This does not happen in Massachusetts. There, cities and towns tile the counties and the state: they do not overlap. Minnesota is kinda different. In this state, eleven cities are completely enclosed within the limits … ‣ more…
The semicolon was invented in 1494. I got to researching its creators; this investigation uncovered connections to the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and my own career. The semicolon’s inventors were three Italian Renaissance … ‣ more…
The source of the Mississippi River has resisted being pinned down over centuries of time and countless expeditions of discovery. In the previous post we dug into the decades-long political and geographic confusion that resulted … ‣ more…
The source of the Mississippi River is the stuff of legends. Let’s excavate them a bit. Last time out we followed the Rev. William Boutwell as he accompanied an expedition that identified the source of … ‣ more…
The Reverend William Thurston Boutwell has been in the Twin City news lately, as his house near Stillwater MN was saved from demolition and is being renovated. The name “Boutwell” immediately caught my eye because … ‣ more…
Recently my wife got me over to Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown, as she has been wanting to do since before we moved here. The place is a time capsule from its founding in 1950. Katharyn … ‣ more…
Follow along as we venture down a long and twisty Trail of exploration of a mostly forgotten era in motoring history: when no roads had numbers but some had marketing names. How many have heard … ‣ more…
Ever wonder about the various places named Saint Anthony strewn about the Twin Cities? I have long been confused by the many levels of names, official and unofficial, for areas and neighborhoods hereabouts. Allow me … ‣ more…
Today marks the fourth anniversary of this blog’s first post: 4 years and 5 days after we closed on our St. Paul house, and 4 years and 16 days after we arrived in the Cities, … ‣ more…
Ever wonder about the various “little Saint Pauls” scattered seemingly at random around this city? There’s North Saint Paul (to the northeast), West Saint Paul (due south), and South Saint Paul (which is indeed south, … ‣ more…
