Crime Scene and Trauma Cleanup in St. Paul, NE

St. Paul is a city in the Loup River valley of central Nebraska and the county seat of Howard County; it is part of the Grand Island micropolitan area.

St. Paul was founded by two young surveyors, brothers James N. and Nicholas J. Paul, who homesteaded in the Loup valley, successfully petitioned the legislature to create Howard County, and brought the county's first settlers in March 1871.

The town's name has an unusual origin story: a committee drew the suggested name "Athens" from a hat, but because Nebraska already had an Athens, Senator Phineas W. Hitchcock suggested naming it St. Paul in honor of the Paul brothers.

St. Paul's county-seat status was confirmed by voters in 1874, and the city was incorporated in 1881.

The first building in St. Paul, Stillman Hazeltine's general store and town hall raised in the summer of 1871, later burned — but the brick building that replaced it still stands with Hazeltine's name and the date 1871 on its front.

From 1882 until 1917, St. Paul was the home of Frank Iams, the nation's largest importer of European draft horses, whose operation shipped Percherons and Belgians across the country.

Dorothy Lynch created her famous namesake salad dressing in St. Paul in the late 1940s; the dressing, first served at a local Legion club, is now sold in stores across the United States.

Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander was born on a farm near St. Paul and retired to the city after his career; St. Paul's water tower bears his portrait, its American Legion field was named for him in 1971, and the city celebrates Grover Cleveland Alexander Days each July.

St. Paul is home to the Museum of Nebraska Major League Baseball, honoring the more than 150 major leaguers with Nebraska roots.

Local inventors thrived in early St. Paul: the first self-rising flour was developed at one of its flour mills, and Nebraska's first chicken hatchery moved to St. Paul in 1922.