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SECTION 2— TxE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE Roseville: The Double Boom Town Source: Lanegran, David A., Marcotte, Robert; (May 1998) I-35W Corridor Coalition Phase I Report Unlike the communities to its north, Rose Township attracted the attention of developers and real estate speculators because of its proximity to the two early centers of urbanization, St. Paul and St. Anthony, and the main route between them. By the last decade of the nineteenth century, the lower half of the township was incorporated into St. Paul and the westernmost six sections had been ceded to Hennepin County. In the 18�Os, small farmers were attracted to flat and moderately fertile soils in the southern sections. After the Territory of Minnesota was organized, the flow of farmers increased and a few speculators laid out town lots. The sections closest to St. Paul, the Como Lake area, Sarah's Outlots and the Cottage Homes area (platted 1855) south of McCarron's Lake were developed first. In 1856 a village named Roseville was platted at what is now the intersection of University and Snelling Avenues. In 1857 a Saint Paul Park addition was platted by Charles Miller in the northern area just east of Lake Josephine. The County Poor Farm was established two miles to the north of the Village on land that is now the State Fair grounds. Elsewhere, small parcels were taken up by farmers intending to profit from their access to the population centers and city streets. Soon farmers began to specialize in dairying, produce or hog production. But the great financial panics of the late 1850s brought the rampant speculation to a halt as the population of St. Paul underwent a dramatic decrease. Soldiers returning from the Civil War found many opportunities in this part of Ramsey County. The sections north of McCarron's Lake were subdivided into lakeshore lots and urban areas. Optimistic businessmen platted other subdivisions in the area along main avenues leading north from St. Paul. There is also a pattern of rather small agricultural parcels of about 15 acres that were developed by market gardeners, while the lakeshores attracted the city's upper class. One of the City's leading land speculators, Alexander Ramsey, in whose honor the county was named, held 160 acres on the township's eastern border that once belonged to E. Edgerton, another of the city's early land developers. In 1860 the population was 499; by 1880 it had grown to 877. After the turn of the century the rate of suburbanization slowed down. In Rose Township, many farmers concentrated on specialized products like milk that had to be consumed fresh. Most of the farmers sold their milk door to door along specific routes as well as to local creameries. There were some large show farms such as J. M. Hackney's Arden Dairy that produced both milk for sale and purebred livestock for farmers wishing to improve their herds. Eventually there were 33 dairy farms in the area north of Larpenteur. Other farmers wishing to take Roseville Comprehensive Plan .� 2001 Update The Land and its People -Page 1 of 24