Minnesota’s Storied City: A Walking Tour to St. Paul’s State Capitol

St. Paul may be the most historic city in Minnesota. It’s been home to gangsters, great writers and is filled with ghosts of the past. Our walking tour of St. Paul’s history begins in Rice Park, in front of the Landmark Center, the city's cultural hub and “St.Paul's very own castle”. You’ll make your way down the Mississippi River to look out where the Dakota village of Kaposia was once located, and hear about the early history of the area. From Union Depot, the city’s once bustling Beaux Arts-style train station, you’ll begin your journey through St. Paul’s Lowertown. At Mears Park, you walk through a corridor of modern architecture toward the Minnesota State Capitol and its surrounding Capitol Mall, where you'll find out how a young architect named Cass Gilbert won the commission to build this magnificent building. Along the way, you’ll have a chance to: • Learn the true story of “Pig’s Eye” Parrant, the French fur trader who was historically considered St. Paul’s first resident • Pass the historic Fitzgerald Theater, the oldest theater in St Paul, originally called the Sam S. Shubert Theater • Meet some of St. Paul’s most famous progeny, including the author F. Scott Fitzgerald, hockey coach Herb Brooks, and Charles Shulz, the cartoonist behind Charlie Brown – and find out why Charlie was so sad • Hear about the city’s friendly (or less-than-friendly) rivalry with Minneapolis, in the so-called “Census War” of 1890 • Find out what the pineapple hubcaps on the State Capitol’s golden chariot mean • Walk past the one-time headquarters of St. Paul’s criminal underworld and learn how police chief John O’Connor turned the city into a true gangsters’ paradise Come along for a fun 75-minute walk along the many roads that run through the history of the Saintly City.

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