Placeography:Featured Places

'July 2012'

The Blair Flats, a massive stone landmark occupying the southwest corner of the Selby and Western Avenue intersection, have been a fixture of the Cathedral Hill neighborhood for more than a century. Built in 1887 at a cost of $300,000, the building was commissioned by Frank P. Blair, secretary of the St. Paul Improvement Company, as an apartment building with storefronts on the first floor. It was designed by local builders Hermann Kretz and William H. Thomas in the High Victorian or Queen Anne style of many of the elegant homes that still dot the surrounding Summit Avenue neighborhood.

'June 2012'

In 1902, the Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Company opened for business on Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue. It later combined with the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Co. and the Moline Plow Co. to form Minneapolis Moline. Minneapolis Moline produced farm implements that were used all across Midwestern fields (and beyond). The Minneapolis Moline factory visually dominated the Lake Street landscape, and served an important purpose, both for the neighborhood and the entire country, during times of need. The factory was a valuable source of income for the neighborhood’s residents, and during wartime, the factory produced shells, warheads, and jeeps. Minneapolis Moline was also the site of numerous labor struggles. One strike in 1946, resulted in a demonstration that cut off all Lake Street traffic for 45 minutes, and shut down the factory for two months. After years of prominence in the Lake Street neighborhood, the factory began a slow decline in the 1950’s, until it closed in 1962. The shopping complex that occupies the site today was built in 1975. The former site of the Minneapolis Moline factory will be included in a neighborhood walking tour led by guides Eric Hart and Cara Letofsky on Sunday June 24th from 1:30-3:00pm. http://www.preserveminneapolis.org. http://www.longfellow.org/resources/longfellow-history-project-book.php

'May 2012'

State‐sponsored treatment of the mentally ill became a national trend during the late nineteenth century, and asylum buildings and mental hospitals were built in large numbers across the U.S. The Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center was built in 1888,accepted its first patients in 1906, treated thousands of the state’s mentally ill, and sustained the local economy with hundreds of jobs until its closure in 2005. The Fergus Falls complex was built using a model developed by Dr. Thomas S. Kirkbride, based on the belief that building design aided in the recuperation and maintenance of mental health. The Fergus Falls building remains one of a handful of intact Kirkbrides in the Midwest, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Between 2002 and 2006, the state legislature approved $7 million in bond funds that were to be used for disposition of the RTC buildings and related infrastructure improvements. Ownership of the property was transferred to the city in 2007. The City Council of Fergus Falls will demolish the historic complex in the summer of 2012 unless an alternative solution is found. The Friends of the Kirkbride group was formed to advocate for the buildings and stop the demolition.

• this text is courtesy of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.

'April 2012'

For early Minnesota residents, public libraries often provided a getaway – a place to turn armchair traveler or lose oneself in a good book. Built originally as a residence and tailor shop for John Jacob Spengler, the house was sold in 1887 to the Taylors Falls Library Association for use as the town library. The single-story, wood-frame building was built in 1854 in the Eastlake style. The front room with its barrel-vault ceiling served as Spengler’s tailor shop, which made uniforms for Taylors Falls soldiers during the Civil War. Spengler and his family lived in the back room, decorated with oak-grained pine woodwork and a pressed tin ceiling.

'March 2012'

Although it was built for a furniture manufacturer named William Kimball, this house is chiefly associated with its second owners--Horatio and Charlotte Van Cleve. He was known for his military exploits, serving as a colonel and later as a general in the Civil War. She was a suffrage advocate, the first woman elected to the Minneapolis School Board, and the mother of 12 children. She was also a social reformer who in 1875 founded an organization to help "erring women," of which there appears to have been no shortage at the time.
The Charlotte O. Van Cleve school built in 1895, was once at the corner of Lowry Avenue and Jefferson Street North East.
March is Women's History Month! Add a place associated with Women's history to Placeography!

'February 2012'

The Roy Wilkins Auditorium is named after the prominent Civil Rights leader who began his long and impressive career in civil and human rights in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Auditorium is significant to the African American heritage of Minnesota because of its association with Roy Wilkins, and it was designed by African American architect Clarence 'Cap' Wigington. Wilkins started out as an editor for a newspaper called the Northwest Bulletin. In 1955, after 24 years service in various NAACP positions, Wilkins became the organization's leader. Wilkins was worked for the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act. When Wigington took a civil service exam for the St. Paul City Architect's office, he scored the highest out of all those who completed the exam. He was appointed the senior draughtsman for the Office of Parks, Playgrounds, and Public Buildings. He designed city buildings and public structures including Monroe and Wilson Junior High and Washington High School, fire stations, park buildings and the Highland Park Water Tower. Although Wigington's architectural style was described as "simple, strong and clean", his ice palaces for St. Paul's Winter Carnival, were elaborately decorative.
February is Black History Month! Add a new place associated with Black history to Placeography!

'January 2012'

The Villa Louis located on St. Feriole Island in Prairie du Chien, WI is the crown jewel of the city. The house sits atop an Indian built bound surrounded by pristine estate gardens. Hercules Louis Dousman II inherited the original house from his father Hercules Dousman I. Louis had the original house razed and hired Edward Townsend Mix in 1871 to rebuilt an Italianate Late Victorian house. The house represents Today the house has been restored to its 1880’s glory and is open to the public.

'December 2011'

Although born in rural Minnesota, Johnston spent the bulk of his life and career in St. Paul. He was educated in the city's public schools and began his career in the office of local architect, Abraham M. Radcliffe, in 1874 while still a student at St. Paul High School. There he met and befriended fellow-apprentice Cass Gilbert. In 1878 the friends both entered the new MIT Department of Architecture. With good local connections through James Power, an associate of Railroad magnate James J. Hill, Johnston soon gained a number of important commissions to build homes for prominent Minnesotans, including Power, William R. Merriam, Chauncey Griggs, and Addison Foster. Starting in the late 1890s this led to a long association between Johnston and the State of Minnesota, which saw the architect design many buildings for state institutions, particularly state hospitals, the state university system and the University of Minnesota. One of the buildings Johnston designed was for the Minnesota Historical Society.
Gracious Spaces Clarence H. Johnston
Life and Work of Clarence Johnston
St. Paul’s Architecture
The Minnesota Historical Society

'November 2011'

<p> "Following on the tremendous success of Lawrence Halprin’s design and conversion of Nicollet Avenue into the pedestrian-friendly Nicollet Mall in 1967, a new priority arose- a public space for gathering that would not compete with mall activities. In response to this need, M. Paul Friedberg + Partners created Peavey Plaza in 1973. Often referred to by Friedberg as a “park plaza,” this two-acre space is also described by him as “a mixture of the American green space and the European hard space.” The plaza contains many design elements from Friedberg’s earlier Riis Park Plaza, recognized also in his later design for Pershing Park. These include amphitheater- style seating oriented around the sunken plaza which also served as a pool basin (filled with water during the summer or frozen in winter for skating), cascading and spraying fountains to animate the space, lawn terraces, and many sculptural objects. The plaza affords ample opportunities for large- and small-scale gatherings. The cascading fountain adjacent to Nicollet Avenue feeds the sunken pool while creating an inviting visual link to the Mall. Just a couple of blocks south of Peavey Plaza, on the opposite side of the mall, lies Loring Greenway, completed by Friedberg the following year." Description of Peavy Plaza from the Cultural Landscape Foundation The recently announced Peavy Plaza redesign is controversial and is opposed by Friedberg, Historic Preservation Organizations, the Cultural Landscape Foundation and DOCOMOMO.

'October 2011'

Wilder was one of Saint Paul's pioneer businessmen. He came to the city in 1859 from his home in Lewis, New York, and over time accumulated a fortune in the development of the Northwest. A bold and versatile entrepreneur, Wilder's diversified interests included trading, freight and stage coach transportation, railroading, lumbering, banking, insurance, real estate and merchandising. Shortly after arriving in Saint Paul, Wilder met Fanny Spencer, who had come to the city from Utica, New York, to visit her brother, a clerk of the United States District Court. Amherst and Fanny married in1861. Their daughter, Cornelia Day, was born in 1868. It is believed that it was Cornelia's lifelong volunteer work that influenced the Wilders to leave their estate to help the less fortunate. In his book, Lost Twin Cities, Larry Millett describes the Wilder Mansion which was designed by architects William Wilcox and Clarence Johnson in 1887. "It was red brick and Lake Superior Sandstone...the house was a Tudor Revival with strong Richardsonian Romanesque elements...the houses' Summit Avenue front presented a broken arrangement of oriels, bays, & gables behind a Gothic arched porte cochere. Unlike many houses on the avenue, the Wilder mansion was carefully oriented to exploit views from the bluff, with an open porch at the rear wrapped around a three story circular tower." The Amherst H. Wilder Mansion is one of many late great demolished homes for the wealthy featured in Larry Millett's just published book, Once There Were Castles. Once There Were Castles.

'September 2011'

Charles Edward Batcher was born near Rochester Minnesota in 1866. He studied architectural drawing in Minneapolis. By 1895 he had settled in Staples and in 1896 he married Jennie Root. Batcher's primary business was construction and he is credited with building at least 200 residences and commerical structures in Staples. He also operated a millwork factory which produced doors, windows and staircases for the interiors of his buildings. In 1907 he completed the construction of the two story Batcher Block building adjacent to the Main Street on 2nd Avenue and 4th Street NE. On the ground floor was a grocery and a hardware store. On the second floor Batcher added an opera house with a proscenium stage, two private boxes and a balcony. The theater's design maximizes acoustics according to John Scott Russell’s theory of an “isacoustic curve.” The walls gently slope upward toward coved ceilings, the seating slopes downward toward the stage. The predominant color of the theater's interior is a deep burgundy, by contrast, the private boxes are robin's egg blue. Elaborate cartouches, floral decorations, patriotic scenes and dragons ornament the interior. It is said to be the finest intact original interior of any Opera House in Minnesota.

'August 2011'

In 1856, a 24 year-old Irish stonemason, Thomas Sinclair, and his 18 year-old Maine-born wife, Elmira, purchased the 50 by 150 foot hillside lot on the northwest corner of Fourth and Linden Streets for the extravagant price of $350. The following year, they took out a $600 mortgage at a 4 percent monthly interest rate with a private party, and all the evidence indicates they built the house at 402 North Fourth Street in 1856 or 1857. Captain Sinclair went on to become one of the most significant stone masons in Stillwater working on the new Central School, and many of the commercial buildings downtown. The Staples ultimately raised seven children in their home at 402 North Fourth Street. After Josiah’s death in 1892, and Lydia’s death in 1906, the home remained in the family’s hands until 1929.

'July 2011'

This is the third Minnesota State Capitol building. The first Capitol was a two story brick building at Tenth and Cedar Streets, constructed in 1853. It was destroyed by fire in 1881.

When a second Capitol was completed in 1882, it was already too small for the growing state government. Complaints of overcrowding and poor ventilation dogged the building from the start. The second Capitol was razed in 1937.

Bills proposing a new Capitol were introduced in 1893. In 1895 Cass Gilbert's design won a competition that included 41 other entries. It was built at a cost of $4.5 million. The Capitol is 434 feet long and 229 feet wide, featuring a dome 89 feet in diameter.

'June 2011'

Eddy Hall was constructed in 1886 as the Mechanic Arts Building for the University of Minnesota. The building is the oldest existing building on the Minneapolis campus. The architect was Leroy Buffington . Originally the Mechanic Arts Building, the name was changed to Eddy Hall to honor Henry Turner Eddy a professor of engineering and mathematics and the Dean of the Graduate School for the university. The building originally housed the mathematics, drawing, civil-municipal-structural engineering departments, as well as testing laboratories.

In recent years the Veterans Transition Center, UCCS Test Center, Student Academic Success Services, Career Development Program, Counseling & Consulting Services, Spanish and Portuguese language studies, and the Student Conflict Resolution Center had offices in the building.

Eddy Hall will be closed on June 30, 2011.

Although the University says it has "no plans for demolition," unless an academic program, research institute or adminstrative office move into Eddy Hall in the near future, it's existence could be endangered.

'May 2011'

Located in Tower Hill Park, the water tower was designed by Minneapolis city engineer Frederick William Cappelen, a Norwegian-American who also designed the Franklin Avenue (F.W. Cappelen Memorial) Bridge. The site was originally purchased by the city in order to improve the water pressure to the Prospect Park area. Constructed in 1913, it functioned as a water tower until 1952. It was hit by lightning in 1956, and was slated for demolition until the community rallied to save it. Restored in 1984, on November 13, 1997 the Prospect Park Water Tower along with Tower Hill Park were officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently open only once a year on the Friday evening following Memorial Day, the community holds an ice cream social and visitors are welcome to climb the water tower and take in the views from the observation deck.

May is Preservation month. Have a story of a historic place that was saved? Let us know!

'April 2011'

The Andrew Olson house was one of the first houses built on a hill overlooking Farview Park in North Minneapolis. Andrew Olson was a son of Olaf and Amalia Christina (Nesberg) Olson. He was born on June 11,1857 in Brunflo parish near Osterlund, Sweden. He emigrated to Minnesota in April 1882. In 1885 he opened up a merchant tailoring shop at 1007 Washington Avenue North which later moved to 235 Nicollet Avenue. In 1886, the house at 2635 Lyndale Avenue North was built.

The Andrew Olson house is close to the Old Highland historic neighborhood in North Minneapolis http://www.placeography.org/index.php/Old_Highland%2C_Minneapolis%2C_Minnesota

'March 2011'

Minneapolis architects Kees and Colburn designed 2540 Park Ave South in 1902 for Charles M. Harrington, president of the Van Dusen-Harrington Company. The interior design was by John Scott Bradstreet. The first floor of the Harrington home contained a library, drawing room, dining room, den, kitchen and servants’ hall, while the Harrington family’s bedrooms were located on the second floor and a ballroom and auditorium filled the third floor. The home’s basement housed a billiard room and card room. The Harrington home was featured in a 1904 article in the Western Architect. In 1929, 2540 Park Avenue was purchased by the Zuhrah Shrine. The Shriners owned the mansion from 1929-2011; 82 years. It was recently sold to St. Mary's University.

'February 2011'

Throughout its 80-year history, the Sears building has been a focal point in the community because of its physical size, and the economic and social impact it had on the area. 40 homes were razed to build it in 1928 at a cost of $5 million. It took less than a year to build it without any public subsidies. Sears employed nearly 2000 workers in the store or nine regional catalog centers. In 1994, Sears, Roebuck and Company left the neighborhood. Ex-workers and residents in the area were shocked and saddened. The neighborhoods began an economic decline and the building remained boarded and vacant for a decade. In 2004, a coalition of business, community, government, and nonprofit groups joined the effort to revitalize the building. Ryan Companies spent over $192 to redevelop the 1.2 million square foot building. In June 2006, the Sears building reopened, housing the Midtown Global Market--providing food, produce and merchandise, Allina Hospitals and Clinics, and a mixture of market and affordable housing, a hotel, and government services to serve the local community and bring people back to Lake Street.

'January 2011'

The brewing industry in Minnesota grew with the influx of German immigrants in the 1840s and 50s, who brought with them a new method of brewing through lagering and refrigeration. Barrels of fermenting beer were stored in the cool limestone caves near the Mississippi River. Christopher Stahlmann immigrated from Bavaria to St. Paul in 1855. By the late 1870s, his "Cave" brewery was the largest in Minnesota. In 1900, Jacob Schmidt purchased the brewery and began an expansion project that included forced-air drying and modern mechanical refrigeration. When Jacob Schmidt died in 1910 his business partners, Adolf and Otto Bremer made the brewery into one of the leading regional beer producers in the country. Although the complex of buildings is now vacant, the Schmidt Brewery, with it's large red blinking sign and famous slogan "The Brew that Grew with the Great Northwest" remains an icon within St. Paul's West End neighborhood.

'December 2010'

On Christmas Eve, 1921, citizens of Central Minnesota paid fifty cents to attend the grand opening of "St. Cloud's Largest and Finest Playhouse," The Sherman Theatre. The event, featuring D.W. Griffith's silent film "Way Down East" was accompanied by a live orchestra. This was the beginning of generations of entertainment at the theatre including Vaudeville acts, operas, concerts, Broadway road shows, animal acts, wrestling matches, speeches, political rallies, plays and movies. By the mid 1960s the Paramount had fallen into disrepair. The building fell victim to fire on Tuesday, January 15, 1985. The damage was extensive; estimated at $60,000. During the early 1990s the Paramount was patched and upgraded to provide a home for live theatre again. The cooperation of many groups was needed to complete the Paramount Theater's renovation. More than just a theater, the Paramount Theater Resource Trust is working to improve artistic opportunities for residents of Central Minnesota.

November 2010

The Pillsbury A Mill, constructed in 1881, was once the largest and most advanced flour mill in the world. Situated on the east bank of the Mississippi in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the mill took advantage of the power produced by St. Anthony Falls to produce 17,500 barrels of flour per day. Pillsbury A Mill was added to the list of National Historic Landmarks in 1966. Of the four large flour mills in the city during the peak of Minneapolis’s reign as the milling capital of the country, the Pillsbury A Mill is the only remaining. In 2003 Minneapolis developer Schafer Richardson aquired the Pillsbury A Mill with the intent of converting it into condominiums. This project is currently in foreclosure. The Mill may be sold at auction on November 15, 2010.

October 2010

Here is an excellent example of a Queen Anne residence with Eastlake detailing, representative of northside settlement. It was built in a lightly developed area toward the end of the golden age of Minneapolis (late 1870s to 1893), contemporary with a massive flourishing lumber industry, located predominantly on the north side, and an emerging flour milling industry. By 1898 the immediate area was sufficiently dense to support the Swedish Evangelical Church at Sixteenth and Dupont, but land west of Girard Avenue remained vacant, probably due to economic depression remaining from the Panic of 1893. Owner Rudolph Ertl was a northside clothier with his store near Plymouth and North Washington Avenues where he also resided. O. Meyer and Thori are listed as architects of the Ertl House.

September 2010

Hamline University named for Bishop Leonidas Hamline was chartered in 1854 in Red Wing and was initially a preparatory school. By the early 1860's the school included a college program but by 1869 they suspended operations due to the lack of funds. While trying to raise funds the school decided to move to Saint Paul but reopening plans were delayed by the panic of 1873. Under the direction of Reverend John Stafford the school reopened its doors in 1880 in St. Paul in a 5 story building known as University Hall, known today as 'Old Main.' Dr. George Bridgman served as the president of the institution from 1884 until 1912 and was largely responsible for developing it into a well-established school.

August 2010

An important change in the State Fair over the years has been in the attractions offered to fair visitors. The character of early fairs was dominated by agricultural exhibits and competitions, reflecting its original purpose of encouraging farming in the state. While agriculture is still the primary focus, the scope of activities has broadened to include large-scale entertainment features, technological and industrial exhibits and scores of education and government institutions.

July 2010

Octagonal brick house with cupola, built in 1857 for James L. Lawther, prominent civic leader and real estate dealer. Lawther was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in his teens. He came to Red Wing in 1855 when he was 23 years old. He worked as a real estate agent, a banker, grain merchant, and property owner, and quickly built a reputation as a sound businessman and shrewd investor. He built a landmark octagon-shaped home in Red Wing that still stands today. He moved back to Ireland to spend the last 15 years of his life, but his connections to Minnesota were strong enough that when he died, Minnesota newspapers published his obituary.

June 2010

Until recently, the limestone building at 445 Smith Avenue was known in surveys and local architectural history books as the “Anthony Waldman House.” However, recent research and analysis of the building has revealed that the Waldman House was not in fact built by Waldman, and was not originally a "house" either. Instead, the structure was a small commercial building with residential quarters on the second floor. Documentary evidence suggests that the stone portion of the building dates to the late fall of 1857, coinciding with the onset of the Panic of 1857. Another unexpected discovery is that parts of the the wood frame addition to the rear of the stone building actually predate the stone portion, making the latter the true "addition." The research is ongoing, and no doubt the Waldman House has more stories to tell.

May 2010

Bloomington Town Hall, is located at Old Shakopee Road and Penn Avenue in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Town Hall is one of the few remaining examples of the Township period in the Twin City Metropolitan area and among the largest town halls in the State of Minnesota. It was continuously used for township, village and city government purposes from 1892 to 1964.

April 2010

When the house was built in 1869 it originally faced the river with an address on Washington Street. David Riddle Breed, who was one of the founding clergy of House of Hope Presbyterian Church, occupied the house. In 1874 Dr. Jacob H. Stewart purchased the Washington Street house. Stewart was the distinguished surgeon of the 1st Minnesota Regiment during the Civil War and later served five terms as mayor of St. Paul.

March 2010

This successful business grew from the ideas of a few people. In September 1919, a group of workers tried to become members of the Milk Driver's Union, Local 471. An organization known as the Citizen's Alliance encouraged milk dealers to fear the idea of union drivers. A strike was called by one creamery, and other milk processing plants "locked out" workers. This meant that Minneapolis residents were unable to buy perishable dairy products for their families.

February 2010

The Florence Court complex, and especially the 1886 row houses, are an excellent example of early urban planning in Minneapolis. The row houses are the earliest surviving example in the city of this type of building. The addition of the cottages in the early 1920s and their alteration to fit the style of the row houses reinforces the planned aspect of this housing development. The location of the complex is also integral in its significance; its proximity to the University of Minnesota and the Great Northern Railroad made it an ideal location for housing employees of those entities.

January 2010

Harry Shepherd was one of the only 19th century Afro-American photographers to obtain a position of notoriety in Minnesota.

December 2009

Milwaukee Avenue is an urban neighborhood of several streets consisting of brick 19th century railroad workers houses. In the 1970's the neighborhood was selected for "redevelopment" by demolition. A group of young architects and neighborhood residents formed a political action group and successfully gained the support of Minneapolis City officials to save the houses. The architects and other group members renovated the houses, became residents of Milwaukee Avenue and revitalized the neighborhood.

November 2009

The Johnson Grocery was built by Swedish immigrant and master mason Jakob Emanuel Johannesson (Jacob E. Johnson) in 1903. According to his grandchildren, he was injured in a fall while working on the construction of Minneapolis City Hall, forcing him to find a new profession. He first built a candy store at 2904 East 26th Street (ca 1900; a wooden structure now gone), and later constructed the solid yellow brick building at the corner of 29th Avenue South and East 26th Street.

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It is currently being used as a car park.

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In 1890 Emil Ferrant commissioned architect Carl Struck to add two Moorish towers, stained glass and a wrap around porch in the shape of an exotic flower supported by the stems of slender spiral posts.

Sadly, the house is in danger and in need of a compassionate owner. While vacant, vandals and looters have removed fireplace mantles and broken windows in the house.

• StarTribune article
  

Built in 1893 by D. R. Wagner, a grain commissioner in Minneapolis, this is the site of the 2008 Elliot Park Neighborhood Archaeology Site dig. Plans are to move and renovate the currently vacant and boarded house and develop the lot along with several adjacent vacant lots.

In 1977 this house was individually listed on the National Register as an outstanding example of the Queen Anne style.

In 1993 thirteen other houses designed and built by Healy joined the Bennett-McBride House on the National Register as the Healy Block Residential Historic District.

One of the most ornate and intact Queen Anne style houses remaining in Minneapolis, the Bennett-McBride House is elegantly detailed and handsomely preserved.

General Riley Lucas Bartholomew came to Minnesota and filed a claim on the shores of Wood Lake. Part of the claim had been military reservation land which was now available for settlement as a result of the congressional action. Here he pitched a tent and proceeded to build the two story section of the house making ready for his wife, Fanny, and his children to follow from Wisconsin in the spring of 1853. Soon after building the house, two single story additions were moved from near Minnehaha Falls as finished buildings and adjoined the original house.

This two-story brick and stucco home ia a Prairie Style derivative originally built for John W. Smith in 1915. The original home was designed by Dorr and Dorr Architects. In 2000 the front porch was remodeled and a new entry door was added. At the same time the original front stoop was replaced and new sidewalk to the house incorporating planters and retaining walls was constructed. The addition won a Preservation Award in 1998 from the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission and an award from Custom Home magazine in 2000.

The walls of St. Matthew’s Church are bowing outwards and the sanctuary ceiling is collapsing. Water damage further threatens the building. Development pressures along the Central Corridor may lead a purchaser to scrap the church in favor of a new use.

The Annice E. Keller house, or Keller Row, House #8 at 761 East Sixth Street, was commissioned by the widow of the wealthy lumber baron John M. Keller. Called the "Head of the single most outstanding ... property development in the district..." by the St. Paul heritage preservation commission.

According to Minneapolis building permits, original owners Anson W. and Ella B. Morey commissioned Barclay Cooper to build this Colonial Revival home in the middle of a double lot on Park Avenue in south Minneapolis in June of 1905. Construction was completed in November of 1905, at a total cost of $5,085.