District 15 or Highland Park is located in the southwestern corner of the city of St. Paul. It is one of seventeen planningdistricts designated by the city.

Highland Park is located within the natural boundary of the Mississippi River to the west and the south, Interstate 35E to the east and Randolph Street to the north. The major northsouth thoroughfares of Highland are Cretin, Cleveland, Fairview, Snelling  and Lexington, and the main east-west streets include West 7th Street, Ford Parkway, Randolph and Montreal. Highland Park is defined by several notable landmarks. It is bisected by a hill that divides the majority of the neighborhood (on top of the hill) from the West 7th Street Area. Highland has three parks of significant size: Crosby Farm Park, Highland Park, and Highland National Golf Course. Additionally, a significant portion of the District is within the state-designated Mississippi River Critical Area and the nationally-designated Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. The Ford Plant—a 148-acre site on the western border of Highland—has also been a prominent feature of Highland’s landscape since it opened in 1925. On the northern edge of Highland, The College of St. Catherine has been a significant asset to the neighborhood since 1905, and currently enrolls 4,800 students annually.

The Highland neighborhood is bordered by the Macalester-Groveland Neighborhood to the north, the City of Mendota Heights across the 35E bridge to the south, a small area of the Summit Hill Neighborhood on the northeast, and Minneapolis to the west.

The Mdewakaton Dakota people inhabited the area that is now known as Highland Park in the 1600s. The larger area we know as St. Paul was a crossroads for trading and hunting, as well as an occasional battleground. The fur trade, which reached this area with the arrival of European settlers, was followed by members of the Ojibwe tribe, and conflict with the Dakota ensued. The next significant change for the native people came when President Jefferson chose 155,500 acres at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers to be the site for Fort Snelling. European immigrants flowed into St. Paul because of the safety Fort Snelling provided.

The new immigrants in the Highland District included Swiss, German, Irish and Eastern European Jews by the end of the 19th Century. The Germans initially congregated in the area known as West 7th. There was also a small population of African-Americans who had initially been brought as slaves to serve at Fort Snelling. The early Europeans farmed the land near the Mississippi, started businesses and built churches and synagogues.

Immigrants initially gave form to Highland, but the Ford Motor Company’s construction of an assembly plant is the most significant factor in shaping the neighborhood as we know it today. Henry Ford announced his decision to build an assembly plant on the Mississippi in 1923, and it was strongly supported by the businessmen of St. Paul. The plant was able to use the River for power through the nearby lock and dam, but it was also necessary to build the Ford Bridge across the river to get workers to the new plant. Streetcar lines were extended to reach the Ford plant. With the new jobs, increased access and increased incomes in the area, lots were platted, homes built and infrastructure constructed. The landmark Highland Water Tower was also built in 1927 to serve the new residential districts.

The workers at Ford needed local businesses to serve them, and The Highland Shopping Center opened in 1939. At the time it was known as “the newest and most modern” business district in St. Paul. It was also called the Groceteria and contained the National Tea Company, a bakery, a dress shop, a deli and a variety store. This site is currently Highland Village.

 

Sibley Manor was built in 1950-52 along West 7th Street, and was the largest garden style apartment complex in the Twin Cities when the 550 apartments were constructed. Sibley Manor has been owned by the same family since 1953, and now houses a wide array of immigrants in its affordable units. Much of the minority population in Highland lives at Sibley Manor, and most of the low-income housing in the district can be found there as well.

Since the 1950s, Highland Park has been known for its stability, well-maintained single-family housing stock, major institutions, large parks and active, long-term residents. A significant number of the original homeowners still reside in their same house—a testament to the quality and stability of the neighborhood.