August 11, 2025

20.2 miles

West End, Downtown, Dayton’s Bluff

West End Cadillac ranch

Another couple of classic cars—Caddies in this case—meant another couple of photo stops in the West End. A lovely shade of green bathes much of the 19 and one-half feet of this 1975 Cadillac. The other bodacious feature is the luminescent chrome from grill to tail.

The other Cadillac was parked in the driveway off the alley at the same home, 318 Arbor Street. This slightly smaller white behemoth from 1961 weighed in at a svelte 4,670 pounds. It was a slightly shorter 18.5 feet. You’d have paid about $5,500 for this car in ’61.

A salute to the military

Flying the American flag is one common way people show support for the U.S. military. The resident(s) of 93 Western Avenue South have expanded upon the traditional flag display. Instead of one flag, at least seven smaller banners and a full-sized American flag hang throughout the yard.

Kellogg Mall Park

Kellogg Mall Park is one of approximately 10 Downtown Saint Paul parks. It sits on about 4 acres of land, not coincidentally, along Kellogg Boulevard. High above the Mississippi River as it passes Downtown, this park has one of the best unobstructed views of the river and West Side. It’s also quite underused, because it is lacking in activities and some visitors have had concerns about safety. That’s why the city’s Parks and Rec department debuted “Kick It At Kellogg” for the summer of 2025.

The goal of Kick It, according to the website, is to “create a park that is active, inclusive, safe…” Saint Paul’s Parks and Rec staff did this by providing board games and toys, live music, story time for children, yoga and other activities.

Among the permanent features of this four-block long linear park are two fountains.

While not necessarily noticeable at first, artistic, casual and entertaining references to Saint Paul’s early history dot the area near the fountain surrounded by bricks (below.) Picking up a history lesson through art and watching barges move along the Mississippi River are great reasons to visit Kellogg Mall Park.

Continuing through Downtown toward the northeast, the next interlude in the ride was to check out a major building renovation.

The old Emporium

The building under renovation was known as Metro Square for years. In March 2026, the name was changed to Ramsey County Government Center. Perhaps slightly more boring, certainly more verbose, and indisputably clearer to customers.

No matter the era or name, 121 7th Place East was built as The Emporium department store in 1911. And as you can see, it was a beauty! This Emporium was really a large expansion of its existing store. When done, it took up two Downtown blocks. The white brick and terracotta exterior was peppered with dozens of windows on each floor which led to the nickname of St. Paul’s “fresh air” store.

The opening of the larger store was so notable that Emporium officials and the Pioneer Press published an eight page spread touting it in the September 8, 1912 edition.

Another major remodeling, the sixth, completed in the summer of 1959, included a total revamp of the exterior. The August 30, 1959 Pioneer Press promotional section described the complete facelift this way. “It begins with the striking beige aluminum siding emphasizing the massiveness of the store.” The promotional story also disclosed that all windows above the first floor had been enclosed.

In the same edition, ‘The Em-Scene by Emme’ column offered several pronouncements regarding the new exterior paneling and updated store interior. She declared, visitors will say, “It’s an old refrain, but the tune is beautiful music to the owners of a store that is almost as old as this century, yet as modern as next year’s jet airplane.”

The aluminum exterior did not hold up well aesthetically, at least in architectural critic Larry Millett’s opinion. Of the veneer, he stated in the June 23, 2018 StarTribune newspaper, it was “so hideous that it must have caused weeping in the streets.”

The fortunes of the Emporium department store reversed not long after the ’59 remodeling. Eight years later it had gone out of business. The aluminum facade was mercifully removed in 1987. The replacement—numerous blue-tinted glass panels—were very similar to the ones installed during this exterior and interior renovation.

While better than the aluminum panels, the glass does not come close to the beauty of the original exterior. One could look upon the fate of The Emporium as a preview of the future of department stores in the U.S.

Back on the bluff

Biking to Dayton’s Bluff is always interesting, more so with the Kellogg Avenue-Third Street Bridge closed. Daring may be a better way to put it. The issue is not really East 7th’s 250 foot incline from Lowertown to the top of the bluff. Rather, the near-constant stream of motor vehicles and no true bike lane in which to ride. The right turn to southbound Mounds Boulevard adds another hazard.

Clearing Mounds Boulevard the ride gets easier thanks to a wider East 7th and slightly less traffic. The first stop on Dayton’s Bluff was at the discernibly old Dellwood Gardens, an assisted living and memory care facility.

The original part of this structure, since enlarged several times, is at 753 7th Street East. When it opened in early January 1917, it bore the ignominious name “Home for the Friendless,” a designation that dated back to its 1867 founding. According to Steve Trimble’s article in “Saint Paul Historical,” 12 women—including Harriet Bishop—began raising money to house and support destitute women and children.

In 1935, the Home for the Friendless—at last—got a more appropriate name, “The Protestant Home.”

Since then, it’s gone through a few changes in ownership and names.

Urban Roots, a Dayton’s Bluff-based nonprofit, plants and cares for these gardens.

A house on a hill

A large and stately red brick manor sits upon a slight hill just off East 7th. Known by the name of its original owners, Henry and Hilda Defiel, 732 Margaret Street is a gorgeous example of a Victorian-era masterpiece.

Defiel, a life-long Saint Paul resident, first worked for his father, who founded People’s Ice Company. That business harvested and distributed ice. Later, he founded the Superior Refining Company.

The Defiels relocated from their Margaret Street home to take up residence on the more hoity-toity Summit Avenue in 1925.

Getting the lead out

Many streets on the East Side were in various states of construction in 2025. it’s all part of a 10-year project dubbed Lead Free SPRWS. That’s a plan to replace lead water pipes throughout the service area of the Saint Paul Regional Water Services.

Lead pipe replacement has been a priority for the SPRWS because lead is known to adversely affect the brain, nervous system, red blood cells, and kidneys. Children and pregnant women are at greater risk from exposure to lead.

Fire Station No. 7

On one block of Ross Avenue between East 7th and Earl Street, you’ll find two fire station buildings. Both built as Fire Station No. 7, they were constructed almost 100 years apart.

The strikingly different designs embody the eras in which they were built and how fire stations, and the people and vehicles within, worked at the time of construction.

Decorative touches on the exterior of old No. 7 are many.

Of course, only men could be firefighters when the red brick Station No. 7 was built in 1930, so it had one communal sleeping area. Not until more than 60 years after Station 7 opened did the first women firefighters join SPFD; in May 1992 to be exact.

For decades, firefighters’ turnout gear told their personal story of the job. The belief was the dirtier the gear, the better the firefighter. There was no formal procedure or facilities for cleaning gear, so after a fire, jackets and pants, helmets, hoods, gloves and boots covered in carcinogenic-laden soot were simply hung up in lockers, frequently near their beds. Old Station 7’s design reflected this mindset.

Across Ross Avenue the new Station No. 7 stands in obvious contrast, a sleek, pragmatic and significantly larger structure. It’s utilitarian design has no ornamental granite, no stylized stone signs, no decorative lighting. In these days of fiscal prudence, it’s all about function.

For instance, studies show firefighters have notably higher incidences of cancer than the general population. Consequently, the SPFD (and others) now emphasizes personal equipment decontamination and cleanliness. The focus on health is designed into Station 7.

Offices, the kitchen, lounge and individual sleeping spaces are isolated from the four truck bays and gear decontamination, showers and storage to reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals.

The living areas are on the left portion—white siding on the first floor and black on the second—of the fire house. Wood or simulated wood material accentuates the public entrance. The truck bays are surrounded by silver/grey cladding, with four fire engine red garage doors.

Minnesota’s first electric fire engine was assigned to Station 7. The purchase turned out to be controversial. First, concerns arose about how the batteries that power it will work in Saint Paul’s bitter cold winters. At least equally important was the cost—at about $1.8 million the Rosenbauer RTX was about twice the price of a conventional diesel fire truck. The City expected a federal grant to pay for the rig, but it turned out to be ineligible. Therefore, Saint Paul taxpayers had to pick up the cost.

Yes, we live in a barn

The barn look dominates the house and garage on the southeast corner of Duluth and Beech Streets. Officially, the address of the home built in 1913 is 686 Duluth. Only painting the structures “barn red,” technically known as Venice Red, would give them a more authentic look.

While I couldn’t determine whether the garage was built at the same time as the house, it is certainly old. You’ll notice the extension that sticks out beyond the rest of on the front. Not uncommon in Saint Paul, structurally sound garages were enlarged to accommodate lengthening cars.

The tree house

There’s a tree house, or more accurately, pieces of trees around the house at 632 Earl Street at Sixth. Long dead limbs, roots and large logs surround the home and property.

Most interesting are the wildly different shaped cross-sections of trees and the forest green color seems fitting.

Sixth Street

Heading toward home, I returned to the heart of Dayton’s Bluff. Many lovely old homes dot this area. The biggest collection of splendid Queen Anne-style abodes are scattered between Mounds Boulevard and Hope Street and Minnehaha and Burns Avenues to the north and south.

I’ve noticed and come to appreciate some of the lesser-known homes on either side of Sixth Street between Hope and Maria.

There are several uniquely beautiful homes on Sixth I missed and others on the cross-streets that are also worthy of a look. All will have to await my next ride to Dayton’s Bluff.

Downtown detours

Rolling down the East 7th hill from Dayton’s Bluff to Lowertown, and then Downtown, I got waylayed by construction. It’s hard to avoid torn up streets Downtown during decent weather.

I’ve lived in Saint Paul since fall of 1986. While it may be untrue, it seems as though some Downtown streets have been under construction every year since then. Even before that, I have dim memories of roads torn up for installation of large pipes for District Heating.

So, the mind-numbing sounds of jack hammers pounding pavement, the unmistakably pungent diesel odor and streets that resemble miniature pit mines with dust clogging the air are expected. That’s what residents, workers and visitors dealt with on sections of Sixth Street and Robert Street during the 2025 construction season.

Despite my earlier critical comments regarding Downtown construction, I very much support taking caring for our infrastructure. Smooth roads are exceedingly important to bike riders, obviously. I’m certain I’m far from the only person who visits Downtown to wish for

With the backlog of road projects throughout Saint Paul, it is surprising when I don’t encounter a project or two on rides. I’ll strive to limit the frequency of posts including road construction to unusual or major projects.