South Saint Paul Packinghouse District, South Saint Paul, Minnesota

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South Saint Paul Packinghouse District
Gates of to the former Armour meat packing plant, 2001
Former location of the Swift meat packing plant. A commerative sign is in the foreground, 2001
City/locality- State/province	South Saint Paul, Minnesota
County- State/province:	Dakota County, Minnesota
State/province:	Minnesota
Country:	United States
Historic Function:	Industrial site
Current Function:	Industrial site

Site History

At one time nearly 10,000 meatpacking workers in this area were employed by the Union Stockyards and the Swift, Armour and Cudahy Companies. Swift closed in 1969 and Armour in 1979. South St. Paul packinghouse workers participated in national strikes in 1904, 1921 and 1948. The Minnesota National Guard was called out in 1921 and 1948 when mass picketing closed the plants. Not until the 1940s did the workers succeed in bringing all the major packers under union contract.

The last meatpacking strike was in 1984 by UFCW Local 4-P at the Iowa Pork Company, now closed. The area also includes ethnic halls such as Croatian Hall, 445-2nd Av So. Packinghouse workers were drawn heavily from immigrants from the former Yugoslavia. The Croatian Fraternal Union was a secular, predominantly leftist organization of Croatian-American workers.

Memories and stories

Badges

This place is part of the Saint Paul Labor History Tour

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Notes