Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-03-05
LOCATIONS FOR MANUFACTURES
Sicth Hard.

LII SOuo OtueE I6SpeCIS uoSIueS LILO AuuuCc-
ments held out by property owners, the most
favorable location for large manufactures,
now to be had within the! city limits, is on
the Sixth Ward flat, and in view of the
probable increase of manufactures in
st. Paul within the next three years, GER
tain Improvements of the flat appear to be
of immediate Importance. Streets and
levees are first consideration, and we are
assured, on the authority of q competent
civil engineer, who surveyed the flat for that
purpose few years ago and made up his
estimates on the basis of offers still stand
ing, that twenty miles of Streets and levees
can be made there for $4,000. Besides
these Improvements, for the encourage
ment of millers and lumbermen, iron
workers, machinists, ETC., who are planning
to put up mills, factories and shops on the
fiat, there should be o guarantee of early
connection with the railway depots and with
the street railway. A railroad bridge and
double transfer track, connecting with the
railways on this side and diverging at the
Sixth ward end of the bridge towards the
two extremes of the flat, will be needed in a
few years, and street railway bridge, with
branches leading to the centers of popula-
ton in that ward, seems to be necessary to
the full development ef roperty interests
Oil that side of the river. These convent
ences or adequate substitutes for them will
soon be recognized as necessities and will in
good time be afforded, but it is our purpose
to suggest that great stimulus to the man
ufAc;uring industries and investments of
this city may be given by early providing
for the future needs of the Sixth ward.
On the flat are the cheapest lands in the
city which are at all convenient to cheap resi-
dsnce sites and to business centres. The
largest owners of property on the fiat mako
exceedingly liberal offers in the way
of donating sites or selling los and
blocks at low rates and on favorable
terms. The great number of small houses
built within two years on the fiat and the
number now building there, with the quick
demand for them by renters and buyers,
shows how mechanics and workingmen of
small means are being crowded from other
parts of the city. They, especially, need
. live near their work, ard this section of
the city offers the best Glance of bringing
manufactures and the homes of employees
near together. The flat also affords oppor-
t!nities which cannot bs had on the left
5anA of the river for giving mills and manu-
factories convenient access to booming water
md steamboat landings. 1t is universally
conceded that most of the sawmills to be
built at st. Paul will be located on the fiat if
river and rail conveniences can be had there,
and the fact that flour millers, machin-
ery makers and wagon makers of the
city who lack room for enlarge
ment in their present locations are
studying the possibilities of carrying on
their business in the Sixth ward, under tie
present conditions, adds 10 the evidences
that the time is fully ripe for beginning a
comprehensive system of improvement of
the flat, and of the means of communication
with it. A proposition has for some years
been more or less talked of, which looks to
the general government building a levee
around the flat for the purpose of widening
and protecting the navigable river channel
through the city. While Congress would
probably grant this improvement if our
leading citizens were united in asking for 1t,
and while no doubt the government eng-
neers would recommend it as en- important
improvement of navigation, yet govern
ment aid is not absolutely necessary. The
amount needed for the proposed levee if
applied to building it by the city, would be
profitable investment for st. Paul, and the
taxpayers of the city will in time be led to
see it. II is probable, also, that private
parties and corporations would be willing
TO do large part of the work In payment
for concessions Of water and levee privi-
leges. Furthermore, should the government
carry out the project Of damming the lake