St. Paul was a haven for notorious criminals in the late 1920s and early 1930s when local law enforcement turned a blind eye to the underworld activities of gangsters, bank robbers, and bootleggers. One of the most cold-blooded groups to take up residence in the city was the Barker-Karpis gang. Between 1931 and 1935, the […]
Stockyards Exchange Building
South St. Paul’s rise and fall as the king of the meat packing industry began in 1886 and lasted for over one hundred and twenty years. Today, however, most of what was once one of the largest stockyard operations in the world has been lost to the wrecking ball. As the meat packing operations in […]
“Dapper Dan” Hogan Home – 1607 West 7th Street
On the morning of December 4, 1928, “Dapper Dan” Hogan, a known mob boss during the height of St. Paul’s organized crime days, entered the garage of his home located at 1607 West 7th Street. He opened the door of his Paige coupe and climbed behind the wheel. When he pressed his foot to the […]
Armour Gates
On an empty, overgrown lot located at the corner of Armour and Hardman Avenues in South St. Paul sits the only remaining vestige of what was once the largest livestock operation in the world. Developed on 260 acres along the Mississippi River, five miles south of downtown St. Paul, the stockyards employed over 6,000 people […]
Wabasha Street Caves
Opened in 1933 on St. Paul’s West Side, the Castle Royal was publicized as the “World’s Most Gorgeous Underground Nightclub” by local newspapers. Performers such as Cab Calloway, the Dorsey Brothers and Harry James performed at the club during its heyday. Rumor also has it that patrons of the club included gangland legends such as […]
