Founded near historic Native American settlements as a trading and transportation center, the city rose to prominence when it was named the capital of the Minnesota Territory in 1849. Though Minneapolis is more nationally recognized, Saint Paul contains important institutions and the state's political activity. Regionally, the city is popular for the Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, and for the Science Museum of Minnesota. As a business hub of the Upper Midwest, it is headquarters for companies such as Ecolab and Lawson Software.
The settlement originally began at present-day Lambert's Landing but was referred to as Pig's Eye, when Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant established a popular tavern there. When Fr. Lucien Galtier, the first Catholic pastor of the region, established the Log Chapel of St. Paul (shortly thereafter to become the first location of the Cathedral of St. Paul), he made it known that the settlement was now to be called by that name, as "St. Paul as applied to a town or city was well appropriated, this monosyllable is short, sounds good, it is understood by all christian denominations...".
The earliest known inhabitants from about 400 A.D. were members of the Hopewell tradition who buried their dead in mounds (now Indian Mounds Park) on the bluffs above the river. The next known inhabitants were the Mdewakanton Dakota in the 17th century who fled their ancestral home of Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota in response to westward expansion of the Ojibwe nation. The Ojibwe would later occupy the north (east) bank of the Mississippi River.
By 1800, French Canadian explorers came through the region and attracted fur traders to the area. Fort Snelling and nearby Pig's Eye Tavern also brought the first Yankees from New England and English, Irish, and Scottish immigrants who had enlisted in the army and settled nearby after discharge. These early settlers and entrepreneurs built houses on the heights north of the river. The first wave of immigration came with the Irish who settled at Connemara Patch along the Mississippi, named for their home in Connemara Ireland. The Irish would become prolific in politics, city governance, and public safety much to the chagrin of the Germans and French who had grown into the majority. In 1850, the first of many waves of Swedish immigrants passed through Saint Paul on their way to farming communities in northern and western regions of the territory. A large group settled in Swede Hollow which would later become home to Poles, Italians and Mexicans. The last Swedish presence had moved up Saint Paul's East Side along Payne Avenue in the 1950s. In terms of people who specified European ancestry in the 2000 Census, the city was 21.5% (73,265) German, 10.8% (36,699) Irish and 7.0% (24,035) Norwegian ancestry with almost all other European ancestries represented.
By the 1980s, the Thomas Dale area, once a Austro-Hungarian enclave known as Frogtown (German: Froschburg), became home to Vietnamese who left their war-torn country. Soon after a settlement program for the Hmong diaspora came and by 2000, the Saint Paul Hmong were the largest urban contingent in the United States. Mexican immigrants have settled in Saint Paul's West Side since the 1930s, and have grown enough that Mexico opened a foreign consulate in the 2005.
The majority of residents claiming religious affiliation are Christian, split between the Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations. The Roman Catholic presence comes from Irish, German, Scottish, and French Canadian settlers who in time would be bolstered by Hispanic immigrants. There are Jewish synagogues such as Mount Zion Temple and relatively small populations of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Pagans.
As of the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 287,151 people, 112,109 households, and 60,987 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.01% White, 11.71% African American, 1.13% Native American, 12.36% Asian (mostly Hmong and Vietnamese), 0.07% Pacific Islander, 3.84% from other races, and 3.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race (incl. white) were 7.91% of the population. The median income for a household in the city was $38,774. About 15.6% of the population were living below the poverty line.
Residents utilize Interstate 35E running north-south, and Interstate 94 running east-west. Trunk highways include U.S. Highway 52, Minnesota State Highway 280, and Minnesota State Highway 5. Saint Paul has several unique roads such as Ayd Mill Road and Shepard Road/Warner Road, which diagonally follow particular geographic features in the city. Metro Transit provides bus service and connects the city to the existing Hiawatha Line light rail via dedicated bus routes but will not have its own line, the Central Line along University Avenue until 2014. Downtown Saint Paul has a five mile (8 km) enclosed skyway system over twenty-five city blocks. Biking is also gaining popularity due to paved bike lanes which connect to other bike routes throughout the metropolitan area.
The layout of city streets and roads has often drawn complaints. Jesse Ventura brought up the city's roadways during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman while Governor of Minnesota. Ventura later apologized for his remark that the streets had been designed by "drunken Irishmen," although people had already been complaining about the fractured grid system for more than a century by that point. Some of the city road design is the result of the curve of the Mississippi River, hilly topography, conflicts between developers of different neighborhoods in the early city, and grand plans only half-realized. Outside of downtown, the roads are less confusing, but most roads are named, rather than numbered, increasing the difficulty for non-natives to navigate. Due to neighborhood autonomy, some roads suddenly change names without warning.
Amtrak's Empire Builder between Chicago and Seattle stops once daily in each direction at nearby Midway Station. Ridership on the train is increasing, about 6% from 2005 to over 505,000 in fiscal year 2007. Increased ridership has prompted southern Minnesota leaders to plan for an expansion of Amtrak's service in the area, including an overhaul of Saint Paul's Union Depot. Saint Paul is the site of the Pig's Eye Yard, a major freight Classification yard for Canadian Pacific Railway. As of 2003, the yard handled over 1,000 freight cars per day. Both Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe run trains through yard, though they are not classified at Pig's Eye. Burlington Northern Santa Fe operates the large Northtown Yard in Minneapolis, which handles about 600 cars per day. There are several other small yards located around the city.
Saint Paul is served by the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), which sits on 3,400 acres (14 km²) southwest of the city on the west side of the Mississippi River between Minnesota State Highway 5, Interstate 494, Minnesota State Highway 77, and Minnesota State Highway 62. The airport serves three international, twelve domestic, seven charter and four regional carriers and is a hub and home base for Northwest Airlines, Mesaba Airlines and Sun Country Airlines. Saint Paul is also served by the St. Paul Downtown Airport located just south of downtown, across the Mississippi River. The airport, also known as Holman Field, is a reliever airport, run by the Metropolitan Airports Commission. The airport houses Minnesota's Air National Guard and is tailored to local corporate aviation. There are three runways that serve about 100 resident aircraft and a flight training school. The Holman Field Administration Building and Riverside Hangar are on the National Register of Historic Places.