The Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad (also known as the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad and the SP&P) was a shortline railroad in the state of Minnesota in the United States which existed from 1857 to 1879. Founded as the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad, it was the state's first active railroad. It went bankrupt, and the state changed its name to the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad. The SP&P went bankrupt as well. It was taken over by James Jerome Hill and others, who used the railroad as the basis for building the Great Northern Railway.