Saint Paul (population 285,068) is the capital city of Minnesota State. The city of Saint Paul is one of the "Twin Cities", adjoining the city of Minneapolis. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area has a population of approximately 3.6 million. The majority of Saint Paul is situated on the north bank of the Mississippi River. Saint Paul is the county seat of the heavily-inhabited Ramsey County.
The history of the area saw lots of North American settlements and tribes which produced a lot of trade and transportation. Originally, the settlement of Saint Paul started within the area presently called Lambert's Landing. It was called Pig's Eye after a local tavern owner named Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant. Fr. Lucien Galtier, the very first Catholic pastor to visit the region, established the Log Chapel of Saint Paul. Soon after, he renamed the settlement Saint Paul. The Log Chapel location later became the location of Saint Paul's Cathedral.
The city was selected in 1849 to be the Minnesota Territory capital. The city of Saint Paul is home to numerous essential institutions as it is the state capital and center to a lot of political activity. The city draws visitors from the region to the Xcel Energy Center, a multi-purpose entertainment and sports venue. Saint Paul is home of the Minnesota Wild Hockey Club. The Science Museum of Minnesota is the most popular museum within the Upper Midwest.
The twin cities have a higher literacy rates as opposed to the national average. In 2007, Saint Paul actually saw an increase in the distribution of Sunday Newspapers. It was the only city with a population of approximately 250,000 to do so.
The key companies of Lawson Software, Gander Mountain and Ecolab have their head office located in Saint Paul. The leading cleaning and chemical product company Ecolab, during the year 2008, ranked as the cities 8th best place to work. Lawson Software is a support and business software company. Gander Mountain is a large sporting goods retailer. Though 3M Company is not located in the city, many residents of Saint Paul work there. 3M employs 16,000 people all over Minnesota State. A manufacturer of medical devices, St. Jude Medical, is located within Little Canada, a suburb of the Twin Cities.
The city of Saint Paul once featured the Twin Cities Assembly Plant of Ford Motor Company that just closed in December the year 2011. This plant was situated in Highland Park along the Mississippi River. The majority (82 percent) of Minneapolis-Saint Paul-Bloomington area people work within the private sector.