Mississippi – KIIHN ART MAPS

Exciting news was released recently. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Saint Paul is considering a plan to reinvent Second Street again, this time into a pedestrian-friendly river balcony:

Lisa Switkin, a senior principal at the company [James Corner Field Operations], described the balcony as a series of overlooks along the river, linking many of the existing institutions at the water’s edge in St. Paul.

“These are kind of like a string of pearls. They really draw you in from the city, and they’re visible from the river as well,” she said.

The balcony would be anchored by the Science Museum and Xcel Energy Center in the west, and Union Depot and Lambert’s Landing in the east. Representatives from James Corner Field Operations said they were struck by the opportunities they see in existing infrastructure in downtown St. Paul and at the river’s edge.

Their designs included the creation of park areas, watch platforms, sport courts, sandstone steps, food and drink kiosks, public art and event spaces. Among the biggest changes proposed was the transformation of E. 2nd Street, which would be closed to traffic and turned into a pedestrian-only space.

Currently Second Street is easy to miss. A quick turn off Kellogg Boulevard after the Wabasha Bridge sends you down an arcaded one-way viaduct below Kellogg Park that leaves you off near the Mississippi River. In Joseph Farr’s 1895 interview with the Saint Paul Pioneer Press (brought up to date by a Ramsey County Historical Society publication Joseph Farr remembers the Underground Railroad, and the second 1905 interview with the Saint Paul Globe story) suggest how convenient the street was as the members of Saint Paul’s underground railroad brought fugitives up from the steamboat landing to William Taylor’s barbershop near present day Kellogg and Wabasha. Second Street, known as Bench Street until 1872, has a more gentle slope that must have made transportation easier than the steep slopes of Jackson or Sibley Streets.

For my drawing of Joseph Farr and the Underground Railroad, it was a challenge to illustrate what Second Street looked like at the time. Frustratingly few images from the pre-Civil war era. I ended up combining a few images that hinted at what Joseph Farr might have seen in his mind’s eye during the 1895 interview.

1862 Photo of the City of Saint Paul (image credit to Minnesota Historical Society) – While the image is fuzzy, you can see the white steeple of the First Presbyterian Church to the far left and the slope of what was then Bench Street making its way down to the steamboat landing:

1883 Map of Saint Paul (image credit to Library of Congress):

George Earl Resler’s etching of Second Street (image credit to Minnesota Historical Society) from the early 1900s before the the massive renewal project of 1927-1932:

I took this past week off of work; a staycation since traveling during a pandemic is problematic. A whole week to focus on art is precious to me. I took my favorite spot at my kitchen table and went on a virtual journey along the Mississippi River.

My inspiration is from a story that is part of the Natural Heritage Project‘s Mississippi River Stories work. They have collected stories about the river and sent recordings to artists who will participate in an exhibit at the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization. Below is a transcript of the story I received, a story of the Mississippi River from the Twin Cities community collected by University of St. Thomas students through a research partnership with the St. Thomas Sustainable Communities Partnership, the Natural Heritage Project, and the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization.

I have lived near the river for decades. And I think I’ve probably run, hiked biked, tens of thousands of miles on the trails in the river gorge in the Twin Cities. My dog loves swimming in the river and would do it every day if I would let him. My most recent story of the river is that my wife and I took a bike trip from St. Paul right near the Lake Street bridge to New Orleans, largely along the Mississippi River last year, a 1500 mile bike ride. In which we were able to experience the culture that I believe has flowed upstream from New Orleans to the delta to Memphis to St. Louis, and up to the Twin Cities. A culture that includes music and cuisine and all kinds of things. We love the river and want to protect it. And thank you for doing this project.

To plan my 18×24 drawing, I did a little research. I looked at historic maps of the Mississippi from when Zebulon Pike made the Europeans’ first trip to find the river’s source to the “ribbon” maps developed during the height of steamboat traffic. Most maps were of either the upper or lower Mississippi, with Saint Louis and the mouth of the Missouri the end or beginning. I intended my virtual trip to run the length of the Mississippi, from Lake Itasca to Pilot’s Station East.

The next essential item to planning your vacation is a trusted travel guide: Bicycling Guide to the Mississippi River Trail: A Complete Route Guide Along the Mississippi River. Living vicariously through the author, Bob Robinson, took me to places in my home state that I have never explored, like Bena, Minnesota, and places far away, like Dyess, Arkansas.

While the exhibit at the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization was planned for the spring of 2021, the dates are now postponed until 2022. I feel fortunate that I can take my time with the drawing, learning more about biking trails, the New Madrid earthquake, Mark Twain, the ancient ruins of Cahokia, and tragic events at Fort Pillow. To give you a sneak peek, and assure you that Darla has a place in this drawing too:

KIIHN ART MAPS

Category: Mississippi

Second Street: Bench to Balcony

A Tour of the Mississippi