Saint Paul By Bike

July 25, 2025

26 Miles

Merriam Park, Hamline-Midway, North End, Como Park

Wheelock Parkway winds across a significant section of the City. Primarily running east and west, the Parkway strays through frequent twists and turns. Wheelock supplies ample scenery and history for anyone interested. Details on Wheelock Parkway will come later in this post.

Merriam Park

On this warm summer morning, 183 Wilder Street seemed to be an extension of the azure blue sky. To carry the analogy farther, perhaps the door represents the sun?

A Little Free what?

The creative adaptations of the Little Free Library continue. At 1724 Englewood Avenue, it was the Little Free Florist, the first of that kind I’ve bumped into. All the bouquets were gone when I stopped just before 11 a.m. Judging by the photos on the Instagram page for the Little Free Florist, the attractive, colorful bouquets are in high demand.

A pair of decorated upright vacuum cleaners atop matching urns welcomes customers to a vacuum store on Dale Avenue. Vac That Thing Up (previously Ace Vacuum) calls itself “a very different vacuum cleaner store.” Those artistic vacuums hint at that.

Cumberland Street and Hoyt Avenue intersect in the North End. Rather than crossing each other, they converge at a right angle where the north-south Cumberland meets the east-west running Hoyt. Someone at 1559 Cumberland, on the west side of the street, put up a sign on a large elm tree at the corner.

A house on Virginia

Continuing north onto Virginia Street, 21 homes line the two-plus blocks between 1499 and 1641 Virginia. Uncommonly, only one of those homes is on the east side of Virginia. The other 20 line the west side of the street. Upping the ante, that one home, 1564 Virginia, showcases various unique art, some laden with social commentary, throughout the yard.

A wind spinner of sorts has been fashioned from four pans from which the handles were removed. A ball painted like the earth tops the spinner and an old three-limbed section of tree serves as the base.

I especially appreciate the Rube Goldberg-like gutter downspout system.

I tried to learn more about the art and other yard ornamentation by knocking on the door. However, nobody answered either time I stopped. My hope is for better luck on another visit.

The church that’s a first

The first Hmong United Methodist church in the world opened in 1981 with 37 parishioners. Not surprisingly, that church was in Saint Paul. The congregation rented space at what was then Wesley Methodist Church at 21 Wheelock Parkway. The small congregation grew swiftly. Just five years later, it purchased its own building on George Street, on the city’s West Side. That made it the first Hmong Christian congregation in Minnesota (and maybe the country) to purchase a building.

In 2012, the church relocated to the building where it began 26 years before, renamed the Wheelock UMC at 21 Wheelock Parkway.

Wheelock

Wheelock Parkway is an absolutely wonderful ride. The parkway and bike path meander for nearly five and a half miles. On the east, both start just south of Lake Phalen. The other end of the parkway and trail begin, or end, at the easternmost point of Lake Como.

I relish riding on the Wheelock path. The separated bike trail, which parallels much of the parkway, is safer than riding in the street. The path is smooth, wide, reasonably flat and great for all types of riders. Scenery shifts between lakes, forests, residential areas and more, offering wonderful variety.

The intersection Wheelock and Wanda is not named for anyone. However, Wanda Wheelock is a real person. In fact, based upon an internet search, there are several Wanda Wheelocks around the country, though none in Saint Paul. A bit of trivia about Wanda Street is that a shallow pond was filled to create it in the mid-1950s. This also allowed the construction of the homes along its one-block length.

Wheelocks galore

Just half a block from Wanda Street, Wheelock Parkway intersects with the similarly-named Wheelock Drive. Undeveloped land lined with mature trees flank both sides of the block-long Wheelock Drive.

Just down the road, the six Wheelock Way Condominium buildings ring the cul-de-sac. In less than a block, the name of the street mysteriously changed—slightly—from Wheelock Drive to Wheelock Lane.

Smoke on the skyline

After returning to Wheelock Parkway for the umpteenth time, I paused on the bridge over I-35E to look at Downtown. Although the Air Quality Alert for the day had ended, the air was far from pristine.

McDonough Homes

Just west, a potentially bountiful veggie garden prospers on the edge of McDonough Homes’ property. Behind the garden, a couple of McDonough Homes’ residential buildings.

Brief Jackson action

I turned south on Jackson Street and pedaled about two blocks. There, I contemplated riding the streets of McDonough Homes. Instead I paused at an unusual single story structure tucked back from the road. I learned 1609 Jackson is a residential alcohol and drug treatment facility.

After that brief pause, it was back north to Wheelock again.

So who was Wheelock?

Recalling riding close to three miles of Wheelock Parkway, Drive and Lane, I realized I didn’t know where the streets’ names originated. For that, I returned to the invaluable book “The Street Where You Live” by Don Empson. In it, Empson explained that Wheelock Parkway was named in 1908 to honor Joseph Albert Wheelock.

Wheelock founded the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. He also served as president of the Saint Paul Board of Park Commissioners.

Wheelock’s May 9, 1906 passing was big news. Notice of his death filled not only the entire front page of his Pioneer Press newspaper, but the next two and one-half pages as well.

Tributes to Wheelock poured in from Minnesota business luminaries including James J. Hill, Auguste L. Larpenteur and Charles H. Bigelow; and those in government, including Mayor Robert A. Smith and Gov. John A. Johnson.

Even a rival newspaper, the St. Paul News, offered condolences, which were printed in the Pioneer Press. In part its statement read, “Mr. Wheelock leaves two monuments to mark his life’s work and any man might be proud of either. In his public capacity Mr. Wheelock largely conceived and to a great extent has called Into being St. Paul’s splendid park system. To his professional work the universal esteem In which his ability and his Journalistic honesty are held pays the tribute earned by a life of efficient effort.”

The Marion Bikeway

I took a two-block detour from Wheelock north to Marion Street. At one time, at least part of Marion was officially designated as a bike route. That no longer seems to be the case based upon maps and descriptions of the city’s bike routes. Still, a sign remains.

A Native nation in Merriam Park

On the last leg of the ride, in an area of Merriam Park I travel through regularly, a building I’d never recalled seeing popped into view.

The two-story earth-toned structure on Selby Avenue at Herschel Street obviously isn’t new. Considering the four unusual umber-shaded symbols on the building and the many vertically oriented rectangles decorating the second story, I chided myself for never noticing it before this ride.

A glance at the window and the large seal made it clear the building is connected to the Ho-Chunk Nation. The Ho-Chunk Nation’s government is headquartered one state over, in Black River Falls, WI.

The Ho-Chunk Nation website explains that its people (the Ho-Chungra in their Hocąk language) are indigenous to what is now Wisconsin. It goes on to say their lineage dates back to prehistoric times. Early European explorers dubbed the Ho-Chunk the ‘Wisconsin Winnebago’ tribe, a name never accepted by the tribe. With the approval of a new constitution in 1994, the nation reclaimed its Ho-Chunk name, which means “People of the Big Voice.”

Like on every ride I’ve taken, I learned more about our city. I came upon streets for the first time, a mission of the blog. Unfortunately, another goal, interviewing someone, went unmet. Still, the Virginia Street art and the Ho-Chunk Nation office are two discussions I hope to have on future rides.