I have seen hundreds of lead water services, and all but one was in St. Paul.
Most of these services dated back to the late 1800's up to the late 1930's. Most of the time the meters were in a pit, sometimes sharing the pit with the building cleanout, eek. All water service piping within the property line is the property owner's resposibility, the city's responsibility ends at the curb stop on the boulivard, although the meter is the city's property.
Up until about 5 years ago, if a street side shut-off required replacement in such a senario, the exisiting lead service could be maintained, yet the meter and shut-off would have to be brought above floor level. In these cases, a Ford (pack joint by flare) fitting would be used to tie into the lead and soft copper up to the street side valve.
When the city implemented a code compliance program for all properties sold, these types of repairs continued until the city began enforcing an ordinance which roughly states 'any service piping beyond 30 years in age is considered to be at the end of it's service life. If repairs are necessary, such piping shall be replaced.'
Over the years, water purveyors have taken (EPA mandated) steps to make the water they supply less corrosive, to help minimize lead from leaching.
Old habits die hard though. Even in more modern (1940-'70's) houses with meters above the floor and copper services, it was very common to find a wiped joint between the copper and threaded brass ferrule prior to the street side valve.