C. SP. / Good for 5 ¢ At Bart

[cudamark]

Doubtful. Too many pieces of this puzzle fit perfectly. Also, South St. Paul is not simply the south part of the city of St. Paul... it is a town in its own right.

If true, why wouldn't the token have S.SP instead of SP?

 

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[Iron Buzz]

If true, why wouldn't the token have S.SP instead of SP?

Fair question. Depending on when it was issued (which we haven't yet determined), South St Paul may not have existed. I'm not sure of the date off-hand, but it was simply considered part of St Paul up to some point (also known as the village of Kaposia, but that referred more to the home of the local Dakota tribe )

Contrary to what Idahotokens found in the city directories, the historical museum director found Spiker, Charles listed under saloons in the 1885 Polks, address of 235 Concord, which would roughly coincide with the "11-13 doors down from Grand Ave" that he found in later directories. I also found that he sold it on 1888 to a Louis Becker, and that in 1886, he opened the Spilker Hotel in nearby Inver Grove Heights, about 3 miles south on Concord.

Thanks for your interest, and for challenging me on this. It is a lot of fun trying to play detective here!

 

[Iron Buzz]

Incidentally, I have found this Library of Congress site to be an amazing resource for researching old newspaper stories!

Edit: Oops,sorry... forgot the link!

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/