The Street Where You Live: A Guide to the Place Names of St. Paul

From the architectural landmarks of Cathedral Hill to the tranquil charm of Lake Phalen, St. Paul possesses a long, colorful history that its residents celebrate with an almost cultish fervor. Each neighborhood offers a glimpse into the city’s roots and every street tells a story. Combining rigorous research with a feisty wit, Donald L. Empson has written an entertaining history of St. Paul’s place names. Here people throughout the city can discover the often-quirky origins of every place name—from A Street to Zimmerman Place. Who knew that Payne Avenue was named after Rice W. Payne, whose property was confiscated after he fought in the Civil War as a Confederate major? Or that Lexington Parkway was named after the first battle of the Revolutionary War because the developer’s wife felt the neighboring streets sounded too British? With more than one thousand entries and over one hundred photographs, The Street Where You Live is the most complete inventory of public spaces in St. Paul in existence. At long last this new edition—the first update since 1975—has been revised and expanded to include neighborhoods, parks, lakes, streams, islands, bridges, cemeteries, caves, and other landmarks, as well as streets and avenues. Learn the perfect trivial tidbit for cocktail parties, find destinations for Sunday drives, and get to know the city from pavement to park—in The Street Where You Live, St. Paul’s secrets are revealed.Donald L. Empson is a local historian based in Stillwater, Minnesota.Don Boxmeyer wrote for the St. Paul Dispatch and St. Paul Pioneer Press for more than three and a half decades. He is the author of A Knack for Knowing Things: Stories from St. Paul Neighborhoods and Beyond.