Rice Park

Rice Park. . , The scene of circuses, celebrations, and concerts, and seven years older than New York's famous Central Park, this land was designated a "public square" in 1849 by John R. Irvine, a territorial pioneer, and Henry M. Rice, territorial delegate and United States senator after statehood. Rice, for whom the park was named, was a native of Vermont who arrived at Fort Snelling in 1839. In addition to the offices he held, he was active in the fur trade and served as an intermediary in treaty negotiations with the Sioux and Chippewa Indians. , The park was little used and largely uncared for until 1860 when Mayor John S. Prince procured shade trees to enhance the grounds. In 1872, summer evening concerts were initiated by the Great Western Band, and a year later a pair of squirrels was given for the park as a gesture of goodwill by the chief of police in Memphis, Tennessee. Among the many notable events celebrated in Rice Park was the 1883 reception held to mark the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The fete was attended by President Chester A. Arthur, General Ulysses S. Grant, and General William T. Sherman. , Erected by the City Planning Board of St. Paul, June, 1969.