 St. Paul was founded by two young surveyors, James N. and Nicholas J. Paul, who had been surveying in Nebraska and the surrounding areas as the land opened to settlers.Struck by the beauty and the prospects of the Loup valley, they took out homesteads, successfully petitioned the state legislature to form a new county to be known as Howard County, and laid out the townsite.They brought the first settlers to the county in March 1871 and established the seat of government in St. Paul.