Then & Now: Rice and University

I saw this photo on the MNHS archive a while back and it just floored me. Rice and University look nothing like this today, and indeed haven’t looked this way since they built that big white building with the dome there in 1904.

 

7a

 

7b

 

7c7d

 

There used to be a streetcar line that cut diagonally along this corner, and led through St Paul’s now-vanished “Central Park” neighborhood. During the 50s, much of this area was razed for surface parking and the behemoth Sears store. Today, the LRT caternary wires hang in almost the exact same spot. Other than that, nothing else is the same.

 

 

Bill Lindeke

About Bill Lindeke

Pronouns: he/him

Bill Lindeke has writing blogging about sidewalks and cities since 2005, ever since he read Jane Jacobs. He is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota Geography Department, the Cityscape columnist at Minnpost, and has written multiple books on local urban history. He was born in Minneapolis, but has spent most of his time in St Paul. Check out Twitter @BillLindeke or on Facebook.