Midway Chamber of Commerce

Much of the destiny of the Midway area of St. Paul has been shaped by a dedicated group of businesspeople and residents who came together in 1919 to form the Midway Club, predecessor of the Midway Chamber of Commerce. By that time the Midway community had become an important regional hub for transportation, industry, commerce and education.

Commercial development, short line railroad transportation and the growth of the streetcar system played key roles in the Midway area’s development. The Interurban Streetcar line, which was completed in 1890, along University Avenue, was hailed as a much needed link between the two cities’ business districts. The Midway area’s prominence on the streetcar map was also assured by the completion of the streetcar company’s Midway shop at Snelling and University.

In the 1880s the Midway area became home to the Minnesota Transfer Railway Company, the brainchild of St. Paul railroad magnate James J. Hill. The presence of the street car and rail activity spurred significant commercial and industrial growth in the Midway. Early Midway industries provided a vast array of goods for residents of the northwestern U.S., including mattresses, beds, chairs, tables, pianos, furnaces, stoves, radiators, brooms, linseed oil products and farm equipment.