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The Uptown

By Patricia A. Cummings, March 6, 2011
(Photo courtesy Patricia A. Cummings)

In the drama of my family, the Uptown Theatre played a lead role. Sitting in the middle of the block at 1053 Grand Avenue, the theater began as the Oxford in 1921. In 1929, the Uptown was reborn as an “atmospheric theatre” with an Italian motif, stucco walls, faux balconies, stars and clouds on the ceiling, and a brightly lit marquee. In the 1950s, it was again remodeled in mid-century modern style. In 1976, the Uptown turned its lights out for the last time, to make way for a parking lot.

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Filed Under: History, Memories, Places Tagged With:

The Best Place in the World

By Maxine Lightfoot, March 6, 2011
(Photos courtesy Saint Paul Public Libraries)

I have lived in Saint Paul most of my life, and I’d say my favorite place in Saint Paul is the St. Anthony Park Public Library. With its many shelves and millions of stories, each one unique, each one special in its own way, there is no place like it in the world. I love going to the library after school for hours on end, looking at the books. The St. Anthony Park Library is unique because of its architecture. The original library, now the adult-teen section, was part of a Carnegie Library built in 1917. It has been updated, and a children’s section, built in the shape of a large dome, was attached to the old building.

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Filed Under: History, Places, Things We Love Tagged With: , , , ,

Winter Carnival 1887: A Ghost Story

By John Reimringer, February 27, 2011
Michael Reimringer and Anna Wiemann on their wedding day in November 1880 (Photo: John Reimringer)

For almost as long as there has been a Saint Paul, my family has been a part of the city. My father, Carl Reimringer, was born here in 1914, and baptized in Assumption Church, where his father was baptized and his grandfather was married. Though I’d never lived here, when my wife and I moved to Saint Paul shortly after my father’s death in 2001, I fell head over heels in love with the city, feeling that I’d returned to a home I hadn’t realized had been missing from my life.

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At the Bar Where F. Scott Fitzgerald Drank Gin

By Todd Boss, December 10, 2010
F. Scott Fitzgerald, circa 1920. (Photo: Minnesota Historical Society)

—even though I drank wine,
and then only half a glass—I felt I
owed it to myself and to the guests
who’d sat politely through the reading
—and to everyone in every
college and university 20th Century
American Literature class
throughout history...

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Filed Under: Places, Poetry and Fiction Tagged With: , , ,

My Unforgettable Lesson of the RNC

By Ed Howell, September 30, 2010
Police and protesters in Mears Park (Photo: nigelparry.com)

It was Tuesday in Mears Park, the second day of the Republican National Convention (RNC). We had already marched on Monday as part of the crowd of 10,000 protesting everything from the war in Iraq to the presence of Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu. Being part of a large group like that, you tend to only see and hear those things in your immediate area. But someone mentioned that they heard a cop say there had already been tear gas used farther downtown.

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Police Work: Undercover as a prostitute with Carolen Bailey

By Carolen Bailey, May 12, 2010
saint-paul-police-history

Here is a picture signed in 1974 from the very first case I ever worked on. I had just pulled off my blond wig when Sgt. Paul Paulos pointed his camera at me, so I put the wig back on crooked, because I really didn’t think he’d take the photo.

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Pazzaluna: Good Vibrations

By Andrea Taylor Langworthy, April 29, 2010
Photo: Sharon Mollerus/Flickr

My husband and I have a favorite restaurant, Pazzaluna, in downtown Saint Paul. The Italian eatery has happy-hour pizza and wine specials that keep us coming back. Even better, its energy is so good that a bad mood can be lifted just by walking in the door. Last week, I realized the source of the good vibes. As they say in real estate: location, location, location. Pazzaluna is located in the same place once occupied by Frank Murphy, a women’s clothing store.

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Jimmi Owens, Midway Baseball Ambassador

By Tom Goldstein, June 1, 2009
The Jimmie Owens plaque at Midway Stadium

Unlike the horror stories about parents gone bad at Little League games that occasionally appear on the evening news, Midway has a strong tradition of respect and civility, due in large measure to Jim Kelley, the energetic co-founder of the Midway Baseball program.

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Streetcars of Saint Paul

By Ronee McHendrik, May 26, 2009
Selby-Lake streetcar in the 1940s advertising war bonds and stamps (Photo: Minneapolis Star Journal Tribune)

In the early 1940s, we lived on the East Side of Saint Paul near Hazelwood and Seventh streets, where streetcars stopped almost in front of our house. One of my earliest memories is of waiting for the streetcar to bring my grandfather and aunts home from their downtown jobs at the central post office and The Emporium and Schuneman's, two of the large department stores.

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