Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-05-25
BAPTIST HILL AND FROG TOWN.

The One Cut Down and the Other Filled
Up The Changes Made In Few Years
Below jackson Street = Pat. Kelly the
Boss Excavator : The EARLY Settlers on
the Hill.
Since last fall Patrick Kelly, contractor,
has moved away the bluff, sixty feet high,
which stool on the lots belonging to Capt.
Potter and the Burbank estate, fronting on
Wacouta and Fifth streets, back of Noyes
Bros. d Cutler's store and of the st. Paul &
Manitoba office building, being the northeast
quarter of the block founded by
Fourth, Sibley, Fifth and Wa
| couta streets, bringing the lots down
to the grade OF Fifth and Wacouta streets. So
disappears another section of the old Baptist
Hill, and in good time all that is left of the
hill will be cartcd away Before 1t is all gone
something should be done to preserve the
| topographic history of that part of the city.
Old settlers remember when Baptist HILL the
best of business blocks, was thought to be
well out of town; and the ponds ard marshes
| in front and east of it, now being filled
| up and occupied by railroad yards and by
| business blocks, was considered an undersira-
| bic neighbor of the future city rather than a
part of it. But the hill has been cut away and
the ponds and marshes filled, and there is the
business heart of the city.
| In very early times the land claim of Ben.
Gervais covered part of Baptist hill. Pierre
and Sewer BOttineau settled on the hill on land
| obtained from Ben. Gervais, when they came
here from The Red river country in 1S4l.
| Then the First Baptist church had its
| first house Of worship on top of the hill and
so gave the name to the hill. Along about
| 1855 or '56 j. G. Burbank, on lots bought from
| the Bottneaus, built brick dwelling house
on the hull, which was long landmark fol
river men, and the first of St. Paul seen by
people coming into the country on steamboats,
as most of the early settlers of the city ano
| State did come. About sixteen years age
John Wann, who was considered visionary by
| easy-gong townsmen because he said the
hill stood where the great business
houses of the city ought to be ant
would be in time, began to cutinto the from
of the hill, where he owned the land, to sup
ply earth for filing a water lot down on Third
street Pat. Kelly, the contractor, came Il
him and said, "Mr. Wann, if you want custo
mers for that big hill of dirt I'll fud them fol
You and do the hauling," and ever since kell!
has been in the business of cutting Baptist hill
down to grade, and filling water and SWAMP
lots up to grade. He took out the first sec
ton of the hill and his men and teams hav,
DetH III IL year diieT year until GueTe lSu uuci
left of the Id HILL Its level top was siXt.
to near hundred feet above the grade of tn,
streets cut through it five to eight years ago
A few comparatively small piles OF boulders
sand and clay are all that are left and within
year or two Kelly will haul the last of then
away. people who didn't see the hill, F" say!
Kelly, "wont believe what tell them, that th,
hill we have taken away was higher than thes'
great buildings, but it's fact. And the.
wont believe that there was ten or twev
feet OF water over there where they're
driving piles for foundation of another big
block, but it's fact" An old settler con
firms all he says, telling of steamboats, land
ing where now the river is three blocks away
and of impossible marshes and ponds wher
now are solid streets and railway tracks ant
yards.
The foundations of the Burbank house, OF
the lots just brought down to grade, wer
higher than the roofs of the large building
fronting the same block on Sibley and Fourth
streets, and where Burbank used to get int
his buggy to drive around and up the hill h
felt and his business nelghbor
thought he was going to suburban residence
1t was out of town. That the locality is i
town thus early, and that larger and import
ant portion of the city has been redeemed frOr
Its old possessors, the frogs and fishes, is to b
largely credited to John Wann's foresight an
the labors of Pat Kelly and his sturdy shoN
elers and stout horses.