Falcon Heights in Ramsey County, Minnesota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

The St. Paul Campus

Photographed by McGhiever, July 9, 2021

1. The St. Paul Campus marker

Inscription.

The St. Paul Campus. . Land-Grant Heritage
In 1862, Congress passed the Morill Land-Grant Act, which granted land so that each state could endow a college with "branches of learning related to agriculture, the mechanic arts, and military science." In 1868, the Minnesota Legislature designated the young University of Minnesota the recipient of land-grant support.

In 1882, the University purchased the Bass Farm, 155 acres located on Como Road in St. Anthony Park. The farm became the St. Paul campus, offering precollege residential instruction through the School of Agriculture (1888–1960); college-level programs in agriculture, forestry, and home economics; research through the Agricultural Experiment Station; and statewide outreach from Agricultural Extension (later University of Minnesota Extension).

After the Second World War, two new colleges were established on the campus: veterinary medicine (1947) and biological sciences (1965). By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the campus also included the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, the College of Continuing Education, and the College of Design, with its St. Paul campus-based Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel and the Goldstein Museum of Design.

Campus Landscape
Early campus planners zoned the acreage into a formal campus and a utilitarian farm. Samuel B. Green, the head of horticulture and later forestry, did much of the early landscape design. From the 1930s through 1951, the landscape architecture firm of Morell and Nichols did master planning for the campus, including layout for the Lawn. Land purchases allowed the campus to expand northward to include a golf course, greenhouses, and fields for experimental research.

The Lawn
The Lawn, stretching out from Cleveland Avenue and bordered by Buford, Carter, and Eckles avenues, was, before 1920, a roughly maintained meadow. By the 1930s, it took on a more manicured look and became the campus's central mall for ceremony and recreation.

The broze sculpture of "the bulls" (2001), located on the Lawn's southeast corner, across from Haecker Hall, is a popular attraction for visitors, especially children.

[Captions:]
1. Panoramic view of St. Paul campus, ca. 1919
2. School of Agriculture class
3. Home Building, School of Agriculture, ca. 1914
4. Entrance to St. Paul campus from the north, intersection of Gortner and Larpenteur avenues, ca. 1900
5. First female graduates of the School of Agriculture
6. Aerial view of St. Paul campus and Agricultural Experiment Station fields, 2007
7. Beekeeping in front of Farm House, the first building on St. Paul campus
8. Public art on the Lawn: Untitled, by Peter Woytuk, 2001

Land-Grant Heritage
In 1862, Congress passed the Morill Land-Grant Act, which granted land so that each state could endow a college with "branches of learning related to agriculture, the mechanic arts, and military science." In 1868, the Minnesota Legislature designated the young University of Minnesota the recipient of land-grant support.

In 1882, the University purchased the Bass Farm, 155 acres located on Como Road in St. Anthony Park. The farm became the St. Paul campus, offering precollege residential instruction through the School of Agriculture (1888–1960); college-level programs in agriculture, forestry, and home economics; research through the Agricultural Experiment Station; and statewide outreach from Agricultural Extension (later University of Minnesota Extension).

After the Second World War, two new colleges were established on the campus: veterinary medicine (1947) and biological sciences (1965). By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the campus also included the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, the College of Continuing Education, and the College of Design—with its St. Paul campus-based Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel and the Goldstein Museum of Design.

Campus Landscape
Early campus planners zoned

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

the acreage into a formal campus and a utilitarian farm. Samuel B. Green, the head of horticulture and later forestry, did much of the early landscape design. From the 1930s through 1951, the landscape architecture firm of Morell and Nichols did master planning for the campus, including layout for the Lawn. Land purchases allowed the campus to expand northward to include a golf course, greenhouses, and fields for experimental research.

The Lawn
The Lawn—stretching out from Cleveland Avenue and bordered by Buford, Carter, and Eckles avenues—was, before 1920, a roughly maintained meadow. By the 1930s, it took on a more manicured look and became the campus's central mall for ceremony and recreation.

The broze sculpture of "the bulls" (2001), located on the Lawn's southeast corner, across from Haecker Hall, is a popular attraction for visitors, especially children.

[Captions:]
1. Panoramic view of St. Paul campus, ca. 1919
2. School of Agriculture class
3. Home Building, School of Agriculture, ca. 1914
4. Entrance to St. Paul campus from the north, intersection of Gortner and Larpenteur avenues, ca. 1900
5. First female graduates of the School of Agriculture
6. Aerial view of St. Paul campus and Agricultural Experiment Station fields, 2007
7. Beekeeping in front of Farm

Marker beside the walk leading southwest across The Lawn image. Click for full size.

Photographed by McGhiever, July 9, 2021

2. Marker beside the walk leading southwest across The Lawn

House, the first building on St. Paul campus
8. Public art on the Lawn: Untitled, by Peter Woytuk, 2001

Erected 2009 by Regents of the University of Minnesota.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Education • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1882.

Location. 44° 59.064′ N, 93° 11.165′ W. Marker is in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, in Ramsey County. It is on Buford Avenue near Eckles Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Marker is on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota, on the north edge of The Lawn opposite the bus stop in front of the St. Paul Student Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2017 Buford Avenue, Saint Paul MN 55108, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Midwest,

in the Corn Belt,

and in the Great River Road Region.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Goldstein Legacy (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Agricultural Excellence (approx. 0.2 miles away); World War I Memorial Grove (approx. 0.2 miles away); Extending the U (approx. 0.2 miles away); Growing in Minnesota (approx. ¼ mile away); Old Anatomy Building (approx. ¼ mile away); Veterinary Medicine (approx. ¼ mile away); Saint Anthony Park Branch Library (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Falcon Heights.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 29, 2021. It was originally submitted on November 27, 2021, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This page has been viewed 664 times since then and 40 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 27, 2021, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.