Harriet Island truly was an island until the 1950s when the U.S. Corps of Engineers filled in the back channel. In the early 1900s Harriet Island was the center of liesure activity for St. Paul residents with a zoo, picnic areas, ball field and the very popular bath houses. In those times indoor plumbing was still to come. Dr. Justus Ohage, St. Paul's public health director, owned Harriet Island where he built the bath houses to encourage better hygene as a major public health program. In his will Dr. Ohage left Harriet Island to the city with the stipulation that it be used only for public health and recreation (with great foresight, he stated that a riverboat operation was an acceptable use).
Harriet Island was named for Harriet Bishop, St. Paul's first school teacher, who arrived at the tiny frontier village of St. Paul in 1847 aboard the riverboat Lynx.Capt. Bill Bowell, founder of the Padelford Riverboat Co., as a young boy helped his father Ralph who ran a popcorn wagon on Harriet Island in the 1930s. Capt. Bowell launched his riverboat operation in 1970 and his daughters and nephew continue the family business today.
After $15 million in improvements Harriet Island is once again a major recreation spot in downtown St. Paul attracting nearly one million visitors annually for park events such as Taste of Minnesota and Irish Fair as well as the Padelford Riverboats, Minnesota Centennial Showboat Theatre, Covington Inn Bed & Breakfast, St. Paul Yacht Club, St. Paul Boat Club, Riverboat Grille, Wigginton Pavilion, and the Harriet Island Playground.
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