Whose view? From where? — March 2009

This is a look into an urban oasis that has taken root in just the last few years – Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary. The Sanctuary connects St. Pauls Lowertown to the foot of Daytons Bluff.

In 2002, the Sanctuary took shape by transforming dozens of acres of former polluted rail yard into a retreat in the shadow of downtown St. Paul. The Lower Phalen Creek Project has worked in partnership with many other community members and organizations to acquire and restore the site.

Before European settlement, and the expansion of railyards across the river bottoms, Trout Brook Creek (from McCarrons Lake in Roseville) and Phalen Creek (from Lake Phalen) flowed at this point into the Mississippi River. The Lower Phalen Creek Project website describes more of the sites significance:

The southeastern edge of the sanctuary includes an unusual concentration of historic features, including an intact, underground brewery foundation and a string of caves, one of which is an internationally significant cultural resource. Dakota elders have described snake petroglyphs on the cave walls and in 1766 British explorer Jonathan Carver visited the cave and reported that it was known as Wakan Tipi or house of spirits by the Dakota tribes.

A visit to the Sanctuary is perfectly matched with a weekend outing to the St. Paul Farmers Market.

About Whose view? From where?

Each month in this section, we feature a photo somewhere along the river corridor in the Twin Cities that is in some way significant or important or just plain scenic. Individuals may then e-mail us and identify the view and explain why they believe it is significant to the community or important to them personally. Well publish some of your responses in the next issue of Mississippi Messages, where we will also reveal the correct answer.

To submit your guess and response, e-mail Bob Spaulding, River Advocate, through our contact form. The respondent to provide the first correct identification of the view and hopefully some interesting thoughts about its significance will receive a valuable prize for their effort. All entries must be received by the first day of the following month for consideration.