Aerial view from the south village limits of New Brighton was taken by MacGillis & Gibbs Company, a pole yard company, which is seen in the lower half of the photo. Notable buildings include the First Congregational Church, New Brighton Elementary School, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, and the New Brighton Village Hall.
The farm of the John Farrell family who came to America from Ireland in 1849. They bought their first 160 acres at Lake Johanna in present-day Arden Hills, from Major McLean, the Indian agent, and the title was signed by President Millard Fillmore in 1868. The Farrell family donated the land for St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Today Mounds View High School, the St. John's church, school and other parish buildings, the Arden Hills Ramsey County Branch Library, and the Minnesota Baptist Conference headquarters are on that property.
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church was founded in 1902. The congregation first built a rectory and then a basement church in 1907 on Fifth Avenue. The parish, which became one of the largest in the state, built a church atop the basement in 1922, and eventually built a much larger sanctuary in 1952 in a school-convent complex three blocks to the east on land donated by the John Farrell family.
Black and white photograph showing St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Savage. Seen is the building's front entrance, which was flanked by statues and steeples. Handwritten on the backside of the image is "Early front of St. Johns." This building was constructed around 1902 and demolished in 1984-1985 when it was replaced with a new structure.