In Pursuit of Fire Stations

Cycled with a friend past eight former St. Paul fire stations, and a monument in Oakland Cemetery to firefighters who lost their lives while on duty. This fire station, built in 1872, was St. Paul’s first.

Lamplighter

Cycled through St. Paul with a friend looking for vestiges of the past. Spotted this lamplighter, frozen in time, on a residential street.

East Side Freedom Library

Cycled over to St. Paul’s East Side with a friend to visit another Carnegie Library: East Side Freedom Library. Formerly a public library, this institution is a nonprofit with a mission to “inspire solidarity, advocate for justice and work toward equity for all.”

Woolly Mammoth

Stared down a former resident of Minnesota: a woolly mammoth.

Categorized as St. Paul

Old-Time Voting Machine

“Voted” using an old-school voting machine at the Minnesota History Center’s “1968 Exhibit.” I’ve already voted in today’s general election via mail.

Categorized as St. Paul

Hmong in St. Paul

Cycled to Lake Phalen where workers were completing this pavilion. It was built in Changsha, China, then shipped to sister city St. Paul. In return, Changsha got Peanuts statues, including Lucy in a Hmong dress. Changsha is the ancestral home of the many Hmong who’ve moved to St. Paul.

St. Paul’s Oakland Cemetery

Cycled with a friend to St. Paul’s Oakland Cemetery (founded 1853), final home for many immigrants. We’re lucky to have a large Hmong-American population, median age 19.7. As many of us age out of the workforce, young, hard-working individuals will build