Minnesota State Law Library
Minnesota State Law Library
Mechanic Arts High School was founded in 1896 in St. Paul to prepare students for the workforce by teaching them a trade. They taught woodworking, metalwork, architecture, business, art and music, plus the usual school subjects of English, Math, Social Studies, and Science. The school closed in 1976 and the building was demolished in 1988 to make way for the construction of the Minnesota Judicial Center.
Harry Blackmun and Roy Wilkins were two notable alumni of the school.
photograph by Charles P. Gibson, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.
Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.
The Phase I of the Judicial Center construction was built on the location of the Mechanic Arts gym building.
Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.
This fountain was saved by Mechanic Arts alumni when the building was demolished and it was installed in the Minnesota Judicial Center in the hallway outside the library.
The plaque reads: "This Fountain occupied a prominent place in the Mechanic Arts High School which was located on this site. It is dedicated to the family, the alumni and the spirit of the school and now serves as a memorial to that great institution."
