Payne - Phalen in Saint Paul in Ramsey County, Minnesota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Eastside Heritage Park

First panel: Eastside Icons - 3M & Seeger image. Click for full size.

Photographed By McGhiever, June 28, 2019

1. First panel: Eastside Icons - 3M & Seeger

Inscription.

Eastside Heritage Park. . [First panel:] Eastside Icons - 3M and Seeger. 3M, founded in 1902 on Lake Superior's North Shore as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, moved to the Eastside in 1910. The company quickly made its name in sandpaper and abrasives, ultimately building the world's largest abrasives manufacturing plant. 3M established a small lab here where products that would one day become ubiquitous were invented, including Scotch® Tape and masking tape. During World War II, their Eastside facilities produced Scotchlite® reflective sheeting and nearly 100 types of tape used in many wartime applications., Seeger Refrigeration Company began in the early 20th century as a manufacturer of wooden ice boxes, selling them to retailers like Marshall Field's and Sears Roebuck and Co. In the 1920s, when electric refrigerators became the norm, Seeger was prepared to fill the need. By 1937, the company had built more than 300,000 refrigerators and was employing more than 2,000 workers. During World War II, the plant was dedicated to the war effort, making bomb racks for B-29 bombers, parachute [?]res, and other defense products. After the war, Seeger merged with Whirlpool, ultimately taking the latter's name., Changing Times - New Opportunities As times changed, many manufacturers closed their doors or relocated. In turn, old factory sites and polluted properties gave birth to new businesses providing different services and products to reflect the needs of a different time. With these new businesses came new jobs. Williams Hill exemplifies this rebirth. Since the 1990s, this formerly polluted site near Phalen Boulevard and Interstate 35E has given way to a collection of 21st-century manufacturers and assembly businesses, employing hundreds of people. The Eastside legacy, as a regional economic engine and creator of jobs, will continue long into the future., Seeger Refrigeration Company, ca. 1930, Williams Hill was cleaned up, and in its place an industrial park was built, creating hundreds of jobs. This, and similar transformations, signaled the rebirth of the Eastside., 3M employee at tape machine, ca. 1960, 3M sandpaper products ca. 1970, Williams Hill is one of several business centers developed by the Saint Paul Port Authority along Phalen Boulevard, [Second panel:] Rediscovering a Historic Creek Valley. You are standing in the Phalen Creek valley, carved more than 30,000 years ago by the rush of water from a melting glacier. Between 100 and 300 AD, Native Americans built burial mounds on the tall Mississippi River bluffs about one mile from here. By the mid-1750s, Dakota Indians lived at the village of Kaposia, just downstream., As recently as 1850, Phalen Creek still flowed through this site on its journey from Lake Phalen to the Mississippi River. A marshy, tree-lined waterway, the Phalen Creek valley was home to abundant wildlife, including bear, fox, beaver, and an array of bird species., As Saint Paul grew, the Dakota were forced away from their land along the Mississippi River. Phalen Creek was diverted into an underground storm sewer to make way for railroads and industry. Trees were cut down and wetlands were filled., Since the 1970s, community members have worked to bring back some of the natural features that once defined this place. Now native plants and wildflowers are returning., Dakota people lived near here in summer villages along the Mississippi River., A former parking lot near Lake Phalen has been returned to its natural state, and is known again as Ames Lake., The American Indian Magnet School and American Indian Family Center are among the Eastside organizations celebrating and serving today's Native community., Phalen Creek has been uncovered as it flows through Swede Hollow Park., The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary includes restored prairie, woodlands, and wetlands., [Third panel:] Eastside Industry – the Economic Engine. The Eastside has long been an industrial hub. Generations of workers raised their families within walking distance of the manufacturing plants, and the Saint Paul economy was long bolstered by the economic engine of Eastside manufacturing., From where you are standing you would have seen U.S. manufacturing icons 3M and Whirpool [(formerly Seeger] Refrigeration Company). [...] south, the Theodore Hamm [Brewery...] major employer, [... P]rohibition and soda [...] imposed liquor ban [...] came a nationally [... Mi]nnesota's [... "From the Land of Sky Blue] Waters." [...] facility [...] stood [...], Hamm's Brewery work[ers ...], Hamm's Brewery, ca. 1900, Saint Paul Harvester Works, ca. 1874, [Fourth panel too fragmented to transcribe]

[First panel:] Eastside Icons - 3M & Seeger
3M, founded in 1902 on Lake Superior's North Shore as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, moved to the Eastside in 1910. The company quickly made its name in sandpaper and abrasives, ultimately building the world's largest abrasives manufacturing plant. 3M established a small lab here where products that would one day become ubiquitous were invented, including Scotch® Tape and masking tape. During World War II, their Eastside facilities produced Scotchlite® reflective sheeting and nearly 100 types of tape used in many wartime applications.

Seeger Refrigeration Company began in the early 20th century as a manufacturer of wooden ice boxes, selling them to retailers like Marshall Field's and Sears Roebuck & Co. In the 1920s, when electric refrigerators became the norm, Seeger was prepared to fill the need. By 1937, the company had built more than 300,000 refrigerators and was employing more than 2,000 workers. During World War II, the plant was dedicated to the war effort, making bomb racks for B-29 bombers, parachute [?]res, and other defense products. After the war, Seeger merged with Whirlpool, ultimately taking the latter's name.

Changing Times - New Opportunities
As times changed, many manufacturers closed their doors

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or relocated. In turn, old factory sites and polluted properties gave birth to new businesses providing different services and products to reflect the needs of a different time. With these new businesses came new jobs. Williams Hill exemplifies this rebirth. Since the 1990s, this formerly polluted site near Phalen Boulevard and Interstate 35E has given way to a collection of 21st-century manufacturers and assembly businesses, employing hundreds of people. The Eastside legacy, as a regional economic engine and creator of jobs, will continue long into the future.

Seeger Refrigeration Company, ca. 1930

Williams Hill was cleaned up, and in its place an industrial park was built, creating hundreds of jobs. This, and similar transformations, signaled the rebirth of the Eastside.

3M employee at tape machine, ca. 1960

3M sandpaper products ca. 1970

Williams Hill is one of several business centers developed by the Saint Paul Port Authority along Phalen Boulevard

[Second panel:] Rediscovering a Historic Creek Valley
You are standing in the Phalen Creek valley, carved more than 30,000 years ago by the rush of water from a melting glacier. Between 100 and 300 AD, Native Americans built burial mounds on the tall Mississippi River bluffs about one mile from here. By the mid-1750s,

Second panel: Rediscovering a Historic Creek Valley image. Click for full size.

Photographed By McGhiever, June 28, 2019

2. Second panel: Rediscovering a Historic Creek Valley

Dakota Indians lived at the village of Kaposia, just downstream.

As recently as 1850, Phalen Creek still flowed through this site on its journey from Lake Phalen to the Mississippi River. A marshy, tree-lined waterway, the Phalen Creek valley was home to abundant wildlife, including bear, fox, beaver, and an array of bird species.

As Saint Paul grew, the Dakota were forced away from their land along the Mississippi River. Phalen Creek was diverted into an underground storm sewer to make way for railroads and industry. Trees were cut down and wetlands were filled.

Since the 1970s, community members have worked to bring back some of the natural features that once defined this place. Now native plants and wildflowers are returning.

Dakota people lived near here in summer villages along the Mississippi River.

A former parking lot near Lake Phalen has been returned to its natural state, and is known again as Ames Lake.

The American Indian Magnet School and American Indian Family Center are among the Eastside organizations celebrating and serving today's Native community.

Phalen Creek has been uncovered as it flows through Swede Hollow Park.

The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary includes restored prairie, woodlands, and wetlands.

[Third panel:] Eastside Industry
Photographed By McGhiever, June 28, 2019

3. Third panel: Eastside Industry – the Economic Engine
– the Economic Engine
The Eastside has long been an industrial hub. Generations of workers raised their families within walking distance of the manufacturing plants, and the Saint Paul economy was long bolstered by the economic engine of Eastside manufacturing.

From where you are standing you would have seen U.S. manufacturing icons 3M and Whirpool [(formerly Seeger] Refrigeration Company). [...] south, the Theodore Hamm [Brewery...] major employer, [... P]rohibition and soda [...] imposed liquor ban [...] came a nationally [... Mi]nnesota's [... "From the Land of Sky Blue] Waters." [...] facility [...] stood [...]

Hamm's Brewery work[ers ...]

Hamm's Brewery, ca. 1900

Saint Paul Harvester Works, ca. 1874

[Fourth panel too fragmented to transcribe]

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Environment • Industry & Commerce • Native Americans • War, World II. A significant historical year for this entry is 1910.

Location. 44° 57.979′ N, 93° 4.288′ W. Marker is in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in Ramsey County. It is in Payne - Phalen. Marker can be reached from Phalen Boulevard east of Payne Avenue, on the left when traveling east. The marker is in Eastside Heritage Park, on a kiosk at the west end of the park.

Fourth panel: [??] From The Eastside image. Click for full size.

Photographed By McGhiever, June 28, 2019

4. Fourth panel: [??] From The Eastside

Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 735 Phalen Boulevard, Saint Paul MN 55106, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Eastside Heritage / This Place in History (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Growing a Stock (approx. 0.4 miles away); Explosion: 3M Response to Disaster (approx. 0.4 miles away); The 3M Flagpole (approx. 0.4 miles away); "Scotch" Tape to the Rescue of General Gray (approx. 0.4 miles away); Innovations from the Saint Paul Campus (approx. 0.4 miles away); The 3M Story (approx. 0.4 miles away); 3M & World War II: The People (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Saint Paul.

Marker kiosk at the west end of Eastside Heritage Park image. Click for full size.

Photographed By McGhiever, June 28, 2019

5. Marker kiosk at the west end of Eastside Heritage Park

Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2024. It was originally submitted on January 24, 2024, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This page has been viewed 51 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on January 24, 2024, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.