Since the 1870s
St. Paul, MN
The first of my family settled in St. Paul in the 1870s. They were the Kelly family and they ran a boarding house for Irish immigrants at 156 Franklin Street which later became Auditorium Street. My great grandmother told of going down to the levee (as a little girl) to show the newly arrived Irish the way to the boarding house. She said that she made them walk a distance behind her because they smelled bad and she didn't want her friends to know she was with them. By 1900 all of my grandparents and most of my great grandparents lived in St. Paul. My grandparents all lived in what is now called the Summit-University neighborhood. None of their houses remain today. They lived on Kent, Aurora, Rondo, and Iglehart Streets. I grew up in the neighborhood between Calvary cemetery and Como Lake. For entertainment, we would walk to the Bluebird theater on Rice St, the Faust theater on University, or the Center theater on University. In going over the bridges, it was great fun to dance in the steam that came up from through the gaps in the wooden boardwalks when a locomotive went under the bridge. Sometimes, our whole family would walk up to the Como Lake Pavilion to see the Sunset Valley Barn Dance performance. When KSTP built their new studio on University, we would go there by streetcar to see the Riddle Griddle radio show hosted by Jimmy Valentine on Saturday mornings. We'd go home with a big bag of Red Wagon popcorn. As a teenager, I would often skate at the Coliseum roller rink next to Lexington ballpark on University and Lexington. In the middle 50s, we would cruise University Avenue from Porky's to the White Castle on 7th Street. Sometimes, I still take out the Mustang and cruise the avenue.
Read more stories