Saint Paul
the capital of Minnesota.
It is on the Mississippi river, and on the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific, the Chicago, St. Paul, the Minneapolis and Omaha, the Rock Island, Burlington, Great Western, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, the Minneapolis and St.
Louis, and other railroads. The city is most attractively situated on the banks of the Mississippi. The business portion is built on a foundation of solid rock.
Trolley lines radiate in all directions, leading to the suburbs, and scores of lakes lie within a short drive from the heart of the city. The city is provided with good good arterial highways running into the country, as well as paved streets within the city itself. There are nearly 100 miles of paved streets and over 45 miles of macadamized streets. Travel and trade from without the city are facilitated by 12 important national highways which pass through it.
There are within the city limits 52 improved parkways with an area of over 1,600 acres, 21 unimproved parks, 12 boulevards, and 10 public playgrounds.
The largest of the parks is Phalen Park; with an area of 487 acres, 247 of which are taken up by a lake which has a bathing beach. Como Park is 427 acres in extent. In it are located the botanical gardens of the city, as well as game preserves of elk, buffalo, and deer. The most notable public buildings of the city are the State Capitol, which is conceded to be one of the finest and most artistic administration buildings in the world, the city hall, Federal buildings, post office, public library, the James J. Hill Reference Library, and the Municipal Auditorium.
The latter building was built by popular subscription of the citizens. In its upper floors is housed the St. Paul Institute, which maintains a free art gallery and a museum, and is the center of the educational and intellectual activities of the city. The Minnesota State Art Society has its headquarters in the Old Capitol Building, and there it has an unusually SAINT PAUL large collection of pictures, sculpture, and craft work.
St. Paul is notable for its beautiful private residences. The principal residential street is Summit Avenue, but there are others scarcely less notable. The hills on which the city is built make the residential portions particularly attractive, and in every direction from its center lie attractive suburbs. Among the suburbs lying' S. along the river is South Saint Paul, where are located the great stock yards.
The city has an excellent school system comprising public and high schools. There were in 1920, 62 public grade and high schools, with a teaching and supervising staff of 750, and an enrollment of over 35,000 pupils. In addition there are 46 private and parochial schools with an attendance of about 13,000. There are six colleges and universities, including the State College of Agriculture. The State University is within ten minutes ride from the city limits. There are 11 business and trade schools, 8 schools of music, and 3 art schools.
St. Paul has facilities for large river traffic. The municipal dock is equipped with the most modern facilities. Four railroads have direct access to the river front on different portions of the harbor.
There is an adequate supply of power derived from water power developments in the neighborhood of the city. There is also available a supply of gas for those industries which require this commodity for a source of energy.
There were in 1919 849 manufacturing establishments, with 41,248 wage-earners, a capital investment of $155,685,000, and a product valued at $215,000,000. The most important industries are boots and shoes, the manufacture of butter, cheese and condensed milk, railroad repair shops, foundry and machine shop products, fur goods, and meat packing. It is also one of the most important milling centers of the United States. St. Paul is a wholesale jobbing center for the surrounding country.
There were in 1920, 32 banks with an aggregate capital of $10,040,373, and surplus and undivided profits of $5,776,480. The bank clearings at the close of 1919 amounted to $961,376,325. The assessed value of property on December 31, 1919, was $135,804,277, of which $99,300,903 was in real estate. The net bonded debt was $8,300,941. Pop. (1900) 163,065; (1910) 214,744; (1920) 234,698.
History.-A French Canadian settled History. A on the site of the city in 1838. Three years later Father Gaultier, a French Catholic priest, founded the first church here, and named it St. Paul, from which the city derived its name. It received its ST. PAUL'S city charter in 1854, and united the suburb of West St. Paul in 1874. Since the latter year there has been such a rapid growth that the outskirts of the city reach those of Minneapolis. These two cities are known as "The Twin Cities of the West."
ST. PAUL, a volcanic islet 2 miles long and 860 feet high, in the Indian Ocean, midway between Africa and Australia. It is comparatively bare, in contrast to the smaller but densely vegetated island of New Amsterdam, 50 miles to the N. St. Paul's Rocks is a group of small islets 1º N. of the equator and 540 miles from the South American coast.
ST. PAUL, an island near the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, N. E. of Cape Breton. It is small; its surface is undulating and hilly; and it is traversed by strips of forest.
ST. PAUL'S, a cathedral in London, England, situated on Ludgate Hill, an elevation on the N. bank of the Thames.
The site of the present building was originally occupied by a church erected by Ethelbert, King of Kent, in 610. This was destroyed by fire in 1087, and another edifice, Old St. Paul's, was shortly afterward commenced. The structure was in the Gothic style, in the form of a Latin cross, 690 feet long, 130 feet broad, with a lead-covered wooden spire rising to the height of 520 feet. The middle aisle was termed Paul's walk, from its being frequented by idlers as well as money lenders and general dealers. Old St. Paul's was much damaged by a fire in 1139, by lightning in 1444, again by fire in 1561, and was utterly destroyed by the great fire in 1666. The ruins remained for about eight years, when the rebuilding was taken in hand by the government government of of Charles II. (1675-1710). The whole building was completed at a total cost of $7,- 556,010 by Sir Christopher Wren. It is of Portland stone, in the form of a cross.
Its length is 510 feet; the width from N. to S. portion 282 feet; the general height is 100 feet. The whole is surmounted by a great dome raised on eight arches.
Above the dome is a lantern or gallery terminated above by a ball and gilded cross, 363 feet from the pavement beneath. The elevated portico forming the grand entrance consists of 12 Corinthian columns, with an upper series of eight pillars of the Composite order, supporting a pediment; the front being flanked by two bell-towers 120 feet in height. The entablature represents in relief the conversion of St. Paul, a work of Francis Bird. On the S. front, which co corresponds with the N., is a phenix rising from the flames, with the motto, "Resurgam" (I ST. PAUL'S BAY 200 SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON shall rise again). The pavement of the interior is composed of slabs of black and white marble. The crypt under the nave contains the burying-places of many illustrious personages, and some interesting relics of old St. Paul's. Among the numerous monuments and statues to the illustrious dead may be noted those of John Howard and Dr. Johnson, by Bacon; statues of Nelson, Earl Howe Howe, and Sir Joshua Reynolds, by Flaxman; Bishop Heber, by Chantrey; and monuments to Lord Rodney, Lord Heathfield, Admiral Collingwood, General Abercrombie, etc., by Rossi, Westmacott, and others. The monument to the Duke of Wellington, by Alfred Stevens, is accounted the finest work of its kind in England. It consists of a rich marble sarcophagus and canopy elaborately ornamented with bronze sculptures. It is 30 feet in height and cost upward of $150,000.
ST. PAUL'S BAY, a bay on the N. coast of Malta, notable as being the traditional scene of St. Paul's shipwreck. It is 6½ miles from Valetta and its environments are prominent in Biblical literature. ST. PAUL'S ROCKS, ROCKS, a group of small islands in the Atlantic Ocean, E. of South America. They are characterized by great bowlders scattered over their surface, and by the rocks at their bases in the sea, making an approach to them dangerous.
ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL, an English school, in West Kensington, London; originally founded in 1509. Among its pupils have been Major André, Camden, Roger Cotes, Sir P. Francis, Halley, Leland, the Duke of Marlborough, Milton, Robert Nelson, Pepys, Strype, and Judge Jeffreys.
ST. PETER, LAKE, a sheet of water which is really an expansion of the St.
Lawrence river, near Three Rivers. Many rivers flow into it, the largest being the St. Francis. There are many islands in its S. half, several of which are notable for beautiful scenery. The lake is 35 miles long and its greatest breadth is 10 miles.
ST. PETER PORT, the capital of the island of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands; about 25 miles from St. Helier, It is a watering-place and has a beautiful Gothic church. Pop. about 20,000.
ST. PETER'S, the Cathedral of Rome, the largest and one of the most magnifi. cent churches in Christendom. It is a cruciform building in the Italian style, surmounted by a lofty dome, built on the legendary site of St. Peter's martyrdom.
In 306 Constantine the Great erected on this spot a basilica of great magnificence.
In the time of Nicholas V. it threatened to fall into ruins, and he determined on its reconstruction, but the work of restoration proceeded slowly, and Julius II. (1503-1513) decided on the erection of an entirely new building. He laid the foundation stone of the new cathedral on the 18th of April, 1506, and selected the famous Bramante as his architect. After the latter's death various architects had charge of the work till Michelangelo was appointed in 1546. He nearly completed the dome and a large portion of the building before his decease (1564).
The nave was finished in 1612, the façade and portico in 1616, and the church was dedicated by Urban VIII. Nov. 18, 1626.
The extensive colonnade which surrounds the piazza and forms a magnificent_approach to the church was begun by Bernini in 1667, and the sacristy erected by Carlo Marchionni in 1776. The interior diameter of the dome is 139 feet, the exterior diameter 1952 feet; its height from the pavement to the base of the lantern 405 feet, to the top of the cross outside 435 feet. The length of the cathedral within the walls is 613½ feet; the height of the nave near the door 1522 feet; the width 872 feet. The width of the side aisles is 33% fee feet; the entire width of the nave and side aisles, including the piers that separate them, 1974 feet. The circumference of the piers which support the dome is 253 feet. The floor of the cathedral covers nearly 5 acres, and its cost is estimated to have exceeded $50,- 000,000.