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    The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats: 1882-1962
    The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats: 1882-1962
    The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats: 1882-1962
    Ebook153 pages59 minutes

    The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats: 1882-1962

    By Gene H. Rosenblum

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    About this ebook

    Beginning in 1882, many Russian and Eastern-European Jews who fled to the United States settled in the "West Side Flats" in St. Paul, Minnesota. The area once stretched from the banks of the Mississippi River to the cliffs of the West Side Hills, about 320 acres in all, but has since fallen victim to the vagaries of the mighty river and the progress of "urban renewal." The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats: 1882-1962 takes the reader on a pictorial tour down memory lane. The families, houses, businesses, streets, and synagogues-all vanished now-are brought back to life through vintage photographs from the archives of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the private collections of many former residents. This is a memoir of a historic neighborhood that can no longer be visited.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJun 5, 2002
    ISBN9781439630105
    The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats: 1882-1962
    Author

    Gene H. Rosenblum

    This is the second Arcadia title by author Gene H. Rosenblum. His first book was the acclaimed Jewish Pioneers of St. Paul: 1849-1874, published in 2001. Mr. Rosenblum is a founding member of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest and has also written for Jewish Digest, American Jewish World, and Western States Jewish History Magazine.

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      Book preview

      The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats - Gene H. Rosenblum

      March 25, 2002

      12 Nissan 5762

      The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas is proud and honored to lend its 501(c)3 non-profit status to sponsor the publication of The Lost Jewish Community of St. Paul—The West Side Flats 1882–1962 by Gene H. Rosenblum.

      The histories about St. Paul’s diverse communities have only been partially told. Vibrant Jewish neighborhoods—like the West Side—have stories that need to be told in order to record the challenges and achievements of the early Jewish immigrants.

      We look forward to the publication and distribution of this important work.

      Sincerely,

      Stephen R. Silberfarb

      Executive Director

      The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats:

      1882-1962

      Gene H. Rosenblum

      Copyright © 2002 by Gene H. Rosenblum

      9781439630105

      Published by Arcadia Publishing

      Charleston SC, Chicago IL, Portsmouth NH, San Francisco CA

      Printed in the United States of America

      Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002105030

      For all general information contact Arcadia Publishing at:

      Telephone 843-853-2070

      Fax 843-853-0044

      E-Mail sales@arcadiapublishing.com

      For customer service and orders:

      Toll-Free 1-888-313-2665

      Visit us on the Internet at www.arcadiapublishing.com

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      About the Author

      Introduction

      Acknowledgments

      I. - In the Beginning

      II. - The Refugees

      III. - State Street and all the other funny little streets

      IV. - Peddlers and Other Occupations

      V. - The Neighborhood House

      VI. - Synagogues and Other Amenities

      VII. - Old Man River

      VIII. - Goodbye

      APPENDIX - The Peddlers

      Bibliography

      Annotations

      About the Author

      This is Gene H. Rosenblum’s second book published by Arcadia Publishing. His first book was the acclaimed Jewish Pioneers of St. Paul: 1849-1874 published in 2001.

      Gene H. Rosenblum is a retired St. Paul, Minnesota real estate attorney. He has a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. from the William Mitchell College of Law (formerly St. Paul College of Law).

      He has served as an Assistant to the Mayor of St. Paul, and Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of St. Paul. He has served two terms on the St. Paul Heritage Preservation Commission. He also has been of counsel to the Attorney General of the State of Minnesota.

      He is a past president of the Ira Weil Jeffrey Lodge of B’nai B’rith, and a former Treasurer and member of the Board of Governors of the old District Six B’nai B’rith.

      He is one of the founders of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest and served on its board several years. He is also past president of the B’nai B’rith Rochester Chaplaincy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He also has served on the board of the Temple of Aaron congregation.

      Before writing his first book for Arcadia Publishing, he had written various articles for the Jewish Digest and the American Jewish World. He has also written of Judge Isaac Nunez Cardozo in an article called Western Grandee published by the Western States Jewish History Association in California.

      He is married, and has two children, one grandson and five great-grandsons.

      Introduction

      This is a story about the West Side Flats, or sometimes called the Lower West Side of St. Paul, in the state of Minnesota. It is a true story about the lost Jewish community of an area that stretches from the Mississippi River banks to the cliffs of the West Side Hills, covering approximately 320 acres of flat, sandy land.

      The families are gone, the houses are gone, the streets are gone, and the synagogues are gone. All fell victim to the vagaries of the Mississippi River and urban renewal. You can visit New York City’s Lower East Side, Chicago’s Maxwell Street, or even Baltimore, Maryland, where you won’t find a community so completely obliterated as St. Paul’s West Side Flats, now known as Riverview Industrial Park. I never lived on the West Side Flats, but my grandparents did. My maternal grandparents (the Weiners or Winers) lived at 109 Eva Street, near the banks of the Mississippi River, for a few years until they moved up to the Capitol Heights area, or what we called Fourteenth Street in the eastern shadow of the Minnesota State Capitol.

      My paternal grandparents (the Rosenbloom, Rosenblom, or Rosenblums) settled at 126 State Street at the beginning of the 20th century, then moved to 271 Kentucky Street, and finally 234 East Fairfield. They remained there until the end of the First World War, when they moved into the Hill District near Selby and Dale, close to the Temple of Aaron Synagogue located on Ashland and Grotto Streets.

      The West Side Flats are now but a memory to a whole generation. It was lively and interesting and colorful, not unlike the Lower East Side of New York City or Maxwell Street in Chicago.

      I hope that you will enjoy this pictorial trip down Memory Lane.

      Snatch our memory from oblivion…

      —Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Washington, D.C.

      This photo shows a view of Indiana Street looking down Robertson, which was unpaved. On the right is the Neighborhood House. (Courtesy of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest.)

      Acknowledgments

      When I prepared the manuscript for my first book, Jewish Pioneers of St. Paul: 1849-1874 , which was published last year, I was struck by

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