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A giant chunk of South St. Paul’s history is responsible for its good schools today. The city was formerly a major meat-packing city. For years, South St. Paul had a gritty, tough-as-nails reputation—and a stench to go along with it. Its stockyards were established in 1886. Livestock was sent there to fatten up before being transported to Chicago for slaughtering. Several major meat-packers, including Swift and Armour, saw an opportunity and established plants next to the slaughterhouse.

The work was tough and messy, but the pay was good. Railroads converged in the area, allowing ranchers to send their livestock to the plant and Armour and Swift to send their meat products to the East.

At the height of its success, the Armour plant had 4,000 employees who slaughtered around the clock, up to 2,000 animals per hour. The plant processed hogs, cattle, and sheep and turned them into canned chili, leather, sides of beef, baby food, medicine, fertilizer, and its most famous product, Dial soap.

Right outside Armour’s gates, Concord Street was home to about 100 taverns. More than eighty liquor licenses were issued prior to 1920. The streets were full of diners, farm-supply stores, trucking outfits, clothing shops, and boarding houses. Those who traveled to South St. Paul with their livestock saw firsthand why raucous South St. Paul was known as “Cowtown.” Essentially, the bars never closed.

Most workers appreciated their paycheck and job security, but many wanted better for their children. With the boon in business, the industry contributed substantial taxes to develop schools. Education became important as a ticket out of the meat industry.

Those forward-thinking workers were wise to make sure education and tutoring in South St. Paul developed. Cattle owners began to raise and market their animals using different methods. Small farms became scarcer, and larger livestock operations could sell directly to meat packers, who set up shop in rural areas closer to farmers. Truckers took over transportation, so farmers were no longer limited to where the train tracks led. Drought affected the livestock supply.

Swift closed in 1969, and Armour ten years later. Over 12,000 jobs were lost, and South St. Paul was declared a federal disaster area due to unemployment. Many workers mourned the loss of their identity—and a major industry. Yet there was no turning back. The city bought and cleaned up the land to create a light industrial park. The area now has green space and trails and is home to a bagel bakery and over fifty other businesses that together employ 4,000 people. The smell of bagels, instead of manure, drifts over the riverfront.

South St. Paul children no longer are required to go on field trips to the grisly slaughterhouses. Instead, local families have, besides a unique history, access to quality South St. Paul tutoring and other educational services and many recreational and career opportunities.