Newspaper Row

Corner of 4th Street and Nicollet Mall

The corner of Nicollet and 4th Street was once known as Newspaper Row, so-called because it was the key intersection where most of the newspapers of the late 19th and early 20th century were located. Minneapolis and Saint Paul once had dozens of newspapers printed in many different languages and due to agglomeration effects — the way that similar businesses tend to cluster together in cities —this was where you’d find most of the journalists and printing presses.

Some of the papers that were written or printed within a block of this spot were the Minneapolis Tribune, the Minneapolis Journal, the Swedish language Svenska American Posten (the largest Swedish language paper in the country), the Pioneer Press, and the St Paul Globe.

This corner close to the heart of downtown was well-connected, and was a great spot to exchange gossip, check with a source, pitch an idea, or verify a rumor. Alongside the newspapers were dozens of bars, taverns, and cafés. Because they had access to telegraphs, in the days before radio, one of the 19th century bars had a large wall facing the sidewalk on which the barkeep would post live updates of baseball scores, moving cutouts of ballplayers around a diamond mounted on the outside walls. During big games, men would crowd around the outside of the bar to “watch” the game as it happened. These days there’s not much left of the old newspaper industry on this corner, as the Star Tribune is now located on the other side of downtown.

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