A History of Change

A History of Change. . Looking at this preserve it is hard to imagine the shrill sounds, bustling Shops, and iron horses built and maintained here well over 100 years ago. , Native Americans traveled through and used this landscape for thousands of years before Euro-Americans settled New Canada Township in the late 1850s. The street behind you is named for J.W.S. Frost who bought land in 1865 and began farming. This area attracted dairy and truck farming as well as Lake Phalen leisure use., Over the following decades railroads began crisscrossing the countryside. Two lines had a junction and depots just blocks northeast of here. Capitalizing on this, William Dawson platted Gladstone on August 27, 1886, hoping his new town would soon rival St. Paul. The next year the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad chose Gladstone for its new maintenance yard. The turn of the 20th century saw a vibrant community with some local businesses still bearing the Gladstone name today., Decline and Open Space Preservation , Gladstone and the Shops never achieved the prosperity their founders had hoped. By 1915 the Shops had been relocated and the land was leased to a series of companies including Seeger Refrigeration (later named Whirlpool). By 1979 all remaining buildings were demolished., Maplewood residents passed a referendum in 1993 to acquire and preserve open space. Gladstone Savanna was one of the first sites purchased. William Dawson, Founder The first Irish-born mayor of St. Paul, William Dawson, Sr. had a keen eye for profits and progress. Enterprising business owner and banker, he purchased and platted 574 acres for the Gladstone Land Company in 1886 and was instrumental in securing a depot and railroad Shops. Mr. Dawson named the town after William Gladstone, well-known 19th century British statesman, Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer., Of Plow Works and Poor Farm , The Gladstone Shops were not the only community employer. A mile east down Frost Avenue is the Ramsey County Poor Farm built in 1885. A decade later this self-sufficient dairy farm served 74 paupers and employed over a dozen men and women., The St. Paul Plow Works, which relocated to the nearby railroad junction in 1887, made various farm implements., Working in Gladstone , Many who worked at the Gladstone Shops and Plow Works lived in Gladstone. In 1895 Gladstone's population was primarily Minnesota and U.S. born residents as well as German, Swedish, Norwegian and Irish immigrants., Caption: The Shops depended heavily on raw materials shipped hundreds of miles. Maryland and Ohio provided the coal. Iron was smelted and shipped from Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.