As I research Saint Anthony Park in preparation for its map (see Carter Avenue Frame Shop‘s recent announcement), there was repeated mention that the Wycliff Building at 2327 Wycliff had been the home of Fischer Nuts from 1890 to 1979. This was contrary to the 1916 G.M. Hopkins Map that I am working from that shows Northwestern Bedding and Manufacturing Co. at the north west corner of Bradford and Wycliff and a mystery that needed to be solved!

Turns out the first business at this location was Fred C. Genge & Co, a furniture manufacturer. The 1900 census finds Fred and Rose Genge living a few blocks away at 968 Manvel. Fred was an inventor and needed more space. He sold the 2327 Wycliff location to Northwestern Bedding in 1902. He later moved to Chicago and perfected a method to upholster cushions for automobiles and furniture.

Northwestern Bedding was originally located downtown Saint Paul and moved to Saint Anthony Park to take advantage of the easy access to trackage. (Note the 1916 map above that the entire industrial park was laid out around the curve of the railway tracks.)

Northwestern Bedding Company operated at 2327 Wycliff from 1902 to the mid-1930s. Today, you can still see a ghost of mattress sign painted on the corner of the building.

By 1937, Fisher Nut & Chocolate Company was ready to make the same move from downtown Saint Paul to 2327 Wycliff. Samuel S. Fisher (1895-1974) began Fisher Nut in 1920.He had been introduced to salted-in-the-shell peanuts in France in 1917 as a Corporal in the US Army and opened his own one-man store at 3rd (Kellogg) and Minnesota Street. Fisher Nut moved to the South Saint Anthony Park location and built additions after additions to the building until it became the 3.94 acre industrial building that it is today. See the 1954 Star Tribune article about the company’s success. In 1962, Sam Fisher sold the company to Beatrice Foods but remained president until his death in 1974. Beatrice Foods sold the company to Proctor & Gamble in 1989 and by 1994 the factory was shut down and many people lost their jobs. See https://www.pbs.org/video/shutting-down-the-fisher-nut-company-28486/.

After the end of Fisher Nut, the building passed through various owners including a 2013 foreclosure. Now known as the Wycliff, the building is in a renaissance as it offers creative and industrial warehouse spaces for rent. Its modern additions are covered in murals: