Saint Paul By Bike

Hamline-Midway, Thomas-Dale (Frogtown), North End, Payne-Phalen, East Side

23.6 Miles

September 4, 2024

Dickerman Park is an anomaly, even among Saint Paul’s considerable number of distinctive and wonderful parks. Located in the Midway, it took nearly 115 years to go from proposal to completion. The narrow band of land was given to the city of Saint Paul by the Dickerman family in 1909. Rather than being developed into a park, however, building owners slowly gobbled up pieces of the land in front of their buildings—often with the blessing of city officials—for parking lots, a school playground or just because it was there.

Ground was finally broken for this charmingly atypical linear park in the summer of 2017. About four city blocks long, the 1.1 acre park runs along the north side of University Avenue between Fairview Avenue and Aldine Street. It brings some very necessary grass, shade, seating and recreational space to this hectic stretch of University Avenue in the Midway.

Built in 1916 for Brown, Blodgett, and Sperry, a printing and stationary company, 1745 University Avenue West was most recently remodeled to become headquarters of Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest.

Frogtown (Thomas-Dale)

Two lines of severe thunderstorms barreled through the Twin Cities during the evening of August 26th and early morning of August 27th. Many trees around Saint Paul, including this large maple in the 700 block of Mackubin Street were felled by winds of about 60 mph.

The 900 and 1000 blocks of Arcade

Arcade Street is one of the most prominent streets of Payne-Phalen and the East Side. For decades this byway carried thousands of workers to and from large employers, including Seeger Refrigerator (later Whirlpool) and 3M.

Arcade Street offered a plethora of small businesses—grocery stores, bakeries, service stations, banks, drugstores—that served most of the needs of nearby residents. Arcade Street’s growth and health was directly linked to that of Seeger, 3M and other large companies located nearby. When they downsized and closed in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ’80s, many small businesses withered and died.

Over the years, some new businesses have opened, but the vitality that marked Arcade Street in the first five-plus decades of the 1900s has not returned. Vacant buildings and trash in the 900 and 1000 blocks particularly disappointed me.

Across from the Checkerboard, on the west side of Arcade, a couple of interesting buildings line the street.

Deeper into the East Side

Continuing east, I rode just one block of Cook Avenue. That block offered some notable sites.

Moving a block north to Magnolia Avenue, an unusually positioned house brought me to a stop.

On the same block, some bee-utiful yard art.

The 1200 block of Magnolia Avenue is, I must say, rudely interrupted by an X created by the diagonal intersection of Phalen Boulevard and Johnson Parkway. Actually, this interruption of Magnolia existed long before Phalen Boulevard was proposed, likely as far back as the 1950s, when the street was truncated at the Northern Pacific Railway tracks. (Phalen Boulevard is routed along the former NP right-of-way.)

The traditional grid of Saint Paul really does not exist in this area and hasn’t since perhaps the 1980s thanks to the removal of Phalen Shopping Center and reestablishment of Ames Lake, construction of Phalen Boulevard and the realignment of Johnson Parkway.

Rejoining Magnolia Avenue off Johnson Parkway, I continued east for one block. There I jumped onto the block long, hockey stick-shaped Mechanic Avenue.

Ames Avenue

Ames is a popular name on the East Side. There are a couple of streets, a lake, a small neighborhood and for decades, a school (now renamed L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion School) that bear the name. All are named after William L. Ames Junior, who platted the Hazel Park neighborhood in the late 1800s, according to The Street Where You Live.

The portion of Ames Avenue I traveled—between Johnson Parkway and Hazelwood Street—was chock full of idiosyncrasies. Nearly all of the lots are conspicuously larger—many more than 40% so—than Saint Paul’s average-sized residential lot. On top of that, no two are the same shape.

The styles of homes vary from your standard post-World War II bungalow to a late ‘80s split level.

Johnson Parkway

After rambling east and back west on Ames, I returned to Johnson Parkway and the Johnson Parkway Regional Trail where I turned south.

Slightly north of the Parkway’s intersection with Stillwater Avenue is one of the oldest homes on the greater East Side. Built in 1876, a mere four years after this neighborhood was annexed into Saint Paul, the blue clapboard dwelling at 886 Johnson is all but hidden by a thick growth of trees and bushes.

A family connection

Five blocks west and south I found the intersection of Ross Avenue and Frank Street, which has significant personal meaning. Ross was my father and Frank was his father (obviously, my grandfather.) To be clear, this is a coincidence; neither street was named for anyone in my family.

The house of worship tucked into the residential neighborhood at this intersection is an example of a small thing that make Saint Paul homey.

The East Side is both the farthest neighborhood from my home and the one I’ve visited the least. Therefore it offers the greatest opportunity for surprises, such as the distinctiveness of Ames Avenue homes and properties. Expect the frequency of rides to the East Side to increase as I endeavor to bike each block in Saint Paul.