Payne Ave, St. Paul
St. Paul is known for its “Main Street” commercial districts that grew to serve the immigrants who settled the city’s neighborhoods a century ago. One of the liveliest of these districts is the East Side’s Payne Avenue, known in the 1930s as the “downtown of northeastern Ramsey County.”
Set on the hills overlooking downtown St. Paul and the Mississippi River, the East Side has always been separated from the rest of the city, first by the marshy ground of the Trout Brook and Phalen Creek beds on the east side of Downtown, and then by the railroads that followed those corridors. Payne Avenue became the primary business district for the East Side, serving its many neighborhoods.
“Global Beat on Main Street” identifies Payne Avenue today– a street that provides central meeting places, remains mindful of its heritage, and is anxious to incorporate new cultures that enrich this strong, growing part of St. Paul.