Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt Commissioner Janice Rettman pervised that service through drought, grasshopper infestations, and fi- Julie Kleinschmidt, manager, nally, suburbanization. James Lindner reminds us that public works are Ramsey County Ramsey County History is published quarterly frequently political in his story of the construction of White Bear Lake’s by the Ramsey County Historical Society, 323 sewer system. And even freeways have stories: Tom O’Connell and Tom Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Street, St. Paul, MN 55102 (651-222-0701). Printed in U.S.A. Copy- Beer recount the Merriam Park neighborhood’s passionate opposition to a right © 2013, Ram sey County His torical So ciety. ISSN Number 0485-9758. All rights reserved. Prior Avenue exit on Interstate 94. Hope you enjoy reading about how our No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written values— then, as now—have shaped our built environment. permission from the publisher. The Society assumes no responsibility for state ments made by Anne Cowie, contributors. Fax 651-223-8539; e-mail address: [email protected]; web site address: www.rchs.com Chair, Editorial Board 2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Preserving a “Fine Residential District”: The Merriam Park Freeway Fight Tom O’Connell and Tom Beer n hope of ending their three-year anti-freeway campaign, Merriam Park activists ramped up the pressure on city hall in early March of 1962. IHundreds of residents assembled to challenge the Prior Avenue freeway interchanges, long sought by government planners and business leaders. Behind the scenes, the Merriam Park Residential Association (MPRA) lobbied city commissioners and the mayor. A multi-sided game of political leverage was being playing out in St. Paul, and the outcome was still in doubt. Mayor George Vavoulis’s compromise position could solve a piece of the citizen group’s strategic puzzle, and if the City Council agreed, Merriam Park neigh- bors would score a victory in what had become a marathon campaign.1 The community campaign that led to became over time a significant catalog of this point—and ultimately to victory for community concerns. Merriam Park—was the first successful Motivated by deeply felt grievances, neighborhood effort to resist the freeway Merriam Park residents forged an im- in the city. Three neighborhoods stood out pressive opposition movement. At the during the early resistance to freeway en- dawn of the 1960s, with ideas about com- croachment in the Twin Cities. The African munity control and neighborhood power American Rondo community, economi- just over the horizon, Merriam Park resi- The smiles tell the winners’ story. Cheerful cally mixed Prospect Park in Minneapolis, dents demonstrated that well organized Merriam Park women assemble at city hall and the middle-class Merriam Park neigh- and creatively led citizens could oppose prior to the finalSt. Paul City Council vote borhood all faced the onslaught of I-94. In powerful outside interests—and win!2 on the I-94 freeway accord. At a time when Rondo, community leaders were unable to men predominated in public affairs, women Background to a Conflict played important roles during the three-year win critical legislation to maintain a viable campaign, turning out at public hearings, writ- neighborhood in the wake of freeway ex- The dream of a national highway that ing letters, conducting petition drives, and in pansion, while the University of Minnesota would connect major cities and regions other ways nurturing these grass-roots efforts. and downtown Minneapolis commerce across the United States had its origins St. Paul Dispatch photo, March 6, 1962. Photo influenced decisions near Prospect Park. in the 1930s, but it would take until the courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. Only the Merriam Park neighborhood built end of the Great Depression for planning a lasting community organization to chal- to begin in earnest. In 1939, Franklin reflected this national commitment. The lenge freeway plans within its area. Delano Roosevelt presented a hand- Federal agency in charge, the United Though the specifics of each struggle drawn sketch of six routes that together States Bureau of Public Roads, long pro- varied, all three neighborhoods fought to would cross the nation. But the real turn- posed freeways as linchpins to the future preserve the character and integrity of their ing point did not come until 1956 with the of American cities, and by the late 1940s communities. In the nearly bucolic, mostly passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act the Federal government was responding middle-class neighborhood of Merriam (FAHA), the largest public works project to the demands for jobs, housing, educa- Park the goal was preserving quiet streets in U. S. history. Under terms of the legis- tion, and improved transportation. A war for local use by postwar families with their lation, the federal government would pay weary but growing American populace large numbers of school-aged children. 90 percent of the costs of interstate high- supported a fast pace, and in the years lead- Concerns about the Prior exit were a spe- way construction. The legislation jump- ing up to the 1962 St. Paul council vote, cial catalyst for neighborhood opposition. started many state plans, and within the Minnesota officials had finalized most of The prospect of a thousand cars daily hur- next decades over 41,000 miles of free- St. Paul’s freeway plans.4 tling past the community’s largest elemen- way were constructed.3 But government action also gener- tary school was the most alarming of what Minnesota’s support for Interstate 94 ated controversy with conflict emerging RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 3 The sprouting “garden suburb” of Merriam Park is shown in this 1890 photo of the developing neighborhood, the spire of the firstSt. Mark’s church built a year before in the distance. Situated midway between both downtowns, Merriam Park was prime real estate for residential devel- opment and transportation links. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society and the archives of St. Mark’s Church. in communities in the freeway’s path. corridor for I-94, as did industry and missed opportunity for the new commu- Freeway construction had far-reaching some local businesses. Organized labor nity of Merriam Park. Colonel Merriam’s impacts on neighborhoods and urban looked forward to the jobs freeway con- son, William R.