Lowertown Historic District – Saint Paul

Lowertown derives its name from the “Lower Landing” site along the Mississippi River where it grew into a major warehouse, distribution, and transportation center. The eighteen-square block historic district contains some of the capital city’s most significant commercial historic landmarks. Lowertown business leaders with names such as Hill and Ordway expressed their permanence in structures they erected nearly a century ago, many designed by the nation’s most renowned architects. The 1972 rehabilitation of the Park Square Court Building (396 Sibley Street) by BWBR Architects, Inc., sparked the revival of this important district. Today the area offers a lively mix of housing, artist lofts, and commercial space. It is recognized nationally and internationally as an outstanding example of historic reuse in urban neighborhood planning.