Directions:
Start: Start at the St. Clair Recreation Center, 265 Oneida Street
Go West: Proceed West on St. Clair from Oneida Street to Snelling Avenue
Cross Osceola Avenue
Cross Avon Street
Cross Victoria Street
Cross Milton Street
Cross Chatsworth Street
Cross Oxford Street
Cross Lexington Avenue
Cross Oak Grove Place
Cross Dunlap Street
Cross Griggs Street
Cross Syndicate Street
Cross Cecelia Place
Cross Hamline Avenue
Cross Albert Street
Cross Pascal Avenue
Cross Warwick Street
Cross Saratoga Street
Cross Brimhall Street
Go North: Turn North on Snelling Avenue and proceed to Osceola Avenue
Go East: Turn East on Osceola Avenue and proceed
Cross Saratoga Street
Cross Pascal Street
Cross Albert Street
Cross Hamline Avenue
Cross Syndicate Street
Go South: Turn South on Griggs Street and proceed two blocks to St. Clair Avenue
Go East: Turn East on St. Clair Avenue and proceed one long block to Dunlap Street
Go North: Turn North on Dunlap Street and proceed one long block to Osceola Avenue
Go East: Turn East on Osceola Avenue and proceed on Osceola Avenue
Cross Oak Grove Place
Go South: Turn South on Lexington Avenue and proceed one block to Linwood Avenue
Go East: Turn East on Linwood Avenue and proceed
Cross Oxford Street
Cross Chatsworth Street
Cross Milton Street
Cross Avon Street
Go South: Turn South on Osceola Avenue and proceed one block to Pleasant Avenue
Go SouthWest: Turn SouthWest on Pleasant Avenue and proceed one block to West St. Clair Avenue
Go East: Turn East on West St. Clair Avenue and proceed on West St. Clair Avenue two long blocks back to the Recreation Center parking lot.
Information on Street Names.
The following presents available information on the names of the streets along the hike, which was largely adapted from Empson, Donald, The Street Where You Live, St. Paul, MN, Witsend Press, 1975:
Albert Street: The street was named in 1874 by John Wann, an Englishman by birth who was a landowner and real estate developer in the Summit Hill area. It was named for Prince Albert (1819-1861), the consort of the Nineteenth Century English monarch Queen Victoria.
Avon Street: The street was originally named Cayuga Street. It was renamed in 1872 for the English river, probably by John Wann, when many other streets in the neighborhood were named or renamed using an English theme
Brimhall: The street was named for William and Mary Brimhall, who were real estate developers in this area of St. Paul.
Cecilia Place:
Chatsworth Street: The street was named in 1871 for Chatsworth House, which was the home of the Duke of Devonshire and was one of the most magnificent private residences in England. The street was named by John Wann (1829-1905), who was born in Belfast, Ireland, worked for the East India Company, and migrated to St. Paul in 1865. His mansion was located at the corner of Summit Avenue and Victoria Street. After Wann sold the property to Bishop Ireland, it became the site of Our Lady of Peace High School, a girl's secondary school. It was subsequently sold to the William Mitchell College of Law in 1975 and is now the site of the law school.
Clinton Street: The street was named in 1855. The name was a popular city street name.
Dunlap Street: The street was named for William Dunlap (1833-1901), who was a St. Paul builder and real estate dealer after 1885. William Dunlap lived at 531 Brainerd Avenue on St. Paul's East Side.
Grace Street: The street was originally named College Street in 1856. The name was changed in 1872. The source of the name for the street is uncertain. The street may have been named for Thomas Grace (1826-1905), who was a building contractor and mason who also was a St. Paul city alderman and was a member of the City Council's street committee. The street also may have been named for Thomas L. Grace (1814-1897), who was the Roman Catholic Bishop of St. Paul in 1872. The western part of Grace Street was subsequently renamed Stanford Avenue.
Griggs Street: The street was named for Chauncey Griggs (1832-1910), a merchant and lumberman who was born in Connecticut, who came to St. Paul in 1856, who was a Colonel in the Civil War (Third Minnesota Volunteer Regiment), who was a State Representative and a State Senator, and who moved to pursue his lumber interests to Tacoma, Washington. The street was named by Griggs in 1873.
Grotto Street: The street was named in 1871. It was named based on its proximity to Fountain Cave.
Hamline Avenue: The avenue was named for Leonidas L. Hamline (1797-1865). He was an Ohio lawyer who became a Methodist in 1829, became a circuit rider minister, was elected a Methodist bishop in 1844, and died in Iowa. He donated $25,000 worth of real estate in Red Wing, Minnesota, to help establish Hamline University. The college was chartered in 1854 by the Minnesota Territorial Legislature and was supported by the Methodist Episcopal church. Hamline was one of only a few U.S. institutions of higher education before the Civil War to admit women, and during its years in Red Wing women formed a large proportion of its student body. This reflected in part the territory's great need for school teachers. The Panic of 1857 created financial difficulties for the university, and with the coming of the Civil War nearly all the male students, along with the faculty, marched off to fight for the Union. Thus Hamline University was forced to close its doors in 1869, and when it reopened after 11 years, it was relocated in St. Paul. The street was named in 1874 as part of a nomenclature trend in the Hamline University area.
Kenwood Parkway: The street was originally known as Kenwood Terrace. It was renamed in 1888. It was named for the surrounding area, which was initially known as Kenwood Park, a name derived from Kenwood, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.
Linwood Avenue: The avenue was originally Evergreen Avenue. The street was renamed in 1895 for a basswood tree, the American Linden tree.
Milton Street: The street was named in 1871 for the English poet John Milton (1608-1674).
Oak Grove Place:
Osceola Avenue: The avenue is named for the famous warrior from the Seminole Indian tribe (1800?-1838). The avenue was named in 1871. It is one of a few streets in St. Paul that runs East and West as well as North and South.
Oxford Street: The street was originally platted as Linden Street in 1871. It was renamed in 1872 to match the English naming convention of the area.
Pascal Street: The street was named in 1881 for Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a French geometrician, writer, and philosopher. The proximity of the street to Hamline University is credited as the inspiration for the name.
St. Albans Street: The street was originally platted as Prairie Street in 1871. It was renamed in 1872. It is named for St. Albans in England, which is one of the oldest Roman towns in the country.
St. Clair Avenue: The avenue was named in 1851. It was named for Lake St. Clair, which is the connecting lake between Lake Huron and Lake Erie in Michigan. The street follows the course of the first East-West road in that section of the country, laid out by Reserve Township.
Saratoga Street: The street was named for the Battle of Saratoga. It was named by John Wann in the 1870's at the instigation of his wife to partially counter the thrust of the many British-named streets in the area.
Snelling Avenue: The street is named for Colonel Josiah Snelling, an early commandant of the U. S. Army fort that was established at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, which was also eventually named Fort Snelling.
Syndicate Street: The street was named for the St. Paul Real Estate Syndicate, which was a real estate developer in the area in 1872.
Victoria Street: The street was named by John Wann for Queen Victoria, a Nineteenth Century British monarch.
Warwick Street: The street was platted by William and Mary Brimhall in 1866. It was named for the English county and city, to match the English-oriented naming convention of this part of the city. William E. Brimhall came to St. Paul in 1851. He was a pioneer nurseryman and was in business on the corner of Snelling Avenue and West St. Clair Avenue. He resided in St. Paul with his wife, Mary E. Brimhall, until 1887, when they moved to San Diego, California. The couple's son, John Benson Brimhall, was a St. Paul doctor.
Links:
Linwood/Lower Crocus Hill Hike
Information from the University of Minnesota, Northwest Architectural Archives, was used in this webpage.
This webpage was last updated on January 6, 2010.
