December 9, 2010: St. Albans Avenue/Crocus Hill Hike (St. Paul)

Join Larry Martin for an architectural/house history hike along several of the streets nearby Summit Avenue in the historic and scenic Crocus Hill area of St. Paul. Of the structures built, which were a hodgepodge of Queen Ann, Romanesque, Beaux Arts, Georgian Revival, and Italian Villa styles, 85 percent remain intact. An 1859 photo shows only six mansions on Summit Hill’s crest. Summit Hill’s first homes, which were built on scattered plots of ground, preceded the plotting of Summit Avenue. By 1880, a building boom engulfed St. Paul, real estate prices soared, and Summit Avenue and its adjacent streets were plotted, and a sewer system was promised to Hill residents. A rich heritage of history lingers along the streets and homes of Summit/Crocus Hill. The area is distinguished by its combination of financially secure, well-educated upper- and middle-class families, and spacious homes of Victorian and Edwardian architecture. During the late 1970's and early 1980's, 25 to 35 percent of the area's apartments were converted to condominiums. The hike will pass by the residences of numerous notables, including architect Cass Gilbert, architect Clarence H. Johnston, Sr., Nobel Peace Prize winner Frank Billings Kellogg, Governor William Rush Merriam, Governor J. A. A. Burnquist, Wild West physician Dr. Henry Franklin Hoyt, the "unlucky bank robber" Charlie Harmon, architect Allen H. Stem, West Publishing Company president Charles W. Ames, St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company president Charles H. Bigelow, ADM president John W. Daniels, Log Cabin syrup founder Eugene Towle, and NSP/Xcel Energy founder Henry M. Byllesby, and will pass by the unusual conjoined Benjamin Goodkind-William Goodkind houses.

If coming by car: Take I-94 east to St. Paul and exit on the Lexington Avenue exit. Turn south on Lexington Avenue and proceed on Lexington Avenue approximately 15 blocks to St. Clair Avenue. Turn east (left) on St. Clair Avenue and proceed four blocks to the corner of Victoria Street and St. Clair Avenue. We will meet in front of the Linwood Recreation Center, 860 St. Clair Avenue. Park in the small Linwood Park parking lot just east of the Recreation Center or, if the parking lot is full, along the street along St. Clair Avenue.

If coming by public transit: Take Metro Transit route(s): 70. The closest bus service point appears to be the corner of Victoria and St. Clair. Applicable Metro Transit Map/General Transit Information

The group will reassemble at a nearby restaurant (St. Clair Broiler, located at 1580 St. Clair Avenue (St. Clair Avenue & Snelling Avenue)) for dessert or dinner after the hike.

Map to the hike start point: 860 Saint Clair Avenue, St. Paul, MN

Hike Directions

Hike Map

St. Albans/Crocus Hill Hike Architectural Observations, Part 1

St. Albans/Crocus Hill Hike Architectural Observations, Part 2

This webpage was last updated on Novemebr 29, 2010.

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