Vignettes

St. Paul District Engineers
10/27/2015
The district is turning 150 years old in 2016. I have to admit I have never thought much about what it would be like to lead such a dynamic group of individuals. Granted, in the beginning, there were...
Origin of the Navigation System
10/15/2015
Along with their best suits, the delegation packed the hopes and dreams of the entire Northwest – from the farmers in the hinterland to the captains of commerce in St. Paul, Minnesota, and from the...
Meeker Dam: Controversy plagued one of the first locks on the Mississippi River
11/3/2015
Listed as one of the “controversies” in Raymond Merritt’s book “Creativity, Conflict & Controversy: A History of the St. Paul District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” the Meeker Dam project continues...
The Boatyard: History of the Fountain City Service Base
10/15/2015
For 100 years, the Fountain City, Wisconsin, Boatyard has played an essential role in supporting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to improve navigation on the Upper Mississippi River. These...
Engineering the Falls: The Corps of Engineers' Role at St. Anthony Falls
10/27/2015
People have always been drawn to the power and beauty of St. Anthony Falls. For Native Americans, the falls possessed religious significance and harbored powerful spirits. For the early European and...
The Old Post Office Building and the Digitization of the St. Paul District
10/27/2015
I started working for the St Paul District in March of 1980. At that time the district office was in the main Post Office on Kellogg Boulevard between Sibley and Jackson streets. The building was...
History of recreation in the St. Paul District
11/3/2015
The St. Paul District constructed and placed approximately 15 dams into operation starting with Lake Winnie, Leech Lake and Pokegama Lake dams on the Headwaters of the Mississippi River in 1884 and...
Blackhawk Park site of battle
10/15/2015
A lone marker recognizing sacred ground stands at Blackhawk Park, located near DeSoto, Wis. Every year Native American groups visit the park and the surrounding area to pay respect and remember a...
Red River Flood of 2009
10/28/2015
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, declared a victory late April 2009 after facing massive flooding in the Red River of the North river valley for more than a month-and-a-half. By...
Gouverneur Kimble Warren
11/3/2015
Maj. Gouverneur Kimble Warren was the first district engineer of the St. Paul District. After the Civil War, he came to St. Paul in 1866 and began work surveying the Mississippi, Chippewa, St. Croix...
Dredge Goetz
10/28/2015
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, uses the Dredge William L. Goetz to help maintain 850 miles of the Upper Mississippi River, 335 miles of the Illinois River and other inland...
Expansion of the regulatory mission
11/3/2015
The Department of the Army Regulatory Program is one of the oldest organizations within the federal government. Initially, its purpose was to protect and maintain the navigable capacity of the...
St. Paul District regulatory boundaries
11/3/2015
In 1976, the St. Paul District regulatory staff consisted of four people (clerk included) that focused on evaluating projects under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. The scrutiny was...
History of the Headwaters Recreation Areas
10/28/2015
The Mississippi River Headwaters dams, located in north central Minnesota, were constructed and placed in operation between 1884 and 1912. Maj. General Warren, the first St. Paul District commander,...
Dredge W.A. Thompson and early dredging
10/27/2015
In 1930 the 9-foot draft channel was legislated by Congress to increase commerce on the river. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the series of 29 locks and dams between St. Louis...
Floods of 1997
10/28/2015
The St. Paul District faced one of its biggest challenges ever when, in the timeframe of around six weeks in 1997, it simultaneously fought floods in three river basins – the Red, the Minnesota and...
Henry Bosse
10/15/2015
One of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District’s claim to fame is renowned photographer Henry Bosse. Bosse was born in Prussia Nov. 13, 1844. He immigrated to the United States in 1865; and...
Hiram M. Chittenden
10/15/2015
Captain Hiram M. Chittenden’s photograph appears on the wall outside the executive office of St. Paul District. Chittenden served as temporary district engineer for four months in 1901, during which...