Best Web Design in Saint Paul, MN (2026)

Web Design for Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is Minnesota's capital and second-largest city, sitting on the bluffs at the northernmost navigable bend of the Upper Mississippi River across from its twin, Minneapolis. Once a rowdy 1850s steamboat gateway nicknamed Pig's Eye, it grew into a railroad and manufacturing powerhouse and today is home to about 311,500 people, a landmark State Capitol, and one of the nation's largest Hmong communities. Winter is its signature season, celebrated with a Winter Carnival that has run since 1886.

AppWT works with Saint Paul, MN businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Saint Paul

Also known as. The Capital City. The Saintly City. Pig's Eye (historical). STP.

History. The Mdewakanton Dakota, including the Kaposia band, lived in the area for centuries and called the white sandstone bluffs Imniza-Ska; the site sits near the historic Fort Snelling. The settlement first grew around a tavern run by fur trader/bootlegger Pierre Pig's Eye Parrant, and locals called the area Pig's Eye. In 1841 Catholic missionary Father Lucien Galtier built a log chapel dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle above Lambert's Landing and urged settlers to adopt the name Saint Paul instead of Pig's Eye. The Minnesota Territory made Saint Paul its capital in November 1849, and the city was officially incorporated on March 4, 1854. In 1858 more than 1,000 steamboats served Saint Paul's levee, cementing its role as a frontier river gateway. Railroad titan James J. Hill headquartered his Great Northern Railway here, and the city became a rail hub for the Upper Midwest. Construction of Interstate 94 from 1959-1961 demolished much of the Rondo neighborhood, a historic African American enclave, an event still central to the city's story.

Local economy. The main sectors are services, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, and government, anchored by the city's role as the state capital. 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) moved to Saint Paul in 1906 and built its headquarters here in 1940 before later relocating to suburban Maplewood. Ecolab, a global cleaning and chemical products company, is headquartered in Saint Paul. Securian Financial Group is a major financial-services employer based downtown. James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific were both headquartered here before eventually merging into today's BNSF Railway. The former Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant operated in the Highland Park neighborhood from 1924 until its 2011 closure.

Culture and community. The Saint Paul Winter Carnival, held since 1886, features ice and snow sculpting, treasure hunts, and an ice palace when conditions allow, drawing hundreds of thousands. The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is the nation's only full-time professional chamber orchestra. The city has one of the largest urban Hmong populations in the United States (about 11% of residents) plus a large Karen/Burmese community, shaping its food and festivals. Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (creator of Peanuts) was born in Saint Paul, and author F. Scott Fitzgerald grew up here. Playwright August Wilson premiered work at the city's Penumbra Theatre. The Minnesota State Fair, one of the country's largest, is held just outside the city at Falcon Heights with a Saint Paul mailing address.

What makes Saint Paul distinct. Saint Paul was very nearly named Pig's Eye after a one-eyed bootlegger's tavern before the name Saint Paul stuck in the 1840s. It sits directly opposite Minneapolis, forming the Twin Cities, yet keeps a fiercely separate identity as the older, more conservative-in-layout capital. The St. Paul Curling Club, founded in 1912, is the largest curling club in the United States. Its winters are so embraced that the city has thrown a Winter Carnival, complete with towering ice palaces, since 1886. Neopagans have nicknamed the city Paganistan for its notably large Wiccan and pagan population. In November 2021 Saint Paul became the only Midwestern city to adopt a rent-control ordinance capping annual increases at 3%, though it was substantially rolled back in 2022. Hall of Fame ballplayers Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris, and Joe Mauer all came from Saint Paul. Note: although your label lists Dakota County, Saint Paul is actually the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota.

Saint Paul Landmarks and Local Life

• Minnesota State Capitol - the domed seat of state government overlooking downtown
• Cathedral of Saint Paul - the monumental Catholic cathedral on the hill above downtown
• Summit Avenue - billed as the longest stretch of preserved Victorian residential architecture in the country, including the James J. Hill House
• Como Park Zoo and Conservatory - a free, year-round zoo and glass conservatory with an adjoining Japanese garden
• Landmark Center - a historic downtown building hosting arts and cultural organizations, beside Rice Park
• Wabasha Street Caves - former sandstone mining caves turned event/nightlife venue tied to the city's gangster-era history