Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN

In each city there is always a Main Street that has the town's most important places to see. For Saint Paul, Minnesota there are plenty of places of interest, but most of them are located on Summit Avenue. Summit Avenue is one of the most historic streets with houses, churches, schools, and synagogues. The street begins in the west of Saint Paul and works its way to the Mississippi River about four and a half miles.

Summit Avenue is known for its character, but more than that its preservation. Those who own buildings or the historical society which owns a few of the buildings strive to keep them in great shape. One of the best examples is Victorian residential boulevard with a number of Victorian Homes near Summit Avenue.

The avenue offers two National Historic Districts and two Heritage Preservation Districts. The national districts are Historical Hill which works from Lexington Avenue, Portland Avenue, Dale Street North, Marshall, Pleasant Street, and Grand Avenue. The second is the West Summit Avenue Historic District. Oxford Street to the Mississippi makes up this section of Summit Avenue. Summit Hill and Crocus Hill are the two names for these historical districts. Ramsey Hill which is from Interstate 94 to the Cathedral of Saint Paul is a district of houses built between 1890 and 1920.

Many of the buildings one can see while traveling down the road were started in 1887 and up. There are multiple architectural designs in the houses with Colonial Revival, Classical, Bungalow, and Victorian.

The history of Summit Avenue dates back prior to the buildings and houses. The street was created in the 1850's when Saint Paul was still a baby city. A few mansions were built on the street as early as 1859 like Edward Duffield Neils home, which was replaced by James J Hill House. The Hill Mansion is the most notable structure on Summit Avenue. It took a little less than a million dollars to create the home, which was turned over to the Catholic Archdioceses before it became a historical society property.

The Civil War helped grow Summit Avenue as water service, a cable car line, and other important amenities began to crop up in the city. Unfortunately the district declined in the 1930's with the depression, which is one reason some of the old mansions were vacant or became rooming houses. For anyone visiting Saint Paul there are plenty of places to stop by like the Cathedral of Saint Paul.

Other tourist attractions on Summit Avenue include Burbank Livingston Griggs House, F. Scott Fitzgerald House, William Mitchell College of Law, Minnesota Governor's Residence, Pierce and Walter Butler House. Also on the street include Macalester College, University of St. Thomas, Dr. Ward Beebe House, Saint Paul Seminary, and Frank B. Kellogg House.

Visitors to Saint Paul should see a few of the mansions that still stand on Summit Avenue as well as a couple of the colleges to get a true feel of Saint Paul's character.