Saint Paul Union Stockyards Company (South Saint Paul, Minn.).

Biographical notes:

The Saint Paul Union Stockyards Company was incorporated in 1886 for the primary purpose of developing land for the feeding and yarding of livestock en route to slaughterers, as well as providing adjacent lands for the operations of private packing houses and for the offices of livestock commission firms.

The chief organizers were apparently Alpheus B. Stickney, president of the Chicago Great Western Railroad, and Constantine W. Benson, the head of C. W. Benson and Company, a St. Paul foreign investment firm. The stockyards company issued $1 million in capital stock and $2 million in mortagage bonds, much of which was purchased for English investors by Robert H. Benson and Company of London, which firm appeared to be quite active in the corporation's affairs.

The stockyards were developed on 260 acres along the Mississippi River, three miles south of St. Paul. It operated at a substantial loss until 1897, when Swift and Company purchased the packing plant located within the yards. Swift acquired a half-interest in the stockyards company, which succeeded in paying off its mortgage in 1916.

During the local period of the records (1886-1926), Ansel Oppenheim, Mark D. Flower, and T. E. Good served as the firm's successive presidents; Alexander A. McKechnie was its secretary-treasurer.

In 1982 the firm was owned by United Stockyards Corp, Chicago, and it claimed to be operating the world's largest livestock market. In 1993 it was apparently doing business as South St. Paul Livestock Market, a subsidiary of United Market Services Company.

From the guide to the Corporate records, 1886-1982 (bulk 1903-1974)., (Minnesota Historical Society)