At the time that the Minnesota Territory was organizing in 1848, the area of St. Anthony Park had no permanent human habitations. An early overland connection between St. Paul and the village of St. Anthony was made through the area along what is now known as Territorial Road. Early visions of land development saw St. Anthony Park as a beautiful and accessible place attractive to very wealthy families. Towards achieving this vision, early speculators hired HWS Cleveland to create a romantic suburb for the wealthy. These dreams, however, were never realized. The land was eventually sold to the St. Anthony Park Company in 1885, which began platting and developing the land for the middle class.
St. Anthony Park’s early development is noteworthy for the development philosophy of the St. Anthony Park Company. The Company had a philosophy that supported family and community building. Land was donated for parks, churches, and the public areas, and the company stressed a wholesome and temperate lifestyle. Though developed for middle class tastes and affordability, St. Anthony Park is still a good example of the romantic suburb. Street and lot layouts are influenced by the land’s contour and the presence of lowland and wetland areas. South St. Anthony Park developed first due to access to the two major cities. Higher land to the west of Raymond developed as residential and lower land to the east as industrial. This land was especially attractive to manufacturing and warehousing businesses due to its location next to main line railroads and the presence of the Minnesota Transfer Railway. St. Anthony Park continued its growth in the early 20th century due to expansion of the streetcar system on University and Como Avenues. Commercial “Streetcar” patterns are still evident today with the commercial hub at Como and Carter and at University and Raymond.
By the mid-1960s, the neighborhood was essentially developed. Apartment complexes were constructed in the few available plots, increasing the overall density of the community to its peak in 1970. During the 1970s, the population began to decline due to lower birth rates, the leveling off of University growth, and the loss of housing units in South St. Anthony Park to highway and commercial development.
