Modern Dayton's Bluff
Dayton's Bluff is one of St. Paul's undiscovered cultural resources. Beginning as a fashionable residential locale for the wealthy, it evolved in the early 1880s into a suburb of broad social and economic diversity; a place for every man (and woman) to build his house and watch the world grow up around him. That world was made up of breweries and railroads and their workers, carpenters and masons, janitors, grocers and teachers, all with growing families; and interspersed among these, a mix of clerks, salesmen and managers that collected at dawn along Third Street for their daily assault on the heart of the city.
Many of the original homes still stand today and have already celebrated their one-hundredth birthday. The current interest in the revitalization of Dayton's Bluff focuses largely on the fine older buildings which are the record of the area's long history.
The Dayton's Bluff Historic District was approved by the St. Paul City Council in August, 1992. The creation of the Historic District recognizes the historical and architectural significance of this early St. Paul neighborhood and is an important part of neighborhood revitalization in St. Paul's District 4.
Dayton's Bluff was named "The Best Undiscovered Neighborhood" by the local publication, City Pages, in 2010. Their publication stated:
Like northeast Minneapolis a decade or two ago, Dayton's Bluff is a neighborhood in transformation. As places like the Strip Club and Swede Hollow Café bring patrons to the other side of downtown St. Paul, people are getting exposed to the history, beauty, diversity, and culture of the neighborhood. Sitting high on land that overlooks the Mississippi River, Dayton's Bluff is full of gorgeous historic properties—Queen Anne Victorians, brownstones, and brick manors—available at a fraction of the price of many other city neighborhoods. The area is within walking distance of the St. Paul Farmers' Market and Mears Park, and is home to Swede Hollow Park, Indian Mounds Park, and the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and Regional Trails. The Bluff also has a wealth of food culture. Italian, Salvadoran, Mexican, Hmong, Vietnamese, and Thai restaurants and markets, along with several incredible taco trucks, make the area a food-geek paradise. The neighborhood is also known for the intense community involvement of residents, evidenced by the multitude of programs promoting neighborhood improvement in the arts, housing, employment, and education. Recently the nonprofit Historic St. Paul reserved money for renovating many of the facades of the businesses on East Seventh Street, and it has started the Fourth Street Preservation Project to help homebuyers renovate, as a way to further preserve and beautify this picturesque neighborhood. —Editors, City PagesRead more about this topic: Dayton's Bluff
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