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University Club of St. Paul

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Colorized postcard depicting the exterior of the University Club in St. Paul, c.1920.

Postcard depicting the exterior of the University Club in St. Paul, c.1920.

Designed to hug the bluff, the University Club of St. Paul has offered one of the best views in the city since 1913. With one story descending below 420 Summit Avenue, the L-shaped clubhouse overlooks the downtown and the Mississippi River gorge from the highest hill in the area.

In the early twentieth century, ambitious community leaders of the young, prosperous capital city established three private social clubs modeled after the great cities of the American East Coast and Europe. Members of the Minnesota Club (1910), the University Club of St. Paul (1913), and the Saint Paul Athletic Club (1917) all built elegant buildings.

Each club targeted different members. While the athletic club was a full-service urban sports facility, the Minnesota Club sought out high-society figures, politicians, and businessmen. The University Club welcomed graduates of colleges and universities. (A century later, only the University Club carries out its original mission.)

The club’s architects, Charles A. Reed and Allen H. Stem, also designed Grand Central Station in New York City, the St. Paul Hotel, the St. Paul Athletic Club, and a number of homes in the Summit Avenue neighborhood. The Tudor Revival-style club house was modeled after the Oxford & Cambridge Club in London.

Construction was completed in 1913. The new building’s facilities included dining areas, a library, squash courts, locker rooms, and a bar and grill. Asphalt shingles on an intersecting gabled roof topped the three-and-a-half-story structure.

An outdoor pool and tennis courts were added to the grounds in the 1930s. To pay for these additions, the club took a creative approach. In return for a fifty-cent donation, members signed their names on the countertop of the bar; a burning process made the signatures permanent.

F. Scott Fitzgerald grew up in the Summit Avenue neighborhood and attended many events at the University Club, although he was never a member. On his last visit home to St. Paul, he and his wife, Zelda, hosted a “bad luck ball” on Friday, January 13, 1922, at the club. The couple loved jokes and published a parody society section of a fictitious newspaper, the St. Paul Daily Dirge, for their guests featuring satirical stories about local people.

After World War II, the University Club was the first of the three St. Paul social clubs to invite women to join. In 1976, the Hill District, including the University Club and other historic buildings along Summit Avenue, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The American Planning Association named Summit Avenue one of the ten “great streets of America” in 2008.

The club celebrated a hundred years of continuous operation in 2013. It is one of a prestigious group of similar clubs throughout the world—many chartered in the late nineteenth century.

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© Minnesota Historical Society
  • Bibliography
  • Related Resources

Millett, Larry. AIA Guide to St. Paul’s Summit Avenue & Hill District. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2009.

Page, Dave, and John Koblas. F. Scott Fitzgerald in Minnesota: Toward the Summit. St. Cloud, MN: North Star Press, 1996.

Sandeen, Ernest R. St. Paul’s Historic Summit Avenue. St. Paul: Macalester College, Living Historical Museum, 1978.

University Club. Historic Sites Survey, St. Paul Heritage Preservation Commission, Ramsey County Historical Society, 1982.

University Club of St. Paul.
http://www.universityclubofstpaul.com/

Related Images

Colorized postcard depicting the exterior of the University Club in St. Paul, c.1920.
Colorized postcard depicting the exterior of the University Club in St. Paul, c.1920.
Black and white photograph of the University Club under construction, c.1912.
Black and white photograph of the University Club under construction, c.1912.
Black and white photograph of the interior of the dining room of the University Club, overlooking St. Paul, June 22, 1977. Photographed by Julian G. Plante.
Black and white photograph of the interior of the dining room of the University Club, overlooking St. Paul, June 22, 1977. Photographed by Julian G. Plante.
Black and white photograph of a view of downtown St. Paul and the lower West Side from the University Club, June 22, 1977. Photographed by Julian G. Plante.
Black and white photograph of a view of downtown St. Paul and the lower West Side from the University Club, June 22, 1977. Photographed by Julian G. Plante.
Black and white photograph of Sy Mergens relaxing in the Fireside Room of the University Club, June 22, 1977. Photographed by Julian G. Plante.
Black and white photograph of Sy Mergens relaxing in the Fireside Room of the University Club, June 22, 1977. Photographed by Julian G. Plante.

Turning Point

In the late 1940s, the University Club invites women to become members, making it the first of the three major St. Paul social clubs to do so.

Chronology

1904

The St. Paul Club is formed by wealthy young men from the Summit Avenue neighborhood who want to stay in touch over the years.

1910

The club becomes the University Club of St. Paul.

1911

Fire damages the club’s original headquarters at 102 Western Avenue, moving forward plans to build a new clubhouse.

1913

St. Paul architects Charles A. Reed & Allen H. Stem design the Tudor Revival-style club house to take advantage of the view from the top of the bluff. The building is completed.

1922

Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald host a “bad luck ball” at the club on Friday, January 13.

1930s

An outdoor pool and tennis courts are added to the site.

Late 1940s

After World War II, the University Club is the first of the three major St. Paul social clubs to invite women to join.

1976

The Hill District, including the University Club and other historic buildings along Summit Avenue, is added to the National Register of Historic Places.

2008

The American Planning Association names Summit Avenue one of the “ten great streets of America.”

2013

The University Club celebrates one hundred years of continuous operation.