James Hill & Summit Ave.

The reason we traveled relatively quickly across the Great Plains was that Bob wanted to compete in a disc golf tournament in St. Paul. On the day of the tournament, I dropped him off about 8 a.m. and Darwin and I headed into St. Paul. Because it was so early in the morning, none of the museums were open. To while away the time, we walked four about four miles along the Mississippi River. There were walkers and bikers and the view was sometimes pretty and sometimes reflected decaying industrial buildings. When 10 a.m. rolled around, I left Darwin in the back of the car in the parking structure and walked up the hill near St. Paul's Cathedral to Summit Avenue and the James Hill House and bought tickets for the house tour and an architectural tour of Summit Ave. I walked over to St. Paul's Cathedral to await the architectural tour. When I came out it was pouring rain and the tour was cancelled. Instead, I went on the James Hill house tour.

James Hill, born in Guelph, Ontario, came to St. Paul to work as a "mudder," unloading the barges that traveled up the Mississippi River to the falls in Minneapolis, where they had to be unloaded. He was careful with his money and with some backers began a transportation business. As a bachelor, he ate all his meals in a particular hotel where he met an Irish waitress, whom he married. She was a good Catholic and they had 10 children.

Hill and some different backers eventually purchased the almost bankrupt Northern Pacific RR and started to build it west into Canada. The Canadian government refused to let him continue into Canada, so he was forced to go west through Montana, eventually finding the lowest pass through the Rockies at the same place we drove through. The Northern Pacific and Hill were also trying to build railroads into southern BC, which caused Canadian companies to beat him at his game and construct the railroad that went through the Othello Quintette tunnels. Hill succeeded partly because he was a hands-on manager and was out supervising the actual construction of the railroad.

Ultimately he built the house, the back of a portion of which is shown in the top photo. The house is 36,000 square feet and was constructed between
1888 and 1891 and had all sorts of conveniences such as central heating, electric lights, etc. It was designed by a Boston firm and the central heating is still used (though the coal-fired boilers have been replaced with natural gas). The house includes an art room with a glass ceiling below which is hung a frame covered with fabric to protect the art from too much sun or to let additional sun in. That room also has a 1,600 rank organ (which was played by a volunteer organist since it was Saturday). The main hall alone is 2,000 square feet. The dining room ceiling is covered in gold leaf and had leather embossed "wallpaper" on the walls. It was actually not all that gaudy.

Hill, who knew to the penny how much he spent on the house, did not have a will (i.e. he died intestate). He died in 1916 and his wife continued to live in the house until her death in 1921. She also died intestate (no one knows why they didn't have wills given their emphasis on details elsewhere in their lives). After her death the kids tried to sell the house unsuccessfully and ultimately gave it to the Catholic Church which used it as a place to train nuns to teach in the parochial schools.

Eventually the Catholic Church got tired of the building and it was given to the Minnesota Historical Society. After the house tour, lunch at Cafe Latte, I returned to Summit Ave. too late for the tour. However, as I parked, I saw the group heading off down the street and Darwin and I joined in. Summit Ave, five miles in length, with the exception of about 40-60 houses, consists of original houses in various styles built between about 1855 and 1920. The docent-led tour was very informative. Summit Avenue, until about 15 years ago was a very run down area of town with a high crime rate and lousy schools. Many of these houses had been turned into apartments and the Catholic Church owned a whole bunch (which is probably what saved the neighborhood). A few brave urban pioneers began to buy up the houses dirt cheap and rehabilitate them. The other three photos are of some of the wonderful houses on Summit Avenue. The third photo of a duplex was built by two lawyers who were also partners in their law firm.

If you ever get to St. Paul, Summit Avenue is a must-see for anyone who loves old houses that have generally been painstakingly restored.