Whose view? From where? — June 2009

We got two correct answers to this months question:

I'm guessing this month's Whose View from Where is the Wigington Pavilion on Harriet Island, as seen from the Head House and Sack House.

- Martin Schub

I walk along the both sides of the Mississippi River often. I have watched the "Sack House" be transformed into the "City House". I was lucky enough to have met up with [John] Anfinson last fall and he told the interesting story of the Farmer's Grain Exchange. This area has always been very familiar to me, but the Sack House was always a mystery. The view is of the Harriet Island Pavillion Maybe I have to be disqualified for having a personal guide that fine day.

– Dot Drake

Well, Dot, you arent disqualified. We all have benefited from Dr. Anfinsons experience. And so if you didnt catch the explanation in last months Miss Mess, we turn to Dr. Anfinson via a 2002 Star Tribune article on the subject:

Despite their lack of outward appeal, the buildings have a historic significance, supporters say. Its really the last connection to St. Pauls history as a port city, said John Anfinson, historian for the National Park Service. Its right on the river, and if we could find a way to restore and reuse it well have a portal to the river that doesnt exist anywhere else in downtown St. Paul.

The elevator was built just as Congress was considering a plan to deepen the Mississippi channel with dredging and dams, to improve navigation, and recapture some of the transportation business that had, by then, been largely taken over by railroads. To justify the huge expense, proponents wanted river cities to prove that theyd use the river for traffic. So the elevator was built in St. Paul to demonstrate that it could have a modern connection to the river, Anfinson said. He said the elevator is also a remnant of a profound change in society.

The Equity Cooperative Exchange, which built the elevator in St. Paul, was made up of farmers organized to fight the big grain merchants of Minneapolis, who controlled much of the grain marketing in the Midwest. That was a radical position at the time.

The elevator saw its heyday in the 1950s, when nearly 100 silos lined the surrounding area on the levee. But transportation patterns changed again and now grain is shipped from other ports, leaving the elevator an empty hull. Someone startled by the ubiquitous pigeons has written on a top-floor wall: Beware, attack birds on duty.

But of course, the Head House and Sack House, were just reopened in June, after a long-anticipated renovation. FMR coverage of the reopening can be found here.

And indeed, the building framed in the window is none other than the Cap Wigington Pavillion. The pavilion, built originally as a bathhouse in Harriet Island Park, was designed by Staint Pauls own Cap Wigington, widely believed to be the nations first African-American municipal architect.

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.