Many people looking to purchase, or who have purchased, St Paul MN real estate are curious about the industrial history of the city. Where we used to be can give us significant clues as to why things are the way they are today, and what we can expect in St. Paul in the future. Will the city be a high tech mecca, where every home has an instantaneous water heater or will the manufacturing roots of the city continue to hold sway? Let's take a look at what history can tell us.
As is the case with many of the big cities on the major waterways of the United States, St. Paul's first big industry was the fur trade. The mighty Mississippi runs right through the town, and northern and western traders would stop here to sell their furs. The wares were also processed in the city, with trades wise businessmen measuring the quality of pelts long before the days of the loop calibrator and other devices which make standards more consistent.
The location on the Mississippi also made St. Paul a major transportation hub, as people used the river to get to and from points further north, east, south, and west. As other industries such as steel working and carriage creation began to develop in the city, plants and warehouses could be found dotting the river banks. It was easy to load goods for transport right on the river, and saved mightily in transportation costs. Polyester slings and other innovations would greatly aid loaders in their labor.
The Industrial Revolution would see great changes come to the businesses on the banks of the Mississippi. Pneumatic conveying belts would speed up assembly lines, so that more goods were churned out for lower costs, a great boon to the nation wide economy. St. Paul saw its own dividends from this boom, as Ford and other companies began to locate plants in the area.
The location of this assembly plant also came in handy in the latter parts of the 20th century, as the company began to produce power through a hydroelectric dam on the site. Again, this was advantageous for citizens in the area, who found employment at the dam as well as the plant.
Today, industry in St. Paul continues to thrive. Companies such as EcoLab, which supplies chemicals to those who supply vacuum truck services and others in the clean business, have their headquarters here. The future of industry, built on the foundation of the past, will be strong in this city on the river.
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