Mears Park

• This park, donated to the city in 1849 by a man named Smith, was once rose 50-foot above the surrounding block. Named Baptist Hill after the church built atop it, this was where residents looked out for arriving steamboats and fired cannons to celebrate Union victories in the Civil War.

• When the railroads fueled a massive period of growth in St. Paul, local developers began cutting into the hill to make space for larger buildings and wider streets. The church relocated and the city flattened the hill, used the dirt as fill under the expanding Union Depot railyard, and transformed it into Smith Park (1888) in the midst of what had become a bustling warehouse district.

• The park's original design featured paths shaded by elm trees and radiating out from large central fountain which remained in place for much of the 20th century. In the 1970s the city undertook a redesign that paved the space so extensively residents nicknamed it the "Brickyard."

• The 1980s redevelopment spurred by the construction of Galtier Plaza inspired St. Paul to commission the current design (1992) and renamed it after St. Paul inventor and Lowertown booster, Norman Mears. Today Mears Park hosts numerous concerts and festivals.

Mears Park, Lowertown Landing. Accessed August 4th 2020. https://lowertownlanding.com/lowertown-historic-places-mears-park.

Millett, Larry. The AIA Guide to the Twin Cities. St. Paul, MN. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2007.

Millett, Larry. Lost Twin Cities. St. Paul, MN. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1992.