“Origin Story of Fort Road/West Seventh Street,
the Township/City of Saint Paul,
the Territory/State of Minnesota,
Glacial Age Forward”

“Origin Story” Goes Live!

• Next Generation Indie Book Awards, first place:
  Historical Non-Fiction category
  

August 18, 2026: KARE!! TV profiled the West Seventh neighborhood and its "Origin Story"  On West 7th Street, grants help businesses invest in the future while preserving the past

At the end of 2024, 380 histories were published, 78 hard cover and 350 soft cover. All proceeds, over $14,000, benefited West Seventh’s C.S.P.S. Hall’s Legacy Fund. The first edition sold out in two months thanks to enthusiastic demand in the West End and beyond.

August 2025 a second, edited edition was published: 500+ with over 470 sold. Proceeds benefit non-profits and food shelves.

The history is 420 pages with 1069 images (vintage and commisioned), documented with 259 endnotes. Each book was inscribed “Thank you for (contributing to and) supporting the history of immigrants and volunteers of W7!”  Selected Topics are serialized in the Community Reporter, the local publication of the West End of Saint Paul. (Thirteen as of June 2025)! Over 50 copies donated to libraries, educational and cultural organizations.

Email to buy a copy ($30): joe@josfland.com

Origin Table of contents and more information

Presentations:

2026

• October 1: Becketwood 7-8 pm
• September 27: 37th Annual Czech Slovak Festival Historic CSPS Hall, 11 a.m. -4 p.m.
• September 13: WestFest, Tours of the Historic CSPS Hall, 1 & 3 p.m.
• August 5/18: Interview KARE 11 on the history of W7 with Raya Quttaineh
  KARE!! TV broadcast West Seventh neighborhood and its "Origin Story"
  On West 7th Street, grants help businesses invest in the future while preserving the past
• June 13-14: Deutsche Tage (German Days), Germanic American Institute
• June 7: Grand Old Days, TCFM Meetinghouse
• May 29: French Heritage Corridor (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin): 6th Annual Conference panel discussion. Alliance Française MSP
• Fridays, April 3-May 15: Origin Select Topics, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute seminar
• March 26: Czech Heritage Giesenbrau New Prague
• March 6: Henderson High School at CSPS Hall
• February 22: St. Michaels Lutheran Church, Roseville
• February 6: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
• Janaury 27: State and Local Historians Association

2025

• November 8: Twin Cities Book Festival
• August 17: Germanic-American Institute Cafe
• Thursday, June 5, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, University of Minnesota College of Continuing and Professional Studies
• May 9: Saint Paul Friday Lunch Forum
• April 29: Fort Road Federation/ District 9 Community Council’s annual meeting,
• February 18: Saint Paul Rotary Club (University Club)
• February 27 West Seventh Library and Keystone/West Seventh Community Center
• March 24: PBS documentary "We Are the River" Consultant
• March 24: West Seventh Library and Keystone/West Seventh Community Center
• March 14, Czech and Slovak Sokol Minnesota (historic C.S.P.S. Hall
• January 6: My Villager of Highland Park of Saint Paul, Front page feature
• November 28 (2024): Community Reporter of the West End of Saint Paul, Front page feature

Monthly Serialization: Community Reporter
Also on reserve at the Minnesota Historical Society

• May 2025: Origin Story, Part the First:
  Introduction to the Monthly Serialization
• July 2025: Origin Story, Part the Second:
  Deluge
• August 2025: Origin Story, Part the Third:
  Native Lands
• September 2025:  Origin Story, Part the Fourth:
  Les Français Arrivent avec les Ojibwés
• October 2025: Origin Story, Part the Fifth:
  The Delusion of Downtown St. Paul
• November 2025: Origin Story, Part the Sixth:
  John Irvine, Granddaddy of W7 / Saint Paul
• December 2025: Origin Stories Part the Seventh:
  Not in the Book’s History, Lucy Leavenworth
• January 2026: Origin Stories Part the Eighth:
  Fort Snelling at Bdote
• February 2026: Origin Stories Part the Ninth:
  Origins of St. Paul, Radically Revised
• March 2026: Origin Stories Part The Tenth:
  Origins of the Church Of Saint Paul
• April 2026: Origin Story Part The Eleventh:
  Water Water Everywhere And A Dangerous Drop To Drink
• May 2026: Origin Story Part The Twelfth:
  Robert Sweeny Sketches Early Saint Paul
• June 2026: Origin Stories Part the Thirteenth:
  Einwanderung Angespannte/German Fraught Immigration Part 1
• July 2026 Origin Stories Part the Fourteenth:
  German Immigration Part 2 : Taverns, Brewers and Maltsters
• August 2026: Origin Stories Part the Fifteenth:
  Citizen Helpers
• September 2026: Origin Stories Part the Sixteenth:
  The Healers