St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-28
The Retail Thoroughfare OF
the Most Extreme
Length.
A Mercantile Directory That
shows the Life Blood of
Trade
That Flows Along This Chief
Commercial Artery Of
the City.


by much the longest business street
that we have, extends eight or ten miles
east and west, and enjoys the advan-
tages of having large population on
both sides of it, which, of ITSELF is cal
culated to increase its business. 1t
runs through the heart Of the city, and
the thickest part of our population; be-
sides this, the city is so peculiarly 10
Gated with reference to this immense
business thoroughfare, that business
and population stick to it and extends
with il both 10 the east and to the west.
For many years the territory some dis
tance above the Seven Corners, so far
as people were concerned might have
been regarded as wilderness. AS far
up Seventh street as the short line cross
ing the few buildings that were erected
were simply the shanties that belonged
to the few squatters that had gone up
there with their pigs, ducks and geese,
and settled upon the land. When, how
ever, Seventh street was opened furthur
out towards Fort Smelling for several
miles, business kept up with the ad-
vance Of the street. and large settle
ments spread out an both sides of it.
three and four-story buildings to spring
up and line both sides of the street from
the Seven corners a long distance out
towards Fort Smelling. The same may
be said of the eastern end of the street,
except that the increase of business and
population has been great deal more
rapid. The people that have
LIVED IN ST. PAUL
for good many years, will have no
difficulty at all in calling to mind the
fact that it was but a short time ago
that there was but very little popula-
ton out on Dayton's bluff, along what
is now Seventh street. AS the street
has been extended out in that direction,
very large and still increasing popu-
lation has gathered on both sides of the
street This is fact, far out beyond
the present terminus of the street car
tracks. Seventh street is very peculiar
In this respect. The population that
comes into ST. Paul seems to Jump for
the Well-known thoroughfare. apDar-
emily FROM instinct. and they all st ok to
it because it is profitable, and the longer
they stay with it the richer they all get.
Several prominent points on this street
are peculiarly. good for business.
TIE SEVEN CORNERS
is one of them. 1t is surrounded on all
sides by consider bic population, the
trade of which centerS at the corners of
the seven streets that meet there. From
Wabasha to Jackson, and even to Sib-
ley, trade is distributed quite literally,
and especially near to and at the cor
nerS of the cross streets. All along be-
tween Sibley and the creek large bus
mess is done. Now that the street has
been extended out so far, the bluff part
,,I +I,o ,o1,,
busy as the same street does in the
heart of the city. People who seldom
go out to the suburbs know but very
little as to the growth of the outskirts
Of the city. Along Seventh street in the
locality referred to can be seen
long blocks of three and four-StOry
brick buildings where the business is
transacted for 10000 OF $1,000 people.
That part of the thoroughfare is almost
picture of Seventh street, between
Jackson and Rosabel. All is hustle and
activity, with all sorts of teams going in
ali directions. The population out
there has come to be so large in that
locality that sewerage, water supply,
street paving, and all othet necessities
of civilization have accompanied the
progress of this part of the town. 1t is
in fact a town by itself-full Of life,
"iSOl anu oCtfitJt pushing lto Nsll W
success; or rather receiving the success
that comes 10 it, because it is located on
the great commercial artery of a great
commercial city.
ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL. POINTS
for business OH Seventh street is be-
tween Wabasha and Jackson streets.
Here is done very heavy trade, and
especially is this the case around the
four corners of Seventh and Robert
streets. Seventh, from jackson to Wa
basha, is built up more compactly and
with larger and better buildings than
in any other part of the street. The
Schultz and the Ryan blocks, which ad-
join each other and extend all the dis
tance from Jackson to Robert street,
seven stories high. constitute one of the
grapdest blocks in st. Paul. From
Robert street to Wabasha, on both sides,
the street is built up almost solid, and
there is where the business part of the
street is to be seen. 1t is the great
street of the city. During the even
ing the sidewalks are filled with
throng of people that crowd and
jOstle each other about the same
way that they do on Broadway, New
York. 1t is interesting about 8 o'clock
in the evening to stand on the corner of
Seventh and Jackson streets and wit
ness the crowd as it rusheS along for an
hour or so. One then becomes i'm
pressed with the idea that st. Paul is
really large city. There is still another
characteristic of Seventh street, and
that is that it is the best lighted street
in the city, it being well supplied with
electric lights, especially from Wabasha
down to Broadway. There are more
and better business structures on this
thoronghfare than on any other in the
city of st. Paul. Some of these Struc-
lures are, in all respects, as business
houses, equal to any similar buildings
in any city. In its present condition
Seventh street is a kind of world in
itself. Almost everything sold any,
where iSsSOld on that street, but there is
not as much system and method about
its business habits as there will be when
all the little odds and ends are weeded
out and heavy business houses occupy
the places now appropriated by little
frame structures.
TIE BUSINESS MEN.
On Seventh street merchants are
among the sharpest and best that do
business in st. Paul. and they are dis
tributed all along through the heart of
the city, from nearly out to Fort Smell
ing, eastward to the end of the cable
line, distance of eight or ten miles.
and are trading in all departments, in
cluding the jobbing trade. These deal
ers form very large part of the bus-
ness men of the city. Many of them
commenced with little capital, and
some without any. BY hard
knocks, persistent perseverance. and
vigorous struggling against hard times,
a considerable number of them have at
last succeeded in maintaining their
business and accumulating fortunes.
AS the street has increased in business,
and become one OF the most noticeable
and important trading thoroughfares in
ST. Paul. new blood has been attracted