From 94, take the Dale Street
Exit. Go south on Dale about 6 blocks to Laurel. Turn left. Go two
blocks. (If you will be walking, park your car near MacKubin.)
Print
a map
to guide your walking tour.
On Laurel, between MacKubin and
Arundel, find:
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481 Laurel
Notice the twin buildings. The builder called
them San Mateo Flats. Scott was born at home in 1896 in the left
building. Sadly, his two sisters, ages one and three, had died from
influenza shortly before his birth. Probably because of this, his
mother, Mollie McQuillan, became overly protective of Scott. The family
lived here for another year, but then Scott's father, Edward, lost his
job as a wicker furniture salesman. He moved the family to New York
where a daughter Annabelle was born. Imagine this neighborhood without
electric lights. Some houses were not electrified until 1911. Imagine
groceries, coal and ice being delivered by horse and wagon.
Continue on Laurel to Arundel.
Turn right. Go four blocks to Summit. Turn right, and as you turn, the
next house is on the corner.
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445 Summit
(Side view from Arundel) Built in 1882, this
house belonged to real estate developer Herman Greve. His daughter
Alexandra Greve Kalman and her husband were lifelong friends of Scott
and his wife Zelda. Alexandra was the realtor who helped them find
several homes when they returned from New York in 1921. She rented them
a house in Dellwood, but they were evicted after the pipes froze
because they left the house unheated while they were away partying.
They also had to leave an apartment at the White Bear Yacht Club
because of their partying.
Go a short distance to:
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475 Summit
This was the home of one of Scott's best
friends, Marie Hersey. Scott fell in love with her cousin, Ginevra King,
when he was eleven, and he kept in contact with both girls through
college. When Scott and Zelda were first married, Scott objected to
Zelda's fluffy Southern style wardrobe. He asked Marie to help Zelda
choose clothing more appropriate to New York City.
Go one block to:
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513 Summit
 The Queene Anne style house pictured at left was
Mrs. Porterfield's boarding house. Scott visited several other young
authors here while he was revising his novel. One of them, Donald Ogden
Stewart, later wrote screen plays in Hollywood with Scott. Across the
street, at 516 Summit Ave., pictured at right, lived Sinclair Lewis. He
was supposedly writing a book about James J. Hill, but it was never
published.
Go about one block to:
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593/599 Summit
 Scott's family had moved to this Romanesque
brownstone building while Scott was away at school. They lived in two
apartments here, 593 and 599. His grandmother had died, leaving an
inheritance to pay for Scott's education at Princeton. Scott did poorly
in college, but his participation in writing and acting in plays made
him popular. He got sick one semester, either with malaria or
Tuberculosis, and dropped out. When he returned to class his poor
grades made him ineligible for rejoining his favorite clubs. Unhappy at
school, he joined the Army just as World War I began. He partied and
danced well, but he was a poor officer. He met Zelda when he was
stationed near her home in Alabama. Each thought the other was rich,
but neither was. When Scott got out of the army and got a job as a
poorly paid copywriter in New York, their romance cooled. Unable to
afford New York city, Scott returned to his parent's home in this
building, which he described in a letter as "A house below the average
on a street above the average." Here he rewrote his novel, hoping to
win Zelda's love back by getting a book published. In 1919, when he
received word that the publisher accepted it, he ran up and down Summit
Avenue, stopping traffic to tell drivers of his success. He and Zelda
were married shortly after the publication of "This Side of Paradise",
but they had many unpaid bills. Scott bought a huge ledger to start
keeping better track of his money. He used that same ledger until his
death at 44, carefully recording his novels, magazine stories, expenses
and brief summaries of each year.
Continue to the corner.
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623 Summit
Across Dale Street, we can see one of Grandma
McQuillan's houses, built after her husband died in 1877. She might
have had a horse and carriage there. Summit Avenue was thought of as
just a wide country lane upon which people exercised their horses each
day, stopping to chat with their neighbors on the way. Some people
stabled their horses on Maiden Lane by the Cathedral. Others boarded
their horses at Kittson's Stable and Racetrack at Snelling and
University Ave.
Turn right onto Dale Street.
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25 North Dale
As you walk two blocks to
Holly, notice the Academy Office Building across the street with a new
Fitzgerald statue created by Aaron Dysart. The building was formerly
St. Paul Academy, the private school Scott attended.
Turn right at Holly.
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586 Holly
586 Holly
was a boarding school for girls -- Mrs. Backus' Boarding School. Scott
was enrolled in a dancing school for boys and girls here. Scott kept a diary from age 14 on. He wrote
about wanting to be
better in sports, but he found his success in writing skits and acting
in plays. His grades were so poor that his parents decided to send him
to a Catholic Prep School in New Jersey. So, from age 15 on, Scott was
only in St. Paul for holidays, after a long train ride from the East.
Go one block to:
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509/514 Holly
 When Edward lost his job out East, the family
returned to the safety of Grandmother McQuillan's money.  They
lived in three different
houses on this block. One has been torn down. The five years Scott
lived on this block were important because he later wrote about his
childhood activities in the magazine stories that he sold to Scribner's
and the Saturday Evening Post. In the 1910 census, the family lived at
514 Holly, pictured at right. Edward was 56, Molly 48, Scott 13, and
Annabel, 8, with one servant living in their household. They also lived
in the apartment pictured at left, 509 Holly.
Go one block to:
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472 Holly
This sturdy brownstone house is
the home of Scott's grandmother, Louisa McQuillan. Her husband, Philip
Francis McQuillan, died in 1877 at the age of 43, twenty years before
Scott was born. Mr. McQuillan began as a bookkeeper in a wholesale
grocery business. He soon owned the company and also the tallest
building in downtown St. Paul. Mrs. McQuillan's brother, John H. Allen,
had been a partner in the business. He eventually assumed control, and
built a large home at 335 Summit Ave. 472 Holly is one of Mrs.
McQuillan's smaller houses. The largest house was downtown on 10th
Street, where 500 guests could be entertained. The McQuillan's also
maintained a winter home in Washington D.C., which is where Edward
Fitzgerald and Molly McQuillan were married in 1890.
Continue on Holly to Western.
(Stop sign.)
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Commodore Hotel
Scott and Zelda lived here when their baby girl,
Scottie, was born. There are many stories about their drinking and
partying at the bar here, and also at the University Club. Their
realtor friend Alexandra Kalman insisted they move into another of her
rental homes, 626 Goodrich, about eight blocks away. The hotel was
remodeled into offices and condos after a fire damaged it in 1978, with
the entrance moved to the side of the building.
Turn left. Go two blocks.
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Angus Hotel
Scott's parents
eventually moved back to Edward's home state of Maryland, but Molly
lived at the Angus Hotel for a short time after his death. It's now the
Blair Arcade, with shops and condos.
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W.A. Frost
Scott may have had
cokes and ice-cream sodas here when this was the neighborhood drugstore
instead of a restaurant. The tin ceiling inside has been preserved.
Turn left on Selby. Walkers: Walk
through or around the Blair Arcade building to the parking lot. Cut
through the parking lot to Arundel, to Laurel, past 481 Laurel, back to
your car.
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