On Como’s Deep Peat and Marshland

“This quarter of the city . . . now known as Elwell’s Addition has, on account of the peculiar formation of the land, been a wet, marshy tract of ground and with all the level ground to the north and east as far as the bluffs, has been regarded as unfit for building purposes. But by a thorough system of drainage it has been greatly improved."

“In the spring of 1882 James T. Elwell, then a young man who had achieved success as a manufacturer of spring beds, purchased a tract of land consisting of about 100 acres lying to the east of the then St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad Co., now the Great Northern, on either side of what was then known as Como Road. This was a marshy piece of ground having only a few high spots of solid earth. A few straggling cottonwood and oak trees in the neighborhood of 13th Ave. and 12th St. marked one of these high places and from here sand was hauled out to the new streets before the lumber for the houses could be delivered."

“During the first year of house building, many and loud were the curses of the lumber teamsters, who, by accident, let the horses or wagon wheels get off these sand made tracks; for there was apparently no bottom to the bog, and one could step off of the sidewalk in any place into the mud. Looking over this portion of the city today one can hardly believe that such a transformation could be made in a quarter of a century. Today the soil is firm and the growth of elms present the appearance of a veritable forest in the summertime. In order to drain the land and make it possible to dig cellars for the new houses, ditches were dug on either side of the street. Later these ditches were boxed and sidewalks built over them.”

- From Elwell, George H. “Brief History of Como Avenue Congregational Church (from its organization, Dec. 19, 1882 – Dec. 19, 1907, 25 years). Minnesota Historical Society. Manuscripts Note Books: P1189-5. 4 pp. Typescript.

“What is now Elwell’s Addition was a swamp. I have run a twelve foot pole down in many parts of it without touching bottom.”

“The peculiarity of the swamp land in St. Paul was that it was all on a ledge and was only about two feet deep. You could touch rock bottom anywhere there, but here a swamp was a swamp, and could be any depth.”

- Lysander P. Foster, who came to St. Anthony in 1849 Old Rail Fence Corners. Frontier Tales Told by Minnesota Pioneers (St. Paul, Minnesota Historical Society, 1914). pp. 38-39.

Compiled by Connie Sullivan