Engineering personnel from the St. Paul harbor project gather for a photograph in April, 1936, dressed for work. The men gathered are Elder S. Wilcox, Engr. Aide; Herbert A. Schiek, Asst. Clerk; Edward H. Kloss Jr., Insp. Dredge; Charles H. Bingham, Engr. Aide; Richard S. Colburn, Laborer; Thomas J. Gleason, Insp. Dredge; Merle R. Finley, Engr. Aide; Frank B. Wenger, Insp. Dredge, Paul Zeese, Asst. Engr. Preliminary work on the St. Paul harbor project began in 1935, and the project was completed in 1936.
Sister St. John Fournier led the first four Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet to St. Paul in November 1851. They traveled up the Mississippi River on the Steamboat St. Paul from St. Louis, Missouri. About one week after their arrival the Sisters opened St. Joseph's Academy, a boarding and day school. In July 1853, the Sisters of St. Joseph opened St. Joseph's Hospital, Minnesota's first hospital.