History of the West Side

Back in November we won a walking tour of the West Side.  Ever since moving here we have fallen in love with the neighborhood.  We love walking around and looking at the old houses.  There are some spectacular properties in this area.  Being on the bluff, I am sure that there is so much history of some of the original residents of the west side of St. Paul.

We got a wonderful history lesson on the West Side from one of our neighbors.  He lives in a house that was actually designed by the same architect who designed the State Capitol!

Back in the late 1800s a farmer by the name of Dawson had a huge farm where Cherokee Park begins before crossing the high bridge and going into Lilydale.  Our house is on the land that he had owned.  We had the chance to look at old maps from back in the day and hear about how the neighborhood developed and changed.  What was really cool was to find out what houses are the oldest in the neighborhood.  Our guide even pointed out how many of the oldest houses still have barns that they converted into garages.  There also used to be streams and creeks running through and were part of how the road landscape was eventually formed.

After our history lesson we went on a walk where we were able to see all the different architectural styles that make up the different eras that have created our neighborhood.  It was really cool.  I am now obsessed with going on the MN Historical Society website and looking at pictures in the archives.  Here are a few of my favorite historical photos of the west side.  Eventually I want to order these pictures and do a gallery wall of them in our entryway or in our one-day library upstairs.

This picture is the closest we can find to getting a picture of our house when it was first built.  It was built in 1903 and this was taken of our neighborhood in 1904.  This is probably three blocks off from where our house is located. 

This picture was taken a block down from our house on Congress St. in the early 1900s.  We walk by this house all the time!

New entryway floor

Our front entry has had laminate tiles that have been falling apart ever since we bought our house.  The design on the tile has literally peeled off.  It has only accented the ugly red carpet that goes up the front stairs.

Nick decided that it was time to lay a new floor... a mere day before we were having a party.  We decided to do a sheet vinyl that looks and feels like a wood floor.  It is easy maintenance and the install was easy as well!  Here is the almost finished product before the new trim.

 Nick finished laying the floor an hour before people were scheduled to arrive!  What a hard worker!

The new floor is a million times better than the old one.  Now we are motivated to redo the stairs and get new lighting in the entry way.  It is the first thing you see when you come in and it needs more work!  At least we have a good start!