PiPress Archives

12/12/2025

It was 15 years ago today that chunks of snow and ice broke through the dome's inflatable roof and spilled onto the turf below.

A weekend blizzard had dumped a whopping 17 inches of snow on the dome faster than the short-staffed facilities crew could hose off its 10 acres of surface area with hot water.

12/11/2025

Happy to have an excuse to be late for school, three kids push a stranded motorist out of the snowdrifts at Fourth and Minnesota streets in downtown St. Paul during a winter storm on the morning of Dec. 16, 1940.

The storm, which dropped more than 7 inches of snow on the Twin Cities, came on the heels of the infamous Armistice Day Blizzard a month earlier.

View a gallery of our images at twincities.com/throwback

📸: Pioneer Press file photo

08/07/2025

Nine-year-old Robert Kennedy and his 11-year-old sister Kathy try out a family fallout shelter on display at American National Bank at Seventh and Robert streets in St. Paul on Aug. 31, 1961.

Fallout shelters were big business at that time, as the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union began to heat up.

Can you guess what it would have cost to install one in your backyard? Find out in the latest installment of our photo gallery here: https://twincities.com/throwback

📸: Former Pioneer Press photographer Roy Derickson

08/04/2025

Long before she played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on “WKRP in Cincinnati,” Anderson won the title of “Miss Thermo-Jac” at the Emporium in downtown St. Paul.

Anderson, who died Sunday at 79, was just 14 when she won a contest to model outfits for a clothing company at the Emporium.

08/03/2025

Highland Park opened 100 years ago this week. It was the biggest party St. Paul had ever seen, outdrawing opening day of that year's State Fair.

The 7-hour celebration, which boasted free barbecue and band concerts, drew more people than opening day at the State Fair a month later.

08/01/2025

It was 18 years ago today that the I-35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

Pioneer Press photographers took hundreds of photos that day. You can see a few of them here: https://www.twincities.com/2025/07/23/the-i-35w-bridge-collapse-in-pictures/

07/31/2025

The Cathedral of St. Paul rises out of an early morning fog bank on Sept. 16, 1999.

The striking green patina of its 70-ton copper dome was once an iconic feature of the Saintly City's skyline, but it was replaced in 2002 with the muted cladding seen today. The dome is expected to regain its green hue over time as the copper of the replacement roof oxidizes.

View a gallery of our images at twincities.com/throwback

📸: Former Pioneer Press photographer Joe Oden