St. Paul, MN Photos

Vacant and Blue

You can probably tell that I took this one while it was snowing. It wasn’t intended for the photo blog it is an image I need for something I am writing.  I used my 50mm lens again.   I decided to leave it on my camera all week and bring my camera with me everywhere I go because I can.   The house is unheated and has been vacant for at least 3 years now and it is on a block with several vacant houses, most of them were rental properties.  There is a kind of mortgage fraud alley a few blocks from where I live a small pocket hit very hard by foreclosures.   About the house . . all I want to say is they don’t build them like that any more and I hate to see it sitting empty.

Forpaughs

I took this one while it was snowing. Fourpaugh’s restaurant on exchange street.  It is a mansion converted into a restaurant. . . not to be confused with four paws in Eagan, the kennel where our dog stays when we go on vacation.

Officers Row

These were officers quarters at fort Snelling.  The buildings are still standing, they don’t build them like they used to.  These are Italianate style and I would guess they were built in the 1860′s and 70′s.  The fort it self dayes back to 1819, and is slowly dissapearing.   The oldest part of it has been preserved.   When I went out there to take some photos the military personel ignored me when I went where I was not supposed to go.   Maybe they know that I just want to take some photos.

Victorian house

I know some people thing these are quadey but I have always liked them. This one has so much ginger bread on it that I almost can’t take it all in.  Located in St. Paul, MN in the Summit Hill historic district. There are many homes like this in the twin cites.

Limestone House

I am finding that when the sky is cloudy my HDR photos look kind of creepy. Maybe they look creepy all the time. This home sits on the bluff on The Mississippi river and is made out of the same limestone as the river bluff.  We have a few of these In St. Paul and they are all very old. The limestone houses I have been in have walls that are a foot thick. They seem to be built to last.  This one id lose it’s second story almost a century ago but it has recently beed rebuilt.

Greek Revival

I have more than a passing interest in historic homes. My own home was built in 1858 and is in the greek revivle style.  The home in the photo is located in Irvine park on one of the nicest lots at the edge of the river bluff.  Construction started in 1851, the home was completed in 1860, and then the facade was tweaked a bit in 1907. There are not many homes like these in the twin cities but some can be found around downtown St. Paul.