Dec 01, 1887
Santa Michael
This house is part of an exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society, "Open House: If These Walls Could Talk," an interactive exhibit that opened on Jan. 14, 2006 at the Minnesota History Center, bringing to life the adage “if these walls could talk” by using a single, existing house-in the Railroad Island neighborhood on St. Paul’s East Side-as a window into the daily lives of people of the past. Stories of families, from the first German immigrants through the Italians, African-Americans, and Hmong who succeeded them, are told through rooms representing different eras of the house. Visitors become detectives, piecing together lives of the families who lived at 470 Hopkins Street. History Michelina and Russell Frascone lived in the house 1931-1956; Michelina’s parents (Dominick and Filomena D’Aloia) lived there from 1928-1949; her uncle and aunt (Filomeno and Rose Cocchiarella) lived on the other side of the duplex (1924-1946). Michelina moved into 470 Hopkins St. in 1932, shortly after she and her mother arrived in America from Italy. Michelina went on to marry and raise her family in the house until 1956, when they moved to Hazel Park. Jerry D’Aloia lived in the house from 1932-1949 and 1954-1956 (with wife Barbara); younger brother of Michelina Frascone raising chickens in the basement for Michelina’s wedding while working at Hamm’s brewery, the day he flipped the wrong valve and the toilets overflowed with beer his father and uncle worked as railroad track repairmen Angie and Dick Krismer lived in the house 1958-1967 being a “mixed marriage” (Italian and German) in a Little Italy neighborhood dealing intimately with the alcoholism problems of their upstairs neighbors, the Berrys creating an “assembly line” to give their 4 kids a bath in tight quarters flying kites with the neighborhood kids-higher and higher until the string broke and then following it in the station wagon working at the slaughterhouse in South St. Paul; the screams of the pigs damaged Dick’s hearing June Cramer Mayer and Diane Hegner (mother-daughter) lived in the house from 1957-1979 the day the house caught on fire (Diane was inside), burning off the third floor neighborhood birthday parties in the yard; parties in the basement family struggles with alcoholism and abuse Pang Toua Yang and Mai Vang lived in the house from 2002-2004, with daughter Elizabeth Young as landlord serving in South Vietnamese army, fleeing for Thailand after U.S. pulled out; immigrated to St. Paul using shaman altar to help treat burns suffered in backyard accident passing the citizenship exam Elizabeth Young current owner (with Michael Wong) of the house. Her parents, Pang Toua Yang and Mai Vang, lived in the house from 2002-2004 born in Laos, fled to Thailand as a child with her parents; settled in St. Paul as refugees went to school and decided to go into real estate; now owns 23 properties, mostly on the East Side, including 470 Hopkins St.
Santa Michael
This house is part of an exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society, "Open House: If These Walls Could Talk," an interactive exhibit that opened on Jan. 14, 2006 at the Minnesota History Center, bringing to life the adage “if these walls could talk” by using a single, existing house-in the Railroad Island neighborhood on St. Paul’s East Side-as a window into the daily lives of people of the past. Stories of families, from the first German immigrants through the Italians, African-Americans, and Hmong who succeeded them, are told through rooms representing different eras of the house. Visitors become detectives, piecing together lives of the families who lived at 470 Hopkins Street. History Michelina and Russell Frascone lived in the house 1931-1956; Michelina’s parents (Dominick and Filomena D’Aloia) lived there from 1928-1949; her uncle and aunt (Filomeno and Rose Cocchiarella) lived on the other side of the duplex (1924-1946). Michelina moved into 470 Hopkins St. in 1932, shortly after she and her mother arrived in America from Italy. Michelina went on to marry and raise her family in the house until 1956, when they moved to Hazel Park. Jerry D’Aloia lived in the house from 1932-1949 and 1954-1956 (with wife Barbara); younger brother of Michelina Frascone raising chickens in the basement for Michelina’s wedding while working at Hamm’s brewery, the day he flipped the wrong valve and the toilets overflowed with beer his father and uncle worked as railroad track repairmen Angie and Dick Krismer lived in the house 1958-1967 being a “mixed marriage” (Italian and German) in a Little Italy neighborhood dealing intimately with the alcoholism problems of their upstairs neighbors, the Berrys creating an “assembly line” to give their 4 kids a bath in tight quarters flying kites with the neighborhood kids-higher and higher until the string broke and then following it in the station wagon working at the slaughterhouse in South St. Paul; the screams of the pigs damaged Dick’s hearing June Cramer Mayer and Diane Hegner (mother-daughter) lived in the house from 1957-1979 the day the house caught on fire (Diane was inside), burning off the third floor neighborhood birthday parties in the yard; parties in the basement family struggles with alcoholism and abuse Pang Toua Yang and Mai Vang lived in the house from 2002-2004, with daughter Elizabeth Young as landlord serving in South Vietnamese army, fleeing for Thailand after U.S. pulled out; immigrated to St. Paul using shaman altar to help treat burns suffered in backyard accident passing the citizenship exam Elizabeth Young current owner (with Michael Wong) of the house. Her parents, Pang Toua Yang and Mai Vang, lived in the house from 2002-2004 born in Laos, fled to Thailand as a child with her parents; settled in St. Paul as refugees went to school and decided to go into real estate; now owns 23 properties, mostly on the East Side, including 470 Hopkins St.
Dec 01, 1887
Posted Date
Jun 16, 2022
Historical Record Date
Dec 01, 1887
Source Name
Placeography Org
