Rondo Landmarks
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The Story of 755 Rondo

Rondo Landmarks, also, The Story of 755 Rondo. . , The business and social center of the neighborhood was the intersection of Rondo Avenue and Dale Street. Fields Drug Store and the Sterling Club were just two of the 300 institutions in Rondo that were disrupted to make room for the freeway. Other businesses: Love Tailor's, Ted Allen Insurance, Bishop's Grocery, Brooks Funeral Home, Mae's Blue Moon Cafe, Chatsworth Inn, Bunk's Rondo Cab Company, and Him Williams Bar. Churches: Pilgrim Baptist, St. James A.M.E. Church, St. Philip's Episcopal, St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, Camphor Methodist, Mount Olive Baptist, and Church of God in Christ. Social organizations: Hallie Q. Brown House, Welcome Hall, Ober Boys Club, Credjafawn Social Club, Sterling Club, North Central Voters League, Local 516 of the Dining Waiters, and Local 3 Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters.,

"It was a self-sustaining community. It had to be." , - Mr. Marvin R. Anderson, co-founder of Rondo Avenue Inc.

, The Sterling Club in 1924. Founded in 1918, the Sterling Club included a variety of members, from railroad workers to professionals. They added a ladies auxiliary in the 1930s. Non-members could attend events in the rental space, such as the many birthday parties the former residents remember fondly. Today, the club operates two blocks away under less exclusive pretenses., Mae's Blue Moon Cafe. A family-style restaurant located in the heart of Rondo on the corner of Dale and St. Anthony. They served hefty portions of mouth-watering soul food and amazing desserts., Sterling Club golf tournament, 1948., , The Story of 755 Rondo , Nate Galloway. , Nate Galloway grew up in St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood at 755 Rondo Avenue and still lives in St. Paul., "Rows of homes on entire streets were demolished, and homes that were not demolished were hoisted on wheels and moved to a block not affected by the construction," recalls Nate Galloway, who was 6 years old when his family lost their home at 755 Rondo Avenue to the constriction [sic] of I-94. "The entire Rondo neighborhood was fractured and demolished.", Galloway says his parents had planned to live at 755 Rondo for the rest of their lives; they had never intended to move. "My parents created a home for me and my three older sisters, and my father, who loved to garden, landscaped beautiful flower and vegetable gardens that surrounded our Rondo Avenue home.", But my father knew we'd have to move soon, so he planned and he waited, recalls Galloway., As the trench carved its way through the neighborhood, we learned that neighbors were organizing to try to make sure that homeowners were getting a marketable value for their homes. "Homeowners were being cheated out of the value of their home," Galloway says. "their homes were being damaged during the night, windows were broken and walls were punctured by sledgehammers to reduce the value of the home before appraisers had time to appraise it.", Galloway says his childhood home at 755 was not damaged, but he's certain his parent's home was not assessed at its full value., The trench continued to carve its way through the neighborhood, forcing families to leave, including my family. Many families left with nowhere to go, but my father, a Pullman porter for the railroad, had been planning. He built a new home at 829 Central Avenue, just three blocks away. "We started our lives all over at this address and I made new friends" recalls Galloway., Nathaniel Galloway, 829 West Central Avenue, 1950s, Nathaniel's beautiful landscaping, 1970s, Natalie Galloway outside of the 755 Rondo Avenue home, 1950s