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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHersey Staples AdditionOrleans Street Sixth Avenue South A History of the Hersey Staples Addition Residential Area Stillwater, Minnesota by Donald Empson Funded in part by a grant from the National Park Service Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society And The Heritage Preservation Commission of the City of Stillwater St. Croix River Hudson Street Members of the Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission HOWARD LIEBERMAN (CHAIR) 914 S. GREELEY STREET STILLWATER JEFF JOHNSON 309 S. FIFTH STREET STILLWATER ROBERT KIMBREL 724 W. OAK STREET STILLWATER G. DEAN MILLER 622 N. THIRD STREET STILLWATER ROGER TOMTEN 718 S. FIFTH STREET STILLWATER PHIL EASTWOOD 301 W. MYRTLE STREET STILLWATER BETH DIEM 670 S. BROADWAY STREET STILLWATER Cover: This well-preserved 1883 brick house at the east end of Churchill Street (911 Sixth Avenue South) marks the entrance to the Hersey, Staples neighborhood. Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition A History of the Hersey➢ Staples k (Co, Ad Residential Area STILLWATER, MINNESOTA ID esearched and Written by DONALD EMPSON EMPSON ARCHIVES P.O. Box 791 STILLWATER, MN 55082 (651) 351-0172 OCTOBER, 2000 ition Funded in part by a Grant from the National Park Service Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society And The Heritage Preservation Commission of the City of Stillwater 2 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND SUPPORT AND NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY This project has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, Department of Interior, through the Minnesota Historical Society under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act as amended. However the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S. Department of Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in its federally assisted program. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 20240. 3 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition TABLE OF CONTENTS Map of Survey Area Page 5 Bangor Page 8 Stillwater, Mn Page 9 But First Page 12 Survey Area (Map Page 13 The Fever Page 18 More Additions Page 19 The Crash Page 22 The Brewery Page 26 The 1870's Page 32 The Fourth Avenue Extension Page 36 The 1880's Page 42 The Athletic Field Page 54 1900 Page 58 Houses that have been moved Page 59 Houses that have been demolished Page 60 Appendix A —Building Dates (by date Page 70 Appendix B—Building Dates (by address Page 74 Appendix C—City Directory: 1894-95 Page 78 Appendix D—City Directory: 1930-31 Page 84 Appendix E—City Directory: 1956 Page 88 Bibliography Page 92 Recommendations Page 94 Index Page 97 4 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition YNY • • g « • atAIV«A W„iDM, aa UN • V a n , MAP OF SURVEY AREA 11,\11 iw,o 1na1aw'� `. A' •�attMWlw .• ft \• at.%atgq AURLINUTON 1.1 4.4. w.',h a SYAEET • Y• ▪ .. .. J•; STREET •.....•t i . i .' i «, r.,+7iewu'iw,wicmi:1.a .... vua,en•rn «.wwry ro.,r LAKE,' I C ,\Ntc:.r'1 't ,t • .• jet v.ru,a..• w n•nam *o:w. ` ..� „ -Ws ......_ , .. .' ... w . • ! • ' •• •r,l f m• . • •I. f - •,••\ . F l t t ... $ _i. • . i ... ; *. i.• .. �:41 r 1 i'F . . i ar i I, 1 '•F. • . . .. ... i ' . • .., ', ..._ .1.. EAST 4Y IOU:9 5 .11 r.• j• wf). nwa•.w.a wn u,ti.•n.u�GA07w uu,ud:li..ftAtJ vw.�.,.BIi.•.,, ..ww..rrow„F,,:+.�,n<.x.aw>a:", rv:.:cw...+,w.r.•w..r.....,...0 5 . IN\ Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition THANK YOU TO: Bill and Susan Funari Rose Mary Corman Tom Corman Marilyn Martin Bill Snyder Mary Syverson Arne Thomsen Sandra and Michael Bealka David Magnuson Christopher Charlsen Robert & Kathleen McIntyre Sherman Crane Tom Peulen Harold Zoldan 6 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition "The purpose of history is to explain the present - to say why the world around us is the way it is. History tells us what is important in out world, and how it came to be. It tells us why the things we value are the things we should value. And it tells us what is to be ignored, or discarded. This is true power - profound power. The power to define a whole society." Michael Crichton in Timeline Dedicated to Kathleen Vadnais My wife, partner, editor, research associate, proofreader, caretaker 7 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition BANGOR The Devil's Half Acre was a scurrilous place by anyone's account. Filled with taverns, grog shops, cheap boarding houses and brothels, this 19th Century neighborhood in Bangor, Maine, catered to raucous lumbermen who thronged into Bangor fresh from the log drives with a winter's wages and driven by a winter's thirsts and hungers. In the 1840's and 50's it was these lumbermen who were cutting the pine forests on the upper Penobscot River, and supplying lumber to the world. Carousing with the lumbermen in the Devil's Half Acre were the equally raucous seamen who, with their Bangor -built ships, navigated the Penobscot River the 23 miles from Bangor to the sea, and carried the lumber products of the Bangor sawmills to such distant ports as the West Indies, returning to Bangor with molasses, sugar and rum.1 In this thriving crude lumber town, there was another group of men — men who were getting rich off the lumber trade, men who did not frequent the dives and dens of the Devil's Half Acre. Among those respectable wealthy citizens — a man who would never be found in the "Acre" — was Samuel Freeman Hersey, a lumber merchant, whose ancestors had come to the Massachusetts Colony from England over 200 years earlier. Born in 1812 in Sumner, Maine, Hersey began his career as a schoolteacher, teaching for three years before moving to Bangor in 1832 to work as a clerk. The following year, with a capital of one hundred dollars, he began his career as a merchant. After a series of vicissitudes, the persistent Hersey began investing in the fledgling Maine lumber industry just as it was beginning to expand. From 1841 to 1844, he resided at Upper Stillwater, Maine, where he rented all the sawmills. While living there, he certainly would have heard of John McKusick, a previous resident, who had traveled to St. Croix Falls in the Wisconsin Territory a year earlier. In 1844, Hersey moved to Old Town, 12 miles above Bangor, where he engaged in the lumber business with Isaac Staples, a fellow merchant and lumberman at that place. The two men seemed to have an affinity for each other, for like a number of other Maine lumberman, they both looked west to the undeveloped timber lands of the Great Lake States: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to continue and grow their lumbering enterprise. 1 There is a good description of Bangor and the lumbering interests in Maine: A Guide 'Down East'; published in 1937 by Houghton Mifflin, Boston as part of the American Guide Series. Pages 129-138. Also see Maine; A Bicentennial History by Charles E. Clark, W.W. Norton & Co, New York, 1977. 8 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Isaac Staples was born in 1816 in Topsham, Maine, the son of the Rev. Winslow Staples. At the age of 18, he bought his time from his father for $360 dollars —meaning he was free to leave home and work for himself rather than remain a laborer for his father until he was 21. He first occupation was as a lumberman on the Penobscot River, but he soon settled in Old Town where he worked primarily as a merchant. Although Hersey and Staples were to become partners for over 15 years, they remained quite different in their natures. Hersey was a New England aristocrat with a heritage of public service and liberality. He served in both the Maine Senate and House of Representatives; he was a delegate to the National Republican Conventions that nominated Lincoln and Grant; and he served in the U.S House of Representatives where, upon his death, delegates from both Maine and Minnesota memorialized him. The younger Staples, on the other hand, was the practical businessman who seldom held public office, although he was active in the formation of many business associations and companies. Hersey was generous to his community, Bangor, as well as his church and his other interests. His estate provided for a new public library and city hall for Bangor2; at his death, his will made provision that a new organ, belfry and bell be given to the Universalist church in Stillwater, Minnesota — although he was never a permanent resident here. By contrast, Staples, though he left an estate of almost two million dollars, contributed little or nothing to the community of Stillwater in which he lived the greater part of his life and made his fortune. He invested in property and farms and mills and stores; he did not invest in people or civic improvements. Upon his death, his heirs quarreled for years over his estate. Hersey was literate and educated. He attended Hebron Academy and Buckfield Grammar School; his favorite essay was Pope's Essay on Man; Staples was a man who studied the practical; his farms were models of good agricultural practice, and his companies were very efficient. STILLWATER, MN In 1853, Isaac Staples came to Minnesota to explore the possibility of investing in the lumber business here. His Maine partner, Samuel 2 Bangor Maine 1769-1914• An Architectural History by Deborah Thompson, U. of Maine Press, Orono, 1988. Page 468. 9 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Architect's rendering of Bangor City Hall (Hersey Memorial Building), Columbia Street, 1893-94, John C. Spofford architect (demolished). 10 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition F. Hersey, who was already invested heavily in timberlands in both Michigan and Wisconsin, backed Staples financially. (Hersey's investments are memorialized by the villages of Hersey in both Michigan and Wisconsin.)3 Staples liked what he saw: the St. Croix Valley (a name familiar to him from the St. Croix River in Maine) filled with white pine; the booming lumber town of Stillwater (another familiar name thanks to John McKusick) similar to Bangor; government -owned timber land that was selling below the minimum $1.25 an acre when purchased with a military land warrant; and a network of streams, lakes, and rivers to carry the cut logs to the mills and the downriver customers. In short, Staples found a location and business opportunity that very closely matched that of the area around Bangor 20 years earlier. The only big difference was that in Bangor the lumber had been shipped out of a seaport around the world; in Stillwater, the lumber would be shipped down the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers to the flourishing and lumber -starved communities of Dubuque, Burlington, St. Louis and even as far as New Orleans. Staples bought, it is said, over 10,000 acres of timberland on his trip to Minnesota that summer of 1853 before he returned to Old Town and Bangor to convince others to come into the firm on the merits of the St. Croix Valley. Hersey, Staples & Company consisted of four shares: Samuel F. Hersey held one share; Isaac Staples held a second share; Dudley C. Hall, the third partner, was a member of a Medford, Massachusetts, family who made their fortune in the trade with the West Indies, Holland and France; the fourth partner was the firm of John Brooks Fenno and James A. Whitney of Boston, dry goods importers. By June of 1854, Isaac Staples, the resident partner who was to manage the company's affairs here, had moved to Stillwater. His first order of business was to secure a site along the river upon which to build a sawmill. 3 I consulted a number of sources for the biographies of Hersey and Staples. Among them were: Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Minnesota, published by A.T. Andreas, 1874. (Staples, page 265); Bangor Whig and Courier [newspaper], Bangor, Maine Thursday, February 4, 1873 (Obituary of Hersey); "General Hersey's Will" a newspaper clipping undated unattributed from the Bangor Public Library clipping collection; The Industrial Journal, January 25, 1901, page 10 (Hersey as benefactor); New England Library of Family History: Representative Families of the State of Maine, Boston, 1903, page 331-334 (Hersey). Local biographies include Fifty Years in the Northwest by W.H.C. Folsom, Pioneer Press Company, 1888, pages 413-417; History of the St. Croix Valley, Augustus Easton, ed, H.C. Cooper, Jr. & Co, Chicago, 1909, pages 61-63. 11 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition BUT FIRST Government Lot 2, Section 34, T3ON, R2OW, 4th Principal Meridian, approximately 32.5 acres, was purchased by Samuel and Nancy Leech, on April 2, 1849, at the St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin Land Office.4 (In September of that year, the Land Office was moved to Stillwater, Minnesota.) "General" Samuel Leech had been appointed as the Receiver (Chief Clerk) at the Land Office, and he was at this time a large speculator in the very lands in which he was in charge of selling. This piece of property fronting on the river was one of the more desirable lots. In July of 1853, the Leechs sold Government Lot 2 to Henry and Hannah Crosby of Stillwater for $300. Crosby had come to St. Croix Falls in 1840 making him one of the first settlers in this area. He moved about the area, living in Lakeland, Cottage Grove, Hudson, and in 1853, he was living in Stillwater, where he had a gunsmith shop on south Main Street.5 Three weeks later, for $50, the Crosbys sold 62/100 of an acre of their property to Norbert Kimmick, a Stillwater brewer who wanted the spring in the hillside for making beer and the caves in the cliff side for storing his finished product6 (This small rectangle can be seen on the right side of the plat, page 17) On a cold January day in 1854, the Crosbys sold the remainder of Government Lot 2 to Isaac Staples, of Old Town, Maine, for $250.7 Staples planned to build the sawmill for Hersey, Staples & Co. on the riverbank. For their six months of ownership, the Crosbys only recouped their purchase price.8 Five months later, Staples deeded the property to Samuel F. and Jane Ann Hersey of Bangor, Maine.9 By June of 1854, Isaac Staples, the resident partner, had moved to Stillwater to manage the company's affairs here. Hersey, as the principal of the Hersey, Staples & Company, sold an undivided one-fourth of the property back to his partners: one-fourth to Isaac and Olivia Staples; one-fourth to Whitney & Fenno (George A. and Mary Whitney, J. 4 54 Deeds 220. 22 Deeds 291. 5 Minnesota Beginnings, History Network of Washington County, Stillwater, Mn, 1999, page 308. 6 D Deeds 279. There was enough of a stream coming out of the brewery hollow to require a bridge on Main Street which can be seen on the far right of the plat map. D Deeds 348. 8 Crosby died on June 6th, 1906; two days later, the contract to demolish the Hersey Staples Mill which was built on this property, was let. 9 E Deeds 566 12 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Orleans Street Survey Area Hersey, Staples Company Addition Holcombe Street NE Quarter Section. 33 Sixth Avenue Gov't Lot 3 (Section 34) Gov't Lot 2 (Section 34) Hersey, Staples Company Addition St. Croix River \Willard Street N O• 13 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Brooks and Sarah Fenno) of Boston, and one-fourth to Dudley C. and Harriet Hall of Medford, Massachusetts.10 All of the partners in the corporation had their assignments: To Samuel Hersey, this was but one of many companies, nevertheless, he kept in close touch with the developments here. He watched state legislation on dams and booms and federal legislation on land. He helped other members of the firm purchase supplies, located skilled workmen who would leave the East to work for the company in Stillwater, and made the arrangements for insurance. He insisted that Staples submit to him detailed reports covering the purchases of land, wages of the men, performance of the Mill, sales of logs and lumber, and an accounting of the expenditures by himself and the other partners. He was cautious, and urged Staples to "furl sail" when there was an overproduction of logs and lumber, but withal he was optimistic about the future of the business. Dudley C. Hall was of a more mercurial temperament. Like Hersey, he was deeply involved in other investments, and he wanted quick returns and the elimination of every risk to his capital. Reports of disasters caused him great distress. He was constantly in despair; but despite his dissatisfaction, he remained in the company for 13 years. In addition to furnishing money, he assisted the business by purchasing supplies and by selling logs and lumber. Whitney and Fenno served the company chiefly by purchasing supplies in Boston — mostly merchandise for the company's retail store — and furnishing capital. Buying the property, however, was only the first step toward building the Mill. Machinery purchased in Bangor, Boston, St. Louis and Milwaukee was a long time in reaching Stillwater. Boilers and grate bars on order in St. Louis were held up by questions on design that had to be answered from the East rather than from Stillwater. Delays also occurred when machinery was sent from the East by express to Galena, Illinois, but then it was held up for several weeks by forwarders who were charged with transferring its shipment up the Mississippi. At times the partners paid for a man to travel with the machinery to make sure it made the best connection at transfer points. Difficulties in hiring skilled labor also contributed to the slow progress in assembling the Mill. Some of the engineers and millwrights engaged in the East came out promptly and remained with the company, 1° D Deeds 584,585,587 14 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition "Lc 0 LJ La u. 0 0 0 cr } u rc cy) _ w Z tO ° w Z CC 1" a m -1 0 3 os 00 o z - a 5. ta - t - 0 >.<a w U) x 14 a 0 z cc 0 15 • ^4 Andreas At ,a Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition while others changed their minds about coming, or were dismissed as unsatisfactory. It was not until July 1855, that the Mill actually began operation.11 In September of 1854, as the Mill was being built, Staples bought the adjacent property: Government Lot 3. For that Lot, approximately 57 acres, Staples paid $500 to William & Lydia Reed and Edward & Fanny Reed of Washington County, Ohio.12 By the spring of the following year, 1855, now anxious to recoup losses from the delay in building the Mill, Staples began selling building lots in both Government Lots 2 and 3 on the bluff above the sawmill. His surveyor laid out 18 blocks. Not surprisingly, the Addition was named the Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition although the actual plat map was not recorded until September of 1857.13 The plat (see page 17) consisted of 18 blocks, most of them with 18 lots, 50 feet by 130 feet. The plat included a quarry site. The streets were originally numbered Second Street to Sixth Street. These were changed to Avenues in 1881 to avoid the conflict with other Stillwater streets with the same names.14 The east -west streets were named: Hudson, Dubuque, Burlington, St. Louis and Orleans. These were all ports on the Mississippi River (except Hudson on the St. Croix River) where Hersey, Staples & Co. sold their lumber. But before many land sales on the new plat could take place, there was a business matter to settle. This took the form of a bond15 given by Isaac Staples in the amount of $8,000 to Hersey, Hall, Whitney & Fenno to ensure that "...whereas the said Staples holds such premises above named [the property of Hersey, Hall, Whitney and Fenno] in his own name alone for the easy and ready conveyance of the same to purchasers...[and to]...account for to said Hall, Hersey, and Whitney and Fenno all proceeds derived from sale or lease of said premises." The bond also specified that should there be any difficulties resulting from this arrangement, the bond would be used to reimburse any loss on the part of the purchaser, thus serving a role today filled by the title insurance companies. 11 Hersey, Staples & Company, 1854-1860: Eastern Managers and Capital in Frontier Business by Lucille Kane in the Bulletin of the Business Historical Society. 12 E Deeds 182 13 E Deeds 226; A Plats 145 14 Ordinances of the City of Stillwater published by Authority of the City Council, Gazette Printing Company, 1887 15 B Bonds 324 16 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition "o 17 „ qoainowt 'Ls.** 4 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition But in the overall scheme of thing, selling these building lots on the bluff was not high on the priority list of Isaac Staples. The first priority of the company was to obtain as much timber land as possible, for without timber, there would be no work at the sawmill, and no lumber to sell. Early correspondence of the company is filled with exhortations by the other partners to Staples to buy timberland, and more timberland; to get the company's surveyors out in the field at any expense to locate more timberland before the competition bought it all up.16 The company not only dealt in timber lands (34,000 acres were purchased in 1858), and the Mill to cut the timber; they also purchased woodlands, farm land, boom islands, waterpower and dam sites, as well as town lots in Stillwater, Hudson, St. Paul, Hastings, Red Wing, and Winona. The company also had a store in Stillwater that carried a wide variety of dry goods, groceries, cutlery, crockery, hardware, and woods equipment. Inventory was supplied from Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other Eastern cities. The managers of the store also carried on an Indian trade, exchanging goods from the store for hides and furs.17 THE FEVER tillwater began with the McKusick sawmill in 1844. Five years later, when Minnesota became a Territory, the population was estimated at 609.18 A year later the population had jumped to 1,052. Most of the residents lived in what is the downtown area today. But boom times lay ahead. Thousands of immigrants were pouring into the Territory, and the price of land was rising rapidly. Through the early 1850's, the price of land doubled, and doubled again. The Territory was struck with the fever of land speculation. With the continuing influx of newcomers, all of whom needed a place to live, how could the price of land not continue to rise — or so the speculator reasoned. When Hersey, Staples Company Addition was platted, the speculation in land prices was just beginning in earnest, peaking in the year 1857, when, it is estimated, that in Minnesota, at least 700 towns were platted into more than 300,000 lots — enough for 1,500,000 people.19 Stillwater did not escape the speculation fever. 16 Hersey, Staples & Co papers; Manuscript Department, Minnesota Historical Society. 1' There is an excellent description of the company and how it functioned in "Hersey, Staples & Company, 1854-1860: Eastern Managers and Capital in Frontier Business by Lucille Kane in the Bulletin of the Business Historical Society. 16Theodore C. Blegen. Minnesota A History of the State. U. of Minnesota Press. 1963. Page 159. 19William Watts Folwell. A History of Minnesota. St. Paul, The Minnesota Historical Society, 1956. Vol. 18 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition that: The St. Croix Union newspaper was delighted to point out in 1856 "About two years ago, Hersey, Staples & Co. gave $600 for a lot [which] last week sold for $3000 to Mr. Dodge... We add that when Hersey Staples & Co. made the aforesaid purchase, many thought they had given a very high price... but time will prove that the lot will increase as rapidly in value, in the next two years, as it has done in the two just passed. Mr. Dodge has already been offered $500 advance on what he gave. Our faith in Stillwater is unbounded. "20 On another occasion, the editor struck back at any who might doubt the future. "Less than two years ago they sneered at Stillwater's being anything outside the Basin, or Original Limits [of downtown]. We well recollect that we were laughed at, by some, for pitching our tent out in Holcombe's Addition —it being then a wild unbroken wilderness. But what are now the facts? There are over 100 houses out there now —some of them first class —and about 600 inhabitants. Lots which, when we located there [two years ago] could be had for $25 cannot now be purchased for less than a hundred dollars —and they are constantly rising. Lots...have been enhanced in value four -fold within the past two years, and the way we read the signs of the times, they lack much of having reached their maximum.21 MORE ADDITIONS Anticipating quick profits in the land, Stillwater entrepreneurs did what others throughout the settled portions of Minnesota Territory were doing: they platted Additions. The trick was, they reasoned, to buy the land by the acre and sell it by the foot. 1, page 362. 20 St. Croix Union, August 6, 1856. 21 St. Croix Union, December 5, 1856. 19 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition "STILLWATER FOREVER Another Addition to Stillwater Additions to Stillwater are all the rage now. Within a few days past, Jacob Maerty has sold to Joshua B. Carter and Gov. Ramsey, 140 acres of land lying west of Stillwater and adjoining Holcombe's Addition, for $7000. It is soon to be surveyed into town lots. We rejoice to see this movement. There are now three heavy St. Paul capitalists and speculators deeply interested in Stillwater; viz: R. F. Slaughter, Col. H M'Kenty, and Gov. Ramsey. We are glad to know that St. Paul speculators are vitally interested here, because it argues that they now see what we saw nearly three years ago; that is, that Stillwater is destined inevitably to be a great place. They now see that Stillwater is not a 'one-horse town, chucked down among the hills in the sand.' They now see that Stillwater has unrivaled advantages —that she has much capital —that a Rail - Road is to come here probably before one runs to St. Paul, and that Stillwater is rapidly advancing in all that contributes to material prosperity and greatness. "22 HURRAH FOR STILLWATER" As late as February, 1857, the future looked bright: "Real Estate and Business in Stillwater The price of land in our city and vicinity has advanced with astonishing rapidity during the last two years, and from present appearances we shall see still greater improvements in the future. During the week past Mr. H. R. Murdock purchased ten acres of land adjoining Cooper's Addition, from Mr. Slaughter, for $100 per acre. Two years ago this same land was sold for five dollars per acre. Three thousand seven hundred dollars have been recently offered by Mr. Gorgas, the banker, for a lot on Main street, corner of Chestnut-25 feet front and 80 feet deep —and refused. The 22St. Croix Union, December 12, 1856. 20 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition owners —the Messrs. Murdock, Druggists —intend to build a splendid stone building on it in the spring. This is at the rate of about $150 a front foot, and be it remembered that the whole lot, of which this is only a part, a little over a year ago, sold for $10 a front foot. This, to say the least, is a very fair advance. There are yet many splendid investments and fortunes to be made in this city —which is, as yet, in its infancy —and every day presents new evidences of its future greatness...On every side preparations are being made for the erection of capacious ware houses; substantial —and in some instances —fine private dwellings, and every thing promises a season of unprecedented prosperity. "23 But despite rampant inflation in the price of lots, it seems that Staples had bigger fish to fry. Unlike other Stillwater businessmen who could spend all their time and energy selling thousands of lots throughout the city, Staples sold only 18 building lots in the Hersey, Staples Company Addition between 1855 and 1860. Neither did he, like the lumber company of Schulenburg & Boeckler in Dutchtown, build houses for his workers, although he had as many as 250 workers in 1856.24 Part of the reason, no doubt, was that most of the lots were inaccessible up on the hilltop far removed from the rest of the city's residential areas. The few lots he did sell (Block 1: Lots 2,3,4,5; Block 2: Lots 1,2,4,5,8,9,14) were mostly along South Main Street. However, the Company was operating the quarry at the top of the hill, along with the Mill smokestack and a large reservoir that could quickly be drained onto the Mill in case of fire. It would seem a simple matter to expand whatever access there was to the hilltop so that people, wishing to buy lots, could easily find their way up and down the cliff side. Milton Abbot, editor of the local newspaper, went searching for a lot upon which to build his house. In the course of his search, he looked at this location: So we retraced our steps and went down the Lake even beyond Staples' saw mill. The mill itself was fairly alive with workmen; and beyond it we saw many signs of improvement. We plainly perceived that it would not be at all prudent for us to attempt to locate anywhere in that direction. Too much was going on there —too many were making preparations for building. It will 23 St. Croix Union, February 13, 1857. 24 He did however have a company boarding house: room and board was $2.50 a week. 21 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition not be long ere Baytown and Stillwater will meet, and had we built there, we should have been in a pretty fix —wouldn't we225 But even though Staples was not a part of the general land speculation fever, he — like everyone else in Minnesota — had to bear its consequences. THE CRASH Onthe 24th of August, 1857, the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company of New York failed; its creditors were forced to default, and a calamitous chain of events spread across the United States. Within two months, almost everybody in Minnesota was in debt; the Territory was literally emptied of cash. City lots became virtually worthless. Those who were formerly wealthy found themselves bankrupt. Stillwater boosters were in despair, and the city was never to fully recover its boundless optimism after this Depression of 1857. Writing of St. Paul, Thomas Newson described what was also true of Stillwater: "And then came the terribly hard times. With no money, no values, no property, no business, little or no emigration, no banks, or banks with empty vaults, no courage, no hope, notes due, mortgages foreclosed, men heavily in debt, land depreciated from fifty to seventy-five per cent, no trade, indeed with nothing to trade, no foundation to build on, no one can imagine the frightful condition of affairs in St. Paul in the latter part of the year 1857 but he who passed through it all... "26 The Stillwater Democrat, on January 1, 1859, editorialized: "A Happy New Year to our Friends and Patrons. Eighteen hundred and fifty eight, with its panics and monetary convulsions, its depression of trade and depreciation in value of all and every kind of purchaseable and ponderable goods and estates, has, thank goodness, departed for ever..." The depression of the early 1860's that followed ruined many of Stillwater's leading businessmen and merchants. To add even greater financial burden, the early years of the 1860's were years in which the river 25 St. Croix Union, December 22, 1855. 26 T.M. Newson. Pen Pictures of St. Paul, Minnesota and Biographical Sketches of Old Settlers. By the Author, St. Paul, 1886. Page 698. 22 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition levels were too low much of the year to get the uncut lumber to the Mill, and once cut at the Mill, too low to ship the lumber downriver. But despite the depressed economy, Hersey, Staples & Co. continued. In his history, Augustus Easton writes: "The writer well remembers that during the dark days of 1857-58, when the trade in lumber was in a collapsed condition, and dealers, most of them at least, were fain to give up in despair, Mr. Staples was grinding and hammering away, never for a minute giving up hope. If he couldn't sell lumber for cash he would find a man who wanted lumber and had some article of merchandise to exchange for it, which Mr. Staples knew somebody else wanted.27 In 1860, George Whitney of the firm, Whitney & Fenno died, and that partnership was ended. The firm then became Hersey, Staples & Hall. The books on this firm ran from April, 1861, to October, 1866. In the decade after the Civil War, from 1865 to 1875, the lumbering business was generally good, but the company underwent several different name changes. In 1866, Samuel Hersey bought out the one-third interest of Dudley Hall, and sold it to Charles and Jacob Bean.28 Jacob Bean was born in Upper Stillwater, Maine, in 1837 in the center of the Maine lumbering industry. He worked for Samuel Hersey as a lumberman, coming to Stillwater in 1863, and joining the firm as a partner in 1866. Charles Bean, the older brother, was born in New Hampshire in 1827, moved to Orono, Maine, in 1835 and took up the lumber trade. He too came to Stillwater in 1863, joining the firm as a partner in 1866.29 In 1871, Isaac Staples purchased his own sawmill, The St. Croix Mills, on the north end of the downtown waterfront, and followed his own individual business interests, although he remained a partner in Hersey, Staples, & Bean until 1875. Samuel Hersey, the leading capitalist of the firm, died in February of 1875, and the original Hersey, Staples & Co. was reconstituted once again. The new partners were Hersey's sons: Roscoe F., Edward L., Dudley H., and Eugene M., all sharing a one-half interest; and Charles and Jacob Bean sharing a one-half interest. This new firm was called Hersey & Bean. 27 History of the St. Croix Valley, Augustus Easton, ed. H.C. Cooper, Jr. & Co, Chicago, 1909, page 62. 28 Information on the various permutations of the company are contained in a typescript written by William H. Bean of Stillwater for an article printed in the Kanabec County Times, June 28, 1934. The typescript is in the Hersey, Staples & Co. papers in the Manuscript Department of the Minnesota Historical Society. 29 Fifty Years in the Northwest by W.H.C. Folsom, Pioneer Press Company, 1888, Page 416. 23 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition r Fig; ‘\s-L - • = I: V, — - 44 • • • --kNilittl - ,../. - --- 1-,..-,--' 1 -• ,,. -Z . , 7...e.,"--7 ,...:"-• a.o...„-e-d. •'...A.,_...1 (I /57,- e.-!, • - - 7Z-,2-.4-77. '. '-' - .,----• - ./ ...."' ....., • , .....27.,: c....G.,...4-<:;‘-‘z_..../ Ger V/ / ,-- 7 zr7.-e5e--r:•-' -..--/C Z..e-e./....-.,/ c_e__,i ,,.-s, ...—,-/- .1-7-e..--,-- 1 ,,.,-, ---( - ."4".--4:- -- - e..... er-)a--c-4 ....-2".. ./._ Reza - - - 111 1 1 1 Ku sr: :$1 0,9A-f•LIFS • - • 4.-7 ,74‹: c-; •,-/-1 -2;;:fr. The principals involved in Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition were in business under several names. These are two examples of their company letterheads. 9 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition To confuse matters even further, there was a second company at this time consisting of Roscoe and Dudley Hersey, Charles and Jacob Bean, and Edward S. Brown. This firm went by the name: Hersey, Bean and Brown. Edward S. Brown was born in Orono, Maine, February 8, 1830 and trained as a millwright. He came to Minnesota with his wife, Hannah, in 1853, working with Franklin Steele at St. Anthony (now SE Minneapolis). He served one term as Mayor of St. Anthony, coming to Stillwater in 1873. In 1875, he served as a state senator from this district. He died in his home July 11, 1899.30 He was well respected in Stillwater, known as an entertaining story teller; a man who was well traveled and had a keen sense of humor.31 PRICES In 1880, a dozen eggs might cost 121/2 cents; butter was 20 cents a pound. Ham was 40 cents a pound, and (in April) potatoes were selling for 60 cents a bushel. A common laborer would make $1.50 to $2 for a 10-12 hour day. A skilled worker might make up to $3.50 a day. An average building lot in the "suburbs" cost between $40 and $60; an average house would cost between $300 and $500. A good cow could cost as much as $75. Almost everyone walked so there were no transportation costs.32 The ownership of the lots in the Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition reflect all these various owners and corporation names because the building lots were not necessarily transferred to each successive new company and its owners. Dudley Hall, for example, retained ownership of some of the lots in the Addition long after his partnership with the company was terminated, as did Isaac Staples. Over a period of years, this made for some very complicated land titles with various owners having as little as a 1/64 interest in a particular lot. 3o History of the St. Croix Valley, Augustus Easton, ed, H.C. Cooper, Jr. & Co, Chicago, 1909, Page 152. 31 One of his stories about an early trip to Puget Sound across the Isthmus of Panama (before the Panama Canal) can be found in the Stillwater Messenger, December 26, 1896. 32 Stillwater Lumberman, April 25, 1879. 25 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition THE BREWERY AlAthough the brewery is not a part of the Hersey, Staples & Co. ddition, it certainly played a role in the development of that neighborhood. Today the site of the old brewery — the indentation in the bluff — is occupied by the Oasis Cafe at 806 S. Main Street, and the adjacent bait shop. If you remember, (page 12) in July of 1853, Samuel and Nancy Leech sold Government Lot 2 to Henry and Hannah Crosby of Stillwater for $300. Three weeks later, for $50, the Crosbys sold 62/100 of an acre of their property to Norbert Kimmick, a Stillwater brewer who wanted the spring in the hillside for making beer, and the caves in the cliff side for storing his finished product.33 (This small rectangle can be seen on the right side of the plat, page 17) The spring that he purchased must have been a sizable one, for at that early date there was a bridge on the road over a stream coming from the brewery site. This bridge can be seen in the far right corner of the plat map. (See page 17) This bridge is also mentioned in an early newspaper account of the building of the Mill: "I walked down to the bridge a few hundred yards below town, to examine the extensive works going forward upon the mills of Messrs. Hersey, Staples & Co. "34 Norbert Kimmick had started with a small whiskey still on the corner of Third and Chestnut Streets. This "brewery" was located in Kimmick's kitchen, and he distilled about five gallons a week. About the time, he bought this site to expand his business, he took as a partner, Frank Aiple. Together they ran the business until Kimmock's death in 1857. One year later, former partner, Frank Aiple, married Kimmick's widow, Suzanne, and together they ran the brewery. In November of 1868, Frank Aiple died from a fall from the bluff while he was working on his house. Because the Aiple family is one of the dynasties of Stillwater, and because the family still owns this brewery property more than 130 years after they purchased it, it might be appropriate to quote the biography of Frank Aiple upon his death November 11, 1868. "Death of Mr. Frank Aiple" "Last week we chronicled an accident that happened to this gentleman and stated that his recovery was thought certain. 33 D Deeds 279. 34 The Daily Minnesotan, September 13, 1854 26 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 4) r4 O 'd utz 20 U2 • t „Q . P CID Cf) O N - O 00 U U1 a4 +2 4) mo X , y C Q � a) .r, bD co 4 O .Q aY 0 z 4.1 a) cn PCS o a� a) .� F a)� .- in 4 4) O E 04Ts a) F S.i .0 O 9 7 Courtesy of the Washington, County Historical, Society John Run,k, photographer Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition ci krz 00 •rl a) a) 2 0 ai a) a) uI2 1 O z a) a w 28 E-+ m a) 1�1 0 z a; .ny aS 0 a) 0 5 cn a) 0 0 Q s, cp .O cn cn aR 0 op rr� ��..11 M 0 V cn aS aa 0. 112 a) S-i 0 0 a) cti a a) a) bn s. 0 John Runk, photographer Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition He died last Wednesday morning, however, at his residence in this city rather unexpected. Mr. Aiple came to this city about fourteen years ago and entered the employ of Mr. Kimmick (whom our old citizens all remember as an extensive brewer,) in the capacity of brewer. His industry and accurate knowledge of his duties rendered him a very efficient man and he remained in the employ of Mr. Kimmick until his death, some three years afterward in 1857. One year thereafter he married Mrs Kimmick and came into possession of all the property, partly through purchase, and partly through his marriage. He continued to manage the business and by his thrift and industry kept adding to and building it up until he had probably the most extensive brewery in the St. Croix Valley, and had accumulated a great deal of other property. Last spring we chronicled the burning of his brewery, which he had now almost entirely rebuilt in a greatly enlarged and improved manner of stone two stories high. Apart from his brewery was his dwelling house which was hardly yet completed, but into which he had just moved, and which was a fine two story building of cut stone. He was just getting everything around him nice and comfortable when he was thus suddenly taken away. Aside from his brewery and dwelling house, he owned the Minnesota House and lot on which it stands, and had some other property in Oak Park. There are few men in our city that have more friends than Mr. Aiple. He was one of those free, open hearted, generous men that everybody likes when once they become acquainted with them. His hospitality was unbounded and his success in business was attributable as much to this probably as anything else."35 After Frank's death, Suzanne continued the business of the brewery until she married Herman Tepas in December of 1869 — just over a year after Frank's death.36 On June 4th, 1889, Suzanne Tepas died, but it was not until September 30, 1902 that Herman Tepas, her third husband, died.37 35 The Republican, November 17, 1868 36 Much of this information comes from a column written by Brent Peterson in the St. Croix Valley Press of March 5, 1998. 37 History of the St. Croix Valley, Augustus Easton, ed, H.C. Cooper, Jr. & Co, Chicago, 1909, pages 125, 161 29 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition In the late 188O's the Brewery passed into the hands of Frank Aiple's son, Frank Aiple, Jr. who ran the brewery under the name of the Aiple Brewery until 1899 when the name was changed to the Jung Brewery. The Jung Brewery was in business until 1919 when the advent of Prohibition apparently marked the end of the company. In 1933, South Main Street was widened, and the wonderful limestone Aiple house, and most of the brewery buildings were demolished for the roadway. TELEPHONE 30-3 eAPPTO bin 30 T(LLWATER. VINN. ESTABLISHED 1852 BOTTLED BEERS A SPECIALTY Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 2 E ISEY EAN ANUFACTU ERS A N D DEALE •ir 8 LOGS AND p ILI Iil • 23:rdcige Timbe --- AND 121is- A SPECIALTY, Minnesota. Stillwater City Directory 31 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition THE 1870's In the 1870's it appears at least some of the various partners began to actively promote the sale of lots in the Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition. Three of the second -generation partners built large and substantial houses on Third Avenue South in 1874. Edward S. Brown built an elegant Italianate/Greek Revival style house on the northwest corner of Burlington Street and Third Avenue South. Today the house address is 618 E. Burlington, but the house originally fronted on Third Avenue South with the address, 1114 Third Avenue South. Dudley H. Hersey built a fancy Italianate house, with two fireplaces, which remains at 1204 Third Avenue South. In 1883, the tax assessor valued his house and lot at $1,900, a substantial sum for the times, but in back of his home, Hersey built a very large stable which was valued at $1,650 — almost as much as the house. Jacob Bean built his large home on the northeast corner of Third Avenue South and East St. Louis. He owned lots 4-14 in Block 10; the value of his lots and house was $4,280. Today a house built in 1950 with the address, 1229 Third Avenue South, occupies the site of his home. The impatient Isaac Staples did his part in promoting the sale of lots. In a letter written in his characteristic hurried style, without punctuation, Staples wrote to Samuel Hersey on June 30, 1874: "we have sold to A B Stickney 4 lots-5-6-7-& 8 in block no 14 for six hundred dollars this is cheap but it is for some hand that has affairs in railroads so we thought it would help sale of other lots... "38 In 1877, Stickney built the home which remains at 1022 Fourth Avenue South. Alpheus Bede Stickney was, among other things, general manager of the St. Paul, Stillwater, and Taylor's Falls Railroad Company, which laid track to Stillwater in 1872. On their way to Stillwater, the tracks passed near the north end of Bass Lake in Oakdale Township. In order to promote traffic on the railroad, Stickney and his business partners decided to develop the northeast corner of Bass Lake and build a hotel. In searching for an attractive name, Kate Stickney, the wife of Alpheus, suggested Elmo from her favorite novel, "St. Elmo." By 1878, the new hotel was completed, and the village of Lake Elmo was born.39 38 Hersey, Staples & Co. papers, Manuscript Department, Minnesota Historical Society. Stickney later became a leading railroad magnate and was one of the founders of the South St. Paul stockyards. 39 The History of Oakdale Township, Vol. 1, published by the Oakdale Lake Elmo Historical Society, 1996. Page 46. 32 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Others who were associated with the company built homes in the Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition. Phillip McDermott, whose company logged with Hersey & Bean in Kanabec County in 1895-96, built a large attractive $2,000 house in 1884 which remains at 1312 Fourth Avenue South. Stephen Danforth was a logging partner with Charles Bean in a firm known as Danforth Brothers & Bean. In the early 1870's he purchased a house at 918 Fifth Avenue South. At that time, Stephen worked as a SIX -OVER -SIX WINDOWS One of the most distinguishing characteristics of an old house is its windows: the size, the placement, and the style. In general, the smaller the size of the panes, the older the window. As the technology of the 19th Century advanced, it became possible to make larger panes of glass cheaper. In the first houses of Minnesota, built in the period of 1840-1870, the usual window panes were quite small, and each sash held six panes, (six -over -six) separated by quite slender and finely made dividers (muntins). In the following period, from 1870-1910, the windows were comprised of two panes per sash, or two over two windows. Today, of course, they are generally one pane per sash, or one over one. Curiously enough, many new houses use plastic insert dividers in their windows to simulate the older small panes. foreman for the Mi1l.4° Other houses built in the 1870's, or earlier, by those associated with the Mill include that of James Leighton, a foreman for the Hersey, Bean & Brown sawmill who lived at 936 Third Avenue South for decades. 4o The relationship concerning McDermott and Danforth are contained in the typescript by William H. Bean mentioned in a previous footnote. 33 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 34 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Daniel and Nancy Stombs lived in the earliest house built in the Addition at 1214 South Third Avenue. He operated the foundry that was just to the south of the Mill, on Block 1, Lot 1, in what appears to have been a partnership with Isaac Staples. Their house was built in the fall of 1857 by George W. and Harriet Elliot, both 32 years of age,41 and born in Maine. George died in Rockford, Minnesota in 1888.42 Michael Collopy, age 25, a laborer, and his wife, Anna, age 26, both Irish born, built their tiny house at 1220 South Fourth Avenue about 1861.43 Robert Sullivan, a lumberman employed by the St. Croix Lumber Company (the Torinus family) as superintendent of lumber camps in the woods and the foreman of their log driving crews, built his large house at 1030 Fourth Avenue South in 1877. Previous to this residence, he had lived in the neighborhood at 1214 Third Avenue South. Frank Rice, an engineer with the Hersey Bean Mill, built his house in 1872 at 910 Fifth Avenue South. He lived there for over 20 years. James Moore, who worked for the Mill, built his home at 1002 Fourth Avenue South in 1874. 411860 Census, Washington County, Stillwater, [page 517] 42 A Liens 6; History of the St. Croix Valley, Augustus Easton, ed, H.C. Cooper, Jr. & Co, Chicago, 1909. Page 51 43 1860 Census, Washington County, Stillwater, [page 517] 35 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition FOURTH AVENUE EXTENSION As a part of the Hersey, Staples & Co. Mill, a large chimney was built on the hillside above the Mill with an aboveground44 flue roughly six feet in diameter from the Mill to the chimney above. The chimney was located above the Mill to improve the draft. On the hillside above the Mill, the Company also constructed a large reservoir that was kept filled with water so that in case of fire, an ample supply of water under a good head of pressure was immediately available. In an article written in The Stillwater Lumberman on April 23, 1875, both are described: "...The smokestack and its connections measure 367 feet in length, and the top of the chimney surmounts the bluff fronting the mill at a height of 161 feet above the level of the grated bars of the boiler. An immense cistern containing 80045 hogsheads of water, has been completed on the bluff, all of which can be thrown into the mill at a moment's notice in case of an emergency." In order to access both the chimney and the cistern, and to provide access to the hilltop above, the Company constructed a road beginning on South Main Street just south of the brewery site, (the indentation in the bluff line where the Oasis Cafe snuggles today) stretching diagonally up the bluff to the north end of Fourth Avenue South. This road, which was never formally designated on the original plat as a street, is today known officially as the Fourth Avenue South Extension. Unofficially it is known as the quarry road" or the "quarry path." This road was there at least as early as 1874 when a deed between Samuel Hersey, Dudley Hall and Issac Staples declares: "Excepting and reserving the road leading to the top of the bluff opposite Hersey Bean Brown's sawmill and the right to keep and maintain the chimney & flue as it now is..." It is also pictured in the Andreas Atlas of this same year. (see page 15) According to affidavits recently filed by various neighborhood residents, this road or cartway or path was used by a number of the residents in the Hersey, Staples neighborhood to commute to their jobs at the Mill or the brewery below the bluff, or in the downtown area. 44 Arne Thomsen, who grew up in the neighborhood, remembers walking through this flue beginning at the chimney and exiting above S. Main Street. Interview, June 13, 2000. 45 For those of you who might not know: one hogshead equals two barrels; one barrel equals 31'/2 gallons, hence the cistern contained 50,400 gallons of water. 36 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 9 -216e?r, c ixiZg .0c4,14t4Js /-/ 66,e ,1006a rd: oti 4:4; dYteh ./1/0-4) z, /0x ia /d Sai6 lj 4t 4, „ Zlcif /Rd a 7Z, e4i • w, r oa p4 / I del@./& Arpcz .• . 2 1 1' #?‘ Jffrzz eVde, e 1• d 'A ,id 4 6-1, 1. . 4 v ) 1/ 4 y.4 e 4 t-?Z 19, C'efr4/4 . z ee 4044/ * 4 • 4/1 4 4, eick I6 419.LtJhe%4 d>, 'el,6-44#1.0,qAZ 37 h Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition ay /ad data ,,. 4d Aeum a� .�./et- '4 At/g.'it /frigi‘ 4//dI ar70.'1-ad A<I4 I)' auZ I LI &.J c tzcecw ' 44 ai r O.-'J dam/ due. awe n2 ab aut LA: e .e/cee4-,„' 4e/hz; g2.) ate« OpLazzatel4 �gr ez o. • ,/4. lot Uto 12,2E' iS/fir, G1 � 1t a:C i IlLGccdr' ItiC1SrJ .zrrazd a4 ?,o�acc. /lP accf�G�, a ,ea.:cee nn 0-A4.r/ i•GGL('Jiy?s� L, / ka.) % •G:t `; Aloe 0/ ©e/Sy , .,G .g. d• c.Zoni,'/84 This page and the one previous are a lien filed against George W. Elliot by Isaac Staples on behalf of Hersey, Staples & Co. This remarkable document is a listing of most of the materials, quantities, prices and delivery dates used in building the house at 1214 South Third Avenue between October 9, 1857 and June 2, 1858. 38 A Liens 6 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Butch Ulrich, in an affidavit, testified that horses and wagons were used to haul slab wood from the Mill below for use as firewood in homes on the top of the hill. He also recounted that the roadway was used by the quarry owners who quarried stone from the quarry at the top of the path for use in the houses built in Stillwater. Mr. Ulrich recalls driving his automobile down the roadway on election night in 1920 on his way to a tavern to celebrate what they thought would be the election of Al Smith. In 1933, South Main Street, which had been a small narrow road leading only to Bayport (the road from St. Paul came into Stillwater on the west side of Stillwater) was considerably widened, and the bluff cut back, making it too steep for a roadway. At that time, the Department of Highways bought much of the bluff side as right-of-way, and a stairway was constructed leading up the bluff over the course of the old quarry road. There were also street lights installed along the stairway. Arne Thomsen also remembers his father driving his car and trailer down the roadway to pick up wood along the riverbank where the old Mill once stood. He remembers a hobo jungle that existed by the railroad tracks and the river near the Barge Terminal property where the hobos had a shelter and a fireplace. There they would cook in a coffee can the crabs they caught from the river. These same hobos would regularly travel from the hobo jungle up the quarry road and then panhandle on the South Hill in Stillwater. Mr. Thomsen also noted in his affidavit that many people on the South Hill owned boats they tied up near the Barge Terminal property, and that these boat owners fished a great deal, not only for fun, but to put food on the table. These people accessed their boats by walking down the quarry road. Duane- Seaquist, another resident of the Hersey, Staples neighborhood, recounts that he used the quarry road steps for 31 years to catch the Burlington Street bus when he worked for the St. Croix Manufacturing Company in Bayport. In the 1950's, among other users of the stairway, was Deanna Dickhausen Auer who regularly carried lunch down the stairs to her father who operated the bait shop adjacent to (what is today) the Oasis Cafe. However, a large rainstorm in 1965 washed out some of the steps as well as the light pole in the middle of the path on the hillside. As more and more industries left Stillwater, and the use of automobiles became more prevalent, traffic on the quarry road steps diminished. By the mid-1980's, city crews had stopped shoveling the stairway, and trimming the brush along the road. 39 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 4 4 0 4/PA/ AVENUE g41r. otu L 7_ 9 4 t, I tsi 414 N Iste4 44 \44 q, ‘" o () N p L (+Gs/ laposa) k40 4. - _ _ / / , , . , ,-/ ,,'' / • ,/ ,,,,, \ / ,„,"," ,/, , / ,.." / . ,-0' \ia / //7 These are are extensions to both I3'd and 4:th Avenue South. The 4tli Avenue extension was "The Quarry Path"; the 3rd Avenue extension was "the Lower Quarry Path". 40 City of Stillwater Map, 1956 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition In 1992, Patricia Hansen purchased the house at 510 Quarry Lane, and shortly thereafter made a claim to the city that anyone using the quarry path was trespassing on her property. She claimed that her Registered Property Abstract did not recognize the existence of any such road or path, and she subsequently fenced off the top of the path. The City of Stillwater has taken the position that by virtue of its being used as a roadway all those years, the property is now in the public domain, and the path could be used without trespassing on Ms. Hansen's property. The matter has already been to the Minnesota Supreme Court, but it remains in litigation. However, city officials are confident that the pathway will again be restored to public use.46 Besides the extension of Fourth Avenue South, there is also an extension of Third Avenue South winding its way down the hillside. (See page 40). This was known as the "lower quarry path." 46 These affidavits and other testimony were obtained from the office of the Stillwater City Attorney, David Magnuson. 41 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition THE 1880's Paul Caplazi, Stillwater resident, wrote in his 1944 manuscript: "The eighties were happy days for Stillwater. It was a time between the Civil War and the Spanish American War, there were no wars, no strikes, no unemployment, no trouble of any kind, everybody was working and happy. 47 In the 1880's, there were 42 houses built in the survey area, about one- third of the total number of homes. The greatest number of homes, 11, was built in 1882; there were 10 homes built in 1884. (Interestingly enough, the second decade of greatest home building was the 1950's when 19 new houses were built in the survey area.) This building boom was not unique to Stillwater. In his book on St. Paul in the 1880's, Frank C. Bliss writes: "Since 1880, there has been a constant, continued rise in the value of real estate, in every part of the city....It appeared like one continuous, legitimate boom, from the beginning to the close of the year, and was the product of honest, bona -fide transactions between the dealers and owners of property and the middle classes and others, who purchased mainly to improve the property in erecting blocks and stores and dwellings to rent to others, or for their own use. The wild, reckless spirit of speculations which was exhibited in 1857, and which appeared to be a mania that affected all classes from the highest to the lowest, is not the spirit of to -day. The country around was not then developed and built up; the city was young and in its infancy; and the numerous railroads now running from this great trade centre, and carrying our merchandise and products to thousands of towns and villages, and bringing in customers by the hundreds, were not then built. There was no foundation laid —no good basis for such a rise in values, and consequently the bubble burst. "48 Bliss goes on to point out that in 1883, one of the years of greatest building in Stillwater, St. Paul was third on the list of the most new buildings in the U.S. surpassed only by New York and Chicago.49 The reasons for this spurt in building are many, and beyond the scope of this survey. They include better wages for the workingman, the establishment of building and loan societies to finance houses, an abundance of relatively inexpensive 47 Paul Caplazi. Unpublished Manuscript, 1944. Page [17] 48 Frank C. Bliss. St. Paul, Its Past and Present. F.C. Bliss Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minn.1888, page 101-102. 49Ibid. Page 115. 42 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition building materials, and a general prosperity. It could also be said that in the 1880's, a moderate home was more affordable than a similar house would be today. It is worth noting that a house then was little more than a shell with a stove. There were no appliances, no plumbing, no electric wiring, no insulation, no floor coverings, and no furnace. Paul Caplazi, in his unpublished manuscript written in the 1940's, remembers a horseracing track — probably in the 1870's — in the area of what is today the Athletic Field. "Orleans St. was the end of the south turn of the race track. 5th Ave. was the track stretch. The north turn ran back of the Ed. Staples house [1113 Sixth Avenue South] on the N.E. corner of 6th Ave. and Burlington St. The end of the north turn was a little south of Hancock. The home stretch was about the middle of the block between 6th Ave. and First St. The Judges stand was about Marsh St. and across on 5th Ave. was a big rock which was used for the quarter pole.50 This half mile track was used by the local gentry until the Lily Lake Driving Club was organized in the late 1870's. No doubt, Jacob Bean raced his horse, Golddust here, and Issac Staples, his horses, Zig and Kitty Cook.51 Caplazi makes two other references to the neighborhood in his manuscript. He writes: "Just south of Orleans St. and west of 4th Ave, was an oak grove where they used to have picnics etc. There was a wooden Ferris Wheel there which was operated by two men turning a crank. It was five cents a ride and was called the Fandango Swing. "52 This may have been known as "Bean's Grove" which was apparently a noteworthy grove of trees in the vicinity of Jacob Bean's house at St. Louis and Third Avenue South. A notice in the Stillwater Daily Gazette of April 19, 1915 mentions this: Extensive Grass Fire Bluff in Vicinity of St. Louis Street Burns Over Early This Afternoon `An extensive dry grass and brush fire burned over a considerable portion of the bluff in the vicinity of St. Louis street early this afternoon. The Bean grove was burned over. The fire department was called to the scene at the noon hour and used a long string of hose in combating the flames. A 5o Paul Caplazi, unpublished manuscript, c. 1944 [page 4] 51 "Horse Racing Popular Sport in Lumbering Era", Stillwater Daily Gazette, August 18, 1943. 52 Ibid, [page 5] 43 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 44 Hersey, Staples and Co. Addition in 1879 • fi L 0.7 • • Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition in 1879. (Key to Map on Previous Page) 1.) Block 1, Lot 1: This was the foundry/boiler-making shop of Daniel L. Stombs. He and his wife, Nancy, lived at 1214 S. Third Avenue. The 1881-82 Stillwater City Directory lists: Isaac Staples Foundry, Main nr. Orleans, and Daniel L. Stombs, boiler works, Main nr. Orleans, r. 3rd between Burlington and St. Louis. The building is gone. 2.) Block 2, Lots 6 & 7: This was the long-time residence of Mathew Shortall, Stillwater's Chief of Police for many years. His address was 1336 S. Main Street. The house is gone. 3.) Block 2, Lots 4 & 5: This was the long-time home of the Irish born John and Anna Kinney. He worked as a fireman (tending to the boilers) for one of the sawmills. His address was given as "Lower Main." The house is gone. 4.) Block 2, Lots 1 & 2: This was the long-time home, built before the Civil War, of Mary A. Curtis. She was the widow of Gold T. Curtis, a prominent attorney in Stillwater who was killed in the Civil War. The address was 1306 S. Main Street. The house is gone. 5.) Block 11, Lot 1: This was the long-time home of William & Ellen Foley. He worked for the Hersey, Bean & Brown Mill. Their address was "Lower Main." 6.) Block 11, Lot 4: This small house was the home for many years of the Irish born Francis and Ellen Walker. He was a laborer, whose residence was listed as "Lower Main nr. St. Louis." This house was gone by the 1890's. 7.) Block 10, Lots 10 & 11: This is the large substantial home of Jacob Bean, one of the proprietors of the Hersey, Bean & Brown Mill. It was built in 1874. Today it has been replaced by a newer house at 1229 Third Avenue South. 8.) Block 9, Lots 4 & 5: This is the first house in the Addition, built in 1857 by George W. and Harriet Elliott. It had several owners early on, among them Robert Sullivan, and Daniel & Nancy Stombs; he ran a boiler -making foundry just south of the Mill. The address today is 1214 Third Avenue South. 9.) Block 9, Lots 1-3 & 16-18: Dudley Hersey, one of the partners in various lumbering companies, had this home built in 1874. Behind the house were his very large stables. The address today is 1204 Third Avenue South. 10.) Block 8, Lot 5: Michael and Anna Colopy built this home before the Civil War. Ten years later, he sold it to James Crotty who lived there over three decades. Today it has the address: 1220 Fourth Avenue South. 45 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 11.) Block 8, Lots 1 & 2: This home was brand new in 1880 when this map was drawn. Andrew Kearney was the owner. Today it bears the number, 1204 Fourth Avenue South. 12.) Block 15, Lots 11 & 12: Edward Staples had this home built in 1880. Today it has the address, 1113 Sixth Avenue South. 13.) Block 15, Lot 9: James & Johanna Crotty were the occupants of this home which remains today at 1036 Fifth Avenue South. 14.) Block 13, Lots 7-12: Today this house has the address 618 E. Burlington; it was built by Edward Brown in 1874. 15.) Block 13, Lots 3 & 4: This home had the address 1010 Third Avenue South until it was demolished in 1997 by a neighbor, Orwin Carter, who purchased the property. In earlier times, it was for many years the home of the Louis Billido family; he worked as a millwright at the Mill. 16.) Block 13, Lots 1 & 2: This house, which is now gone, had the address: 1002 Third Avenue South. A number of different families lived here. 17.) Block 18, Lot 5: This is one of the oldest houses in the area —although that fact is not evident today. It has the address, 936 Third Avenue South, and the Leighton family lived there for decades in the 19th Century. 18.) Block 17, Lots 1 & 2: These two houses at the end of Fourth Avenue South are now gone, but for many years they were in the possession of James S. Davis, a log scaler for the Hersey, Bean & Brown mill. 19.) Block 16, Lot 3: Franklin Rice was an engineer for the Mill; his house, built about 1872 today has the address, 910 Fifth Avenue South. 20.) Block 16, Lots 4 & 5: The Maine born Stephen Danforth was a yard foreman for the Hersey, Bean & Brown Lumber Company when he was living in this house in 1879. The house remains at 918 Fifth Avenue S. 21.) Block 14, Lot 1: James Moore, who worked for the Hersey, Bean & Brown Mill, built this home in 1874. It remains today at 1002 Fourth Avenue South. 22.) Block 14, Lots 5 & 6: A. B. Stickney had this home built in 1877. He was one of the founders of the South St. Paul stockyards and Lake Elmo as well as a railroad magnate. The address today is 1022 Fourth Avenue South. 23.) Block 14, Lots 7 & 8: Robert Sullivan was the resident of this house when this map was drawn. The address today is 1030 Fourth Avenue South. 24.) Block 14, Lot 9: John Crotty had this home built about 1877. He was listed as a laborer in the Stillwater City Directory. The address today is 518 E. Burlington. 46 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition second wagon load of hose was taken to the scene this afternoon. After a stubborn fight the flames were extinguished without loss to property." Caplazi also writes, referring to the 1870's and '80's: "Another fashionable part of Stillwater was the vicinity of 4th Ave. and Burlington. D. H. Hersey, E. S. Brown, Geo. Brown, Jacob Bean, Col. Davis, A. W. Kearney, John and James Crotty, Ed Staples and others lived in that vicinity." In the 1880's and '90's, like other businesses and individuals in Stillwater, the principals of the lumber company built a number of houses in the Addition on speculation. Dudley, Hersey & Co. built two adjacent sets of homes on Sixth Avenue South: 901 Sixth Avenue South in 1888; and 907 Sixth Avenue South in 1882; (John Moodhe, Jr. had what we today call a Contract for Deed on 907);53 931 Sixth Avenue South in 1884 and 935 Sixth Avenue South in 1884. They built a fifth house on the street as well: 1019 Sixth Avenue South in 1882. They constructed a string of four houses on the east side of Fifth Avenue South: 1009 Fifth Avenue South in 1884; 1015 Fifth Avenue South in 1884; 1019 Fifth Avenue South in 1885; and 1023 Fifth Avenue South in 1888. Two other houses built by them are located at 1225 Fourth Avenue South built in 1890 and 516 E. St. Louis built in 1890.54 In 1887, Edward S. Brown had busy local contractor, Thomas Roney, build him a $750 house in the location of today's newer house at 1029 Third Avenue South.55 The following year, he had Roney build him another house at 1019 Fourth Avenue South at a cost of $1,100.56 In 1890, he built a third house next door at 1017 Fourth Avenue South.57 Jacob Bean built two houses next door to each other in 1882: 1224 Third Avenue South (Grandma Bean's playhouse) and 1230 Third Avenue South. Both houses were across the street from his residence.58 53 Bond issued Sept. 1, 1882; assigned Dec 31, 1883. 54 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 55 City of Stillwater Building Permit # 208B 56 City of Stillwater Building Permit # #278B 57 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 58 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 47 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition BUYING A HOME IN 19T71 CENTURY STILLWATER Before the 1880's, during the first 30 years of Stillwater's history, most homes were bought with cash. A family might rent a home for the two or three years it took to save the cash for the purchase price of their own home. Homes were relatively cheaper in this period. A very substantial two-story home with three or four bedrooms could have been bought with $500. The wage of a skilled workman was about $3.50 a day and he worked six days a week. If he worked 50 weeks, he would have earned $1,050, or twice the price of his house, in only one year. Compare that with today, and then add in the enormous amount of interest most homeowners pay in the course of acquiring their house. Of course, a house then was little more than a wooden shell. There was no electricity, plumbing, central heating, insulation, or floor coverings. Beginning in the 1880's, there were savings and loans associations that would loan money to buy homes, as well as many of the fraternal groups willing to lend money to their members. However, up to the great depression of the 1930's, most of these mortgages were short term, interest only, contracts in which the homeowner paid the monthly interest until he could afford to pay off the principal in one payment. In other words, the mortgages were not amortized. During the great depression of the 1930's, when so many people lost their homes to mortgage foreclosures, the lending institutions were very reluctant to make mortgage loans. In response, the Federal Government, with its Federal Home Administration, began to guarantee mortgages, thus encouraging the wary banks to again begin financing homes. However, in order to be guaranteed, the loan had to meet certain criteria — among them was the stipulation the loan had to be amortized. Then, the reasoning went, the homeowner will be paying off his principal as well as the interest, and with the reduced principal, his chances of losing his house to a foreclosure are less likely. 48 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition (The story about Grandma Bean's playhouse is that Cynthia, Jacob Bean's wife, got so impatient with Jacob for not building a house, that she whimsically built this miniature spoof on the Second Empire pretensions of her husband's competitors. But the fact is that Jacob Bean was already living in a large house across the street. It appears that he built this house, like the one next door, on speculation. It was sold a year later to William and Mary Danforth. Perhaps Cynthia Bean had a say in designing the house — thus accounting for the story.) Others who built houses in the Addition in the 1880's were Edward and Catherine Staples at 1113 Sixth Avenue South, and Andrew Kearney at 1204 Fourth Avenue South. Both men were partners in a blacksmith shop, (Staples & Kearney) and both men built their new houses in 1880.59 It was Andrew Kearney who brought his horse -shoeing apparatus to the local horse racing tracks, and visiting horsemen proclaimed him one of the best horse shoers in the country.60 John S. Ryan built a small house overlooking the river at 1326 Second Avenue in 1881.61 John and Christine Moodhe, with the help of a mortgage from the Stillwater Building Association, built 911 Sixth Avenue South, one of a string of houses built along this block in 1883.62 Next door, at 915, Charles and Erik Moodhe built their house in 1884.63 Martha Morgan built 923 Sixth Avenue South in 1883,64 and John Hogstrom built next door at 919 Sixth Avenue South that same year. A.D. and Laura Warner had 1003 Sixth Avenue constructed in 1882.65 William Tracey, a laborer for Hersey, Bean & Brown, built a $400 home at 1008 Fifth Avenue South in 1882,66 while John August and Mary Carlson had their home built next door at 1004 Fifth Avenue South.67 Joseph Weckwerth, who worked at the Aiple Brewery below the hill (where the Oasis Cafe now stands) built 1006 Fourth Avenue South in 1882.68 Thomas Maison had to walk to his job as foreman about a mile north to the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company in Dutchtown when he built his house at 924 Fifth Avenue South. Maison may have been joined in his walk by Tisdale E. Fellows who lived at 608 E. Burlington and also worked at 59 Yearly Tax Assessor's records; Stillwater City Directories. 60 "Horse Racing Popular Sport in Lumber Era" Stillwater Daily Gazette, August 18, 1943. 61 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 62 Yearly Tax Assessor's records; City of Stillwater Building Permit # 65 63 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 64 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 65 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 66 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 67 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 68 Yearly Tax Assessor's records; Stillwater City Directories 49 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company as a cashier.69 Both men built their houses in 1884. In May of 1889, Tisdale paid Isaac Poirier $700 to erect a two-story addition to his home. Nels P. Upgren applied his trade as a plasterer in building his home at 927 Sixth Avenue South. In the 1890's, Upgren shared his house with Olin S. Watkins who was the proprietor of one of yesterday's alternative medicines: a gold cure institute.70 "We are about to have a gold cure institute in this city. Dr. A. E. White and E. Krohn have purchased the right for this section to use the celebrated improved Tri Chloride of Gold Cure' and are about to establish here an institution for the cure of the liquor, opium, morphine, and tobacco habits...They guarantee a cure for a stipulated fee. The time required for treatment is 3 weeks. The patient is required to deposit the full fee in the bank, payable to the doctors when a cure is perfected, the patient agreeing to follow directions strictly. Medicine is taken internally every 2 hours, and 4 hypodermic injections are given each day...We presume they will have few patients for the cure of other than the liquor habit."71 Henry and Catherine Preble built at 1101 Sixth Avenue South; he worked at the Mi1l.72 Charles E. and John H. Morgan along with Annette and Martha Morgan built a small house at 1015 Sixth Avenue South. About 1890, they doubled the size of the house and opened a grocery store.73 In 1886, Frederick W. Gail, a Stillwater attorney, built a house to sell or rent at 906 Fifth Avenue South; about 1890, it was purchased by Charles and Clara Kirk.74 The house at 1336 Second Avenue South was built in 1886 by local contractor Edward Olson for the owner, John Ryan, at a cost of $650.75 The following year, Edward Olson also built two identical houses at 919 and 925 Fifth Avenue South. The first was for Joseph Fuller, and the second for Amanda Fuller.76 69 Yearly Tax Assessor's records; City of Stillwater Building Permit # 411A, 411B; Stillwater City Directories. 70 Yearly Tax Assessor's records; Stillwater City Directories 71 Quoted in Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy, Pantheon Books, New York, 1973, Page 1892. 72 Yearly Tax Assessor's records; Stillwater City Directories 73 Yearly Tax Assessor's records; Stillwater City Directories 74 Yearly tax assessor's records. 75 City of Stillwater Building Permit #133 76 City of Stillwater Building Permits #244, 245. 50 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition OLD HOUSES AS ANTIQUES Old houses are much like any other antique object. They are a connection to the past. They represent the style and craftsmanship of a different era. They evoke a feeling of nostalgia. They are becoming increasingly rare and difficult to obtain. And, generally the value is increasing, particularly for the finest original examples. Just like any other antique, the value of an old house depends upon how original in appearance it is. If you take an antique toy car, and spray it with new paint to make it look shiny again, you have destroyed much of its original value. If you take an antique dresser, and change the knobs on its drawers, you have subtracted from its value. So it is with old houses, too — particularly in Stillwater. If you take an old house, and put in new windows of a different size and placement, you have destroyed the original symmetry and design on that house, and depreciated its value as an antique. If you have aluminum or vinyl siding installed on your older home, you have covered up many of the details that made your house distinguished from a newer house. (You have also provided the potential for rot under the siding.) There is a whole home improvement industry dedicated to altering, changing, and ultimately, devaluing your antique house. Many people with older homes feel they must be "updated" and in doing so, they give no consideration to the antique value of a house. Homeowners who might treasure their grandfather's old clock have no qualms about adding patio doors to the front of their century -old home. Parents who treasure their children's first drawings thoughtlessly plunk modern decks on the side of their 100-year-old house. Window sizes and placement are changed without regard to the original design of the home. But maybe in the long run, this is a good thing. It does ensure that those houses which have retained their authenticity will — like fine antiques — only continue to increase in value. 51 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Carl Ferdinand Pulzin paid builder A. Coots about $500 in the summer of 1887 to have his house at 1209 Fifth Avenue South built.77 Frederick W. Kern, a shoe merchant in downtown Stillwater gave about $1,200 to August Kutz, a local contractor, to build him a house at 1316 Fourth Avenue South.78 Apparently this large house was destroyed, for in 1896, there is another building permit taken out for this lot. This second house was also built by Kutz, but the new owner was Charles Waldo of Oak Park.79 Ferdinand Borchert, a mason by trade, built a house in 1881 valued at $500 by the tax assessor which remains today at 1215 Fourth Avenue South.80 Next door, at 1213 Fourth Avenue South, Frank Borchert built his house in 1890.81 In 1890, local builder, M. Nielson, constructed an $800 home at 1225 Fourth Avenue South for the Gabbert brothers, Louis and Reinhold. Both worked for the Mill (which was now called the George H. Atwood A Mill); Louis was a salesman; Reinhardt was a laborer.82 In 1891, Martin Olstead, a gun and locksmith downtown, paid $500 to have his house built at 1024 Fifth Avenue South.83 The following year, steamboat captain Thomas Hoy and his wife, Margaret, built their substantial $1,000 house at 936 Fifth Avenue South.84 In 1895, Anton Krenz, a stonemason, paid about $800 to have a house built at 1001 Fourth Avenue South. It does not appear that Krenz actually lived here, but his daughter and son-in-law, Martin Roloff later occupied the house for many years. Today Krenz's granddaughter lives across the street. The present occupants, the Ulrich family, have resided in the home for many years.85 77 City of Stillwater Building Permit #189, 377 78 City of Stillwater Building Permit #228 79 City of Stillwater Building Permit #911 80 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 81 Yearly Tax Assessor's records 82 City of Stillwater Building Permit #465; Stillwater City Directory. 83 City of Stillwater Building Permit #609. 84 Yearly Tax Assessor's records; Stillwater City Directory. 85 Tax Assessor's record for 1895: penciled in "add structure 1895 $800"; interview with Susan Funari 52 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition p a L. AAA I S1 rilanufacturer and 'Wholesale Dealer in til alld S1iu1es 735 S. MAIN ST., STIT \LAVATR R, M INN. George H. Atwood leased the Hersey, Staples Mill in the 1890's, and it became know as the Atwood A. Mill. 1892 Stillwater City Directory 53 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition THE ATHLETIC FIELD What is today the Athletic Field is Blocks 6 and 7 of Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition. Paul Caplazi, in his unpublished manuscript written in the 1940's, remembers a horseracing track — probably in the 1870's — in the area of what is today the Athletic Field. "Orleans St. was the end of the south turn of the race track. 5th Ave. was the track stretch. The north turn ran back of the Ed. Staples house on the N.E. corner of 6th Ave. and Burlington St. The end of the north turn was a little south of Hancock. The home stretch was about the middle of the block between 6th Ave. and First St. The Judges stand was about Marsh St. and across on 5th Ave. was a big rock which was used for the quarter pole This half mile track was used by the local gentry until the Lily Lake Driving Club was organized in the late 1870's. No doubt, Jacob Bean raced his horse, Golddust here, and Issac Staples, his horses, Zig and Kitty Cook.86 By the 1880's the racetrack had become a baseball field. An article in the St. Paul Daily Glove of June 2, 1884, exclaims: "The new baseball grounds on sixth Avenue are nearing completion. The location is an excellent one, as the grounds, except in a case of a very heavy rain, could not be better than they are. The field is perfectly smooth, with a slight decline to the East. The grandstand, which will seat some 500 spectators, and will be admirably fitted up with seats, is at the South side, giving an excellent view of the games. The whole grounds are enclosed by a tight board fence, some ten feet high, which will trouble the gammins to get over, as none other would be mean enough to try."87 Another article the next day furnished a further description: "The grounds enclosed for the new base ball grounds are 450 X 400 feet, and he his a heavy batter who will be able to drive a ball outside the fence 350 feet away." In 1892, there were some additional improvements made to the park. 86 "Horse Racing Popular Sport in Lumbering Era", Stillwater Daily Gazette, August 18, 1943. 87 Thanks to Brent Peterson of the Washington County Historical Society for furnishing me with this information on the ball park. 54 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition "Interesting to Base Ball Cranks A crew of men is at work building the grand stand at the baseball park and will have it completed by Saturday night. The stand will hold about three hundred people and together with several other improvements will cost in the neighborhood of $350. The front is 11 feet high and seats slope upward toward the back. It is reached by a flight of stairs and a wide passage way affords ample room for entrance and exit. A box like structure in front will be occupied by the reporters and scorers. The grandstand is 75 feet back of the home plate and the front will serve as a backstop, additional protection being given to the spectators by a wire screen. Underneath are dressing room for the players, a refreshment stand, etc. The grand stand is covered by a roof and the whole affair will be appreciated by the base ball cranks who never miss a game, rain or shine. The box office and gates have been removed to the southern end of the grounds and the diamond will be protected from invasion by a fence. The bleachers will occupy their usual position on the side hill and accommodations have been provided for teams. W.M. Hewitt, receiver of the street car company, informs the base ball park management that he will ask permission from the court to build a spur track to the grounds. "88 Through all the previous years, ownership of these two blocks had been in the hands of the Hersey, Bean and Hall families, and as the descendants multiplied, the ownership became more and more diffuse, with some individuals owning as little as 1/64 of the property. This myriad of ownership may have been the reason individual building lots were never sold on these two blocks. Finally on August 1, 1927, Mary Gertrude Eaton, W. Francis Eaton, and Estelle B. Hall gave a Quit Claim to the Stillwater City School District for Lots 1,2,3,4 of Block 6. The price paid for the deed was $175.89 Three weeks later, on August 20, William H. Bean, Mary Augusta Bean, Anne E. Bean, Albert J. Lehmicke, Eugene E. Bean, Allie May Bean, Mary Ella Bean, Norbert M. Murray, Eva C. Hersey, A. Estelle Hersey, Mary H. Hersey, and William H. Bean as Trustee gave a Quit Claim Deed for all 18 Lots of Block 6 to the Stillwater City School District. For that deed, the School District paid $1,625.00.99 88 Stillwater Daily Gazette, March 30, 1892. 89 111 Deeds 380 90 111 Deeds 378 55 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Thus the School District acquired Block 6. But it was not until April 5, 1929, that a Quit Claim deed was given by Estelle Hersey (widow of Dudley), Eva C. Hersey (widow of Roscoe), Mary Hersey (widow of Edward), William H. Bean, Mary A. Bean, Anne Bean, Albert Lehmicke, William H. Bean as Trustee, Eugene and Allie May Bean, Mary Ella Bean, Norbert Murray for all 18 Lots in Block 7. The price paid by the School District was $1,012.50.91 A second Quit Claim deed on the same day from Aurora Williams, Stephen William, Harry and Macrina Robertson, Ruth and John Wunderlich, Francis and Beatrice Robertson, and Faith Robertson conveyed title to Lots 1-5, and Lots 14-18, Block 7. The price was $437.50.92 So by 1929, The Stillwater City School District had acquired the last large piece of property from the Hersey, Staples Co. original plat at a total cost of $3,250. There were no stipulations on the use of the property in any of the four deeds. By this time, the ballpark was in bad condition: "The ball grounds in Stillwater have long been a disgrace to the city. The fence is in bad condition. The stands are rotting away and the grand stand became so bad recently that it had to be torn down. The field is so rough and in such a bad condition that skilled play is nearly impossible. No provision has been made for dressing rooms. The ball grounds have long been an eyesore to the citizens who live in that neighborhood. Realizing the need for a model athletic field, the students of the Stillwater high school have taken the initiative and are at present raising funds to build a model athletic field. A play will be given November 2 and 3 at the high school auditorium, the entire proceeds of which will go to this athletic fund. Students hope to raise sufficient money so that work can be started immediately on the model field. This is a community project, which the high school students have so nobly sponsored, and as a community project every person in Stillwater should "do his or her bit." The tickets to the play are one dollar each. Citizens are urged to send their orders immediately to the high school. Do it now!"93 Apparently the students were successful in raising the issue if not raising the actual dollars, for the following year, 1929, Emil H. Bieging was 91 115 Deeds 311 92 115 Deeds 313 93 Stillwater Daily Gazette, October 27, 1928. 56 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition hired to build a new athletic building at a cost of $1,800. It was one story, 60 feet by 20 feet, and had a cement floor.94 111110:t4AS Egto3ONEKT, CoNtrAcToRND BUI D ER, Kt(!_ 37' rf,, Thomas Roney built many houses in Stillwater during the 1880's and 1890's, including the Stillwater Township Hall. 94 City of Stillwater Building Permit #2288 57 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 1900 In the first decade of the 20th Century, Stillwater's lumber bonanza faltered and died. The white pine was depleted, and the entrepreneurs shifted to the Pacific Northwest where virgin timber stands awaited the axe and saw. In 1900, the population of Stillwater was 12,318, and it was the third largest city in the state after St. Paul and Minneapolis. By 1920, the population was almost cut in half, 7,735. The old entrepreneurs who had ignited and nurtured the growth of Stillwater were dead. Isaac Staples died in 1898; Edward S. Brown died at his home on Third Avenue South the following year. Samuel F. Hersey, the first partner of Isaac Staples, had died in Maine in 1875. His son, Dudley Hersey, who had built a fine house on Third Avenue South, died in St. Paul in 1900. His brother, Roscoe Hersey, who had lived in Stillwater for many years, died in Bangor, Maine, in 1906. Charles Bean had moved to California in 1887; he died in San Jose, California in 1901. "Jake" Bean moved to Alhambra, California in 1893 and died there in 1918.95 On June 6, 1906, the following item appeared in the Stillwater Daily Gazette buried deep in the local news items: "Will Wreck the Mill Hersey & Bean have disposed of their saw mill, the "Atwood A" mill to a Saginaw mill wrecking concern and the plant will be dismantled and the machinery shipped away. Mr. Saunders of Saginaw is in the city, looking after the business and will remain here until the work is completed". In the first half of the 20th Century, until shortly before World War II, there was very little building activity in Stillwater generally, which was also true of Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition. There was almost no economic growth in Stillwater to fuel new buildings, or the kind of urban renewal that affected other larger more vibrant cities did not happen here. This is the primary reason for the large number of older houses remaining in Stillwater; there was no economic incentive to tear them down. In many respects, poverty and depression are the best building preservation tools; when good economic times come, people either extensively remodel their older homes, or in some cases, tear them down to build a new house. It was not until 1939 that Mrs. Effie Stenwick had local carpenter, W. E. Meier, build her a $3,000 one-story residence at 1234 Third 95 Stillwater Daily Gazette, Nov. 9, 1918. 58 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Avenue South.96 Today this home has been replaced by a new one built in 1998. In 1940, Carroll Brown had the Bluff City Lumber Company build him a gracious and spacious $8,500 Colonial style home overlooking the St. Croix River at 1221 Third Avenue South.97 That same year, M.H. Kuhlman also had the Bluff City Lumber Company build him a similar Colonial style house next door at 1213 Third Avenue South. The cost projected for this house was $7,000.98 The following year, Joseph Ritzer finished his dwelling at 1302 Fourth Avenue South. He had begun building the home in 1940, but it was delayed a year for lack of funds. This house was planned to be 24x26, one-story.99 This same year (1941), Arne Thomsen had Axel Thomsen (his father) build him a $3,500 dwelling at 506 E. Burlington Street. F. Steinmetz, an architect with the Consolidated Lumber Company, drew the plans for the house. Fifty-nine years later, Mr. Thomsen still lives in this home.'°° After WWII, the pace of building in the Addition increased, as it did throughout Stillwater. In 1950, the Hillcrest Addition was platted by John E. Slaughter, vice-president of the Central Lumber Company. This land on this wooded blufftop near the east end of St. Louis Street replatted what had been parts of Block 2 and 3 of the old Hersey, Staples Addition. Like those other parts of Stillwater that were being developed at this same time, the attraction of these lots was the river view. HOUSES MOVED Over the years, a number of houses have been moved into the Addition. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to document where these houses came from, or even when the houses were moved, unless someone happens to remember. The earliest house moving in the area of which we have a record occurred in the fall of 1899 when the house presently at 1215 Fifth Avenue South was moved from the NE corner of 3rd and Locust (B44, L7 Original City). The house was moved by J. L. Miller for a Mrs. Curie. Twenty years later, in April of 1919, Mrs. Catherine Fazendin paid builder Gilbert Fortin, of Oak Park $600 to modify that same house by "raising roof from one story to one and one half'.'°' 96 City of Stillwater Building Permit # 2549 97 City of Stillwater Building Permit # 2593 98 City of Stillwater Building Permit # 2604 99 City of Stillwater Building Permit # 2605 1°° City of Stillwater Building Permit # 2630 101 City of Stillwater Building Permits #991 & 1760 59 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition According to its present owner, the small log cabin style home at 603 E. Burlington was moved in around 1950 on the site of Dudley Hersey's very large stable.'°2 Judge Searle's house was moved from Oak Park to end up at its present address: 1222 South Fourth Avenue. According to the neighbors at the time, there were many complaints about moving such a large house into the neighborhood. In 1949, a house in the location of today's 518 E. Burlington Street was moved to its present location at 1325 Fourth Avenue South.103 A newer home was built at 518 E. Burlington Street by the Sullivan sisters who had grown up in the house next door. In the late 1960's, Pauley Reality moved a home from alongside Highway 36 to its present location at 1319 Fifth Avenue South.'°4 In 1939, Mrs. Effie Stenwick had local carpenter, W. E. Meier, build her a $3,000 one-story residence at 1234 Third Avenue South.105 Today this home has been moved to the North Hill and replaced by a new one built in 1998 I am sure there were additional homes moved into this Addition — in part because after the turn of the century, there were many vacant lots. However, I can only document the above. HOUSES THAT WERE DEMOLISHED There have been at least two houses demolished in recent memory. About 1964, the old Foley house at 1329 Second Avenue S. was demolished to make way for a new home. No doubt, the stunning river view prompted this transition. The second house was demolished in 1997 by Orwin and Anita Carter who live across the street from what used to be 1010 Third Avenue South. 102 Interview with Rose Mary Corman 1°3 Interview with Rose Mary Corman 104 Interview with Linda Fischer. 1°5 City of Stillwater Building Permit # 2549 60 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition These two houses represent more recent construction in the neighborhood. The house at the top, 1213 Third Avenue S., was built in 1940, and the house at the bottom, 1229 Third Avenue S., was built in 1950. 61 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition THE LAST FIFTY YEARS This is the fourth survey/history of a Stillwater neighborhood that I have written. Generally the public reception of these histories has been good, but occasionally the old-timers of the neighborhood comment that I "didn't quite get it right." I think one of the reasons such a feeling is expressed is because I am writing about the neighborhood as it was when it was being developed, during the period from about 1870 to 1920. This is the period when the houses were being built, the streets were being opened, neighborhood institutions were being formed. Because my task is primarily to identify historic buildings and landmarks, this earlier period is crucial to my research, but this period predates the memories of most of those living today. So it turns out that the more recent period — which those living remember — gets shorted somewhat. Yet in many ways, this neighborhood has not changed much in the last fifty years. The Hillcrest Lots Addition was platted as I have mentioned. At one time, the bus between Stillwater, Bayport and St. Paul ran south on Third Street, east on Orleans Street, and south again on Fourth Avenue S., thus skirting the neighborhood on its south side. In the 1990's, city sewer was extended to many houses in the neighborhood for the first time. Many of the streets have been upgraded, and a couple of them, Dubuque, for example, have been opened in places they had previously been impassible. As I have mentioned, a couple of houses have been demolished; a couple moved. In general, however, from all the accounts I have heard, this is a quiet neighborhood with some splendid river views. It is somewhat off the beaten track, a wonderful place to raise children. What more can I say? But still to those who grew up here, there is an essence to the neighborhood, fond memories of playing in the old quarry, or walking down the steps of the Fourth Avenue Extension; of fishing in the river by the Barge Terminal, and attending Nelson School. Those memories and stories are valuable history, and should be recorded and written down, but those are not within the scope of this history, nor (because I did not grow up here) are they my memories or stories to write down. Perhaps this factual history will prompt another history of recent memory, an anecdotal history that will capture the spirit of the neighborhood in more recent times. 62 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition These are the oldest houses still existing in the Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition. The house at the top, 1214 Third Avenue S., was built in 1857. This original two -panel door was crafted almost 150 years ago by local carpenter, George Battles. The house at the bottom, 1220 Fourth Avenue S., was built in 1861. 63 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition As is the case with most early neighborhoods, local stores provided residents with groceries and a gathering place. Now homes, these were two such businesses at (top) 1348 Fourth Avenue S., and (bottom) 1015 ' Sixth Avenue S. 64 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Early houses were built on Third Avenue S., with its steep path that passed this dramatically altered 1860 house at 936 Third Avenue S. (top). The old barn is the only structure remaining behind the now demolished house 1010 Third Avenue S. 65 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Several houses built in the Italianate style are part of the streetscape in this area, featuring a square structure with a hipped roof. A variation on this is the duplex at the top, 1225 Fourth Avenue S. The row of Italianates at the bottom, from left to right, are the house featured on the cover of this book at 911 Sixth Avenue S., and 915 and 919 Sixth Avenue S. 66 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Partners in a blacksmith business both built Italianate houses in 1880; Andrew Kearney, 1204 Fourth Avenue S. (top), and Edward Staples, 1113 Sixth Avenue S. 67 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition In 1874, Edward Brown, built his home at 618 East Burlington, (top), and Dudley Hersey built his home at 1204 Third Avenue S. These men were partners in the thriving Hersey, Bean & Brown Lumber Company on the waterfront, which employed many residents on the bluff. 68 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition This house (top) at 1224 Third Avenue S. in the French Second Empire Style, is one of the houses built by lumberman Jacob Bean in 1882. The other area house in the same style was built by lumberman Phillip McDermott at 1312 Fourth Avenue S. 69 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition APPENDIX A BUILDING DATES (Sorted by Date) For over six months, I have researched these houses and their building dates. I have used the records of the yearly visits by the tax assessor which are now in the Minnesota State Archives; I have used the City of Stillwater Building Permits; I have used the deeds and mortgages found in the Washington County Recorder's Office; in short, I have thoroughly researched the dates which I present below. In many cases, particularly for those homes built before 1900, my building dates will be different than the dates owners might have for their house. This difference in dates is generally the result of a real estate agent using a building date found in the Assessor's Office when listing the home for sale. Before 1900, these dates in the Assessor's Office are usually inaccurate, and only meant to serve as a general guideline. There remains, of course, the question that if within the present structure, only one wall remains of an 1860's house, is the building date of that house the 1860's? I have tried to give a date that is indicative of the earliest part of the remaining house, even though its present day appearance might belie its history, and in fact, several of the earliest houses in this neighborhood no longer show any evidence of their original appearance. 1857 Third Ave. S. 1214 1860 Third Ave. S. 936 1861 Fifth Ave S. 918 1861 Fourth Ave. S. 1220 1872 Fifth Ave S. 910 1874 Fourth Ave. S. 1002 1874 Burlington E. 618 1874 Third Ave. S. 1204 1877 Fifth Ave. S. 1036 1877 Fourth Ave. S. 1030 1877 Fourth Ave. S. 1022 1877 Fourth Ave. S. 1325 1880 Sixth Ave. S. 1113 1880 Fourth Ave. S. 1204 1880 Fifth Ave. S. 1319 1881 Second Ave. S. 1326 1882 Sixth Ave. S. 907 1882 Sixth Ave. S. 1003 1882 Sixth Ave. S. 1019 70 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 1882 Fifth Ave. S. 1008 1882 Fifth Ave. S. 1004 1882 Fourth Ave. S. 1006 1882 Third Ave. S. 1224 1882 Third Ave. S. 1230 1883 Sixth Ave. S. 911 1883 Sixth Ave. S. 923 1883 Sixth Ave. S. 919 1883 Sixth Ave. S. 1105 1884 Fifth Ave. S. 924 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 935 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 931 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 927 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 915 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 1101 1884 Fifth Ave. S. 1009 1884 Fifth Ave. S. 1015 1884 Burlington E. 608 1884 Fourth Ave. S. 1312 1885 Sixth Ave. S. 1015 1885 Fifth Ave. S. 1032 1885 Fifth Ave. S. 1019 1886 Fifth Ave. S. 906 1886 Fourth Ave. S. 1331 1886 Second Ave. S. 1336 1887 Fifth Ave. S. 925 1887 Fifth Ave. S. 919 1887 Fifth Ave. S. 1209 1888 Sixth Ave. S. 901 1888 Fifth Ave. S. 1023 1888 Fourth Ave. S. 1007 1888 Fourth Ave. S. 1015 1888 Fourth Ave. S. 1019 1888 Fourth Ave. S. 1215 1890 Sixth Ave. S. 1009 1890 Fourth Ave. S. 1017 1890 Fourth Ave. S. 1225 1890 Fourth Ave. S. 1213 1890 St. Louis E. 516 1890 Fourth Ave. S. 1348 1891 Fifth Ave. S. 1024 1892 Fifth Ave. S. 936 1895 Fourth Ave. S. 1001 1896 Fifth Ave. S. 1213 71 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 1896 Fourth Ave. S. 1316 1899 moved in Fifth Ave. S. 1215 1902 Fourth Ave. S. 1014 1905 Fourth Ave. S. 1332 1905 Main S. 1315 1907 Third Ave. S. 1330 1910 Fourth Ave. S. 920 1940 Third Ave. S. 1213 1940 Third Ave. S. 1221 1941 Burlington E. 506 1941 Fourth Ave. S. 1302 1946 Dubuque E. 518 1946 Fifth Ave. S. 1315 1946 Main S. 1323 1947 Fifth Ave. S. 935 1948 Fifth Ave. S. 1005 1949 Burlington E. 518 1950 Third Ave. S. 1229 1950 Burlington E. 603 1952 Third Ave. S. 1029 1952 Fourth Ave. S. 1221 1952 Fourth Ave. S. 1209 1952 Fourth Ave. S. 1305 1952 Fourth Ave. S. 1313 1952 Orleans E. 704 1953 Fourth Ave. S. 1205 1953 Hillcrest Drive 1301 1953 Hillcrest Drive 1323 1954 Burlington E. 503 1954 Hillcrest Drive 1317 1955 Fourth Ave. S. 1212 1955 St. Louis E. 615 1955 Third Ave. S. 1319 1955 Third Ave. S. 1325 1955 Hillcrest Drive 1309 1956 Fourth Ave. S. 903 1960 Fifth Ave. S. 1303 1963 Fourth Ave. S. 914 1964 Fifth Ave. S. 1016 1964 Third Ave. S. 1001 1964 Second Ave. S. 1329 1965 Fourth Ave. S. 937 1965 Fourth Ave. S. 923 1965 Third Ave. S. 1203 72 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 1965 Fourth Ave. S. 1308 1965 Third Ave. S. 1308 1966 Third Ave. S. 1014 1966 St. Louis E. 510 1966 St. Louis E. 504 1966 Third Ave. S. 1318 1969 Dubuque E. 614 1969 Fifth Ave S. 1331 1969 Fifth Ave. S. 1347 1972 Hillcrest Drive 1310 1973 Fourth Ave. S. 932 1973 Fourth Ave. S. 926 1973 Fifth Ave. S. 911 1987 Third Ave. S. 1015 1998 Third Ave. S. 1234 moved in Fourth Ave. S. 1222 73 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition APPENDIX B BUILDING DATES (Sorted by Address) For over six months, I have researched these houses and their building dates. I have used the records of the yearly visits by the tax assessor which are now in the Minnesota State Archives; I have used the City of Stillwater Building Permits; I have used the deeds and mortgages found in the Washington County Recorder's Office; in short, I have thoroughly researched the dates which I present below. In many cases, particularly for those homes built before 1900, my building dates will be different than the dates owners might have for their house. This difference in dates is generally the result of a real estate agent using a building date found in the Assessor's Office when listing the home for sale. Before 1900, these dates in the Assessor's Office are usually inaccurate, and only meant to serve as a general guideline. There remains, of course, the question that if within the present structure, only one wall remains of an 1860's house, is the building date of that house the 1860's? I have tried to give a date that is indicative of the earliest part of the remaining house, even though its present day appearance might belie its history, and in fact, several of the earliest houses in this neighborhood no longer show any evidence of their original appearance. Burlington E. 506 1941 Burlington E. 518 1949 Burlington E. 608 1884 Burlington E. 618 1874 Burlington E. 603 1950 Burlington E. 503 1954 Dubuque E. 614 1969 Dubuque E. 518 1946 Fifth Ave. S. 935 1947 Fifth Ave. S. 925 1887 Fifth Ave. S. 919 1887 Fifth Ave. S. 911 1973 Fifth Ave. S. 936 1892 Fifth Ave. S. 924 1884 Fifth Ave. S. 918 1861 Fifth Ave. S. 910 1872 Fifth Ave. S. 0906 1886 74 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Fifth Ave. S. 1036 1877 Fifth Ave. S. 1032 1885 Fifth Ave. S. 1024 1891 Fifth Ave. S. 1016 1964 Fifth Ave. S. 1008 1882 Fifth Ave. S. 1004 1882 Fifth Ave. S. 1005 1948 Fifth Ave. S. 1009 1884 Fifth Ave. S. 1015 1884 Fifth Ave. S. 1019 1885 Fifth Ave. S. 1023 1888 Fifth Ave. S. 1215 moved in 1899 Fifth Ave. S. 1213 1896 Fifth Ave. S. 1209 1887 Fifth Ave. S. 1303 1960 Fifth Ave. S. 1315 1946 Fifth Ave. S. 1319 1880 Fifth Ave. S. 1331 1969 Fifth Ave. S. 1347 1969 Fourth Ave. S. 937 1965 Fourth Ave. S. 923 1965 Fourth Ave S. 903 1956 Fourth Ave S. 932 1973 Fourth Ave. S. 926 1973 Fourth Ave. S. 920 1910 Fourth Ave. S. 914 1963 Fourth Ave. S. 1030 1877 Fourth Ave. S. 1022 1877 Fourth Ave. S. 1014 1902 Fourth Ave. S. 1006 1882 Fourth Ave. S. 1002 1874 Fourth Ave. S. 1001 1895 Fourth Ave. S. 1007 1888 Fourth Ave. S. 1015 1888 Fourth Ave. S. 1017 1890 Fourth Ave. S. 1019 1888 Fourth Ave. S. 1225 1890 Fourth Ave. S. 1213 1890 Fourth Ave. S. 1221 1952 Fourth Ave. S. 1215 1888 Fourth Ave. S. 1209 1952 Fourth Ave. S. 1205 1953 Fourth Ave. S. 1204 1880 Fourth Ave. S. 1212 1955 75 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Fourth Ave. S. 1220 1861 Fourth Ave. S. 1222 moved in Fourth Ave. S. 1348 1890 Fourth Ave. S. 1332 1905 Fourth Ave. S. 1316 1896 Fourth Ave. S. 1312 1884 Fourth Ave. S. 1308 1965 Fourth Ave. S. 1302 1941 Fourth Ave. S. 1305 1952 Fourth Ave. S. 1313 1952 Fourth Ave. S. 1325 1877 Fourth Ave. S. 1331 1886 Hillcrest Drive 1309 1955 Hillcrest Drive 1301 1953 Hillcrest Drive 1323 1953 Hillcrest Drive 1310 1972 Hillcrest Drive 1317 1954 Main S. 1315 1905 Main S. 1323 1946 Orleans E. 704 1952 Second Ave. S. 1326 1881 Second Ave. S. 1336 1886 Second Ave. S. 1329 1964 Sixth Ave. S. 911 1883 Sixth Ave. S. 935 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 931 1884 Sixth Ave. S 927 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 923 1883 Sixth Ave. S. 919 1883 Sixth Ave. S. 915 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 907 1882 Sixth Ave. S. 901 1888 Sixth Ave. S. 1003 1882 Sixth Ave. S. 1009 1890 Sixth Ave. S. 1015 1885 Sixth Ave. S 1019 1882 Sixth Ave. S. 1101 1884 Sixth Ave. S. 1105 1883 Sixth Ave. S. 1113 1880 St. Louis E. 516 1890 St. Louis E. 510 1966 St. Louis E. 504 1966 St. Louis E. 615 1955 Third Ave. S. 936 1860 76 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Third Ave. S. 1014 1966 Third Ave. S. 1001 1964 Third Ave. S. 1015 1987 Third Ave. S. 1029 1952 Third Ave. S. 1203 1965 Third Ave. S. 1213 1940 Third Ave. S. 1221 1940 Third Ave. S. 1229 1950 Third Ave. S. 1204 1874 Third Ave. S. 1214 1857 Third Ave. S. 1224 1882 Third Ave. S. 1230 1882 Third Ave. S. 1234 1998 Third Ave. S. 1308 1965 Third Ave. S. 1318 1966 Third Ave. S. 1330 1907 Third Ave. S. 1319 1955 Third Ave. S. 1325 1955 77 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition APPENDIX C These names, addresses, and occupations were taken from the R. L. Polk & Co's Stillwater City Directory for 1894-95. Res generally means the home owner; Bds means a boarder, often an adult child of the home owner. Burlington St. E. 608, Tisdale E. Fellows, cashier S & B Lumber Co. res. Burlington St. E. 608, William Fellows, bookkeeper, bds. Fifth Ave. S. 0906, Charles Kirk, clerk F.W. Schendel, res. Fifth Ave. S. 0910, Elizabeth Rice (wid Frank) res. Fifth Ave. S. 0910, George Rice, laborer, bds. Fifth Ave. S. 0910, William A. Rice, laborer, bds. Fifth Ave. S. 0918, Alexander Johnson, mail carrier, bds. Fifth Ave. S. 0918, Alexander Johnston, mail carrier, bds Fifth Ave. S. 0918, August J. Hoehne, mail carrier, res. Fifth Ave. S. 0919, Bennett L. Hanks, engineer, res. Fifth Ave. S. 0924, Kate Hurley, compositor Stillwater Messenger, bds. Fifth Ave. S. 0924, Thomas Maison, foreman, Schulenburg & B. L. Co, res Fifth Ave. S. 0925, Fannie E. Fuller, teacher Central School, bds. Fifth Ave. S. 0925, George R. Fuller, engineer, bds. Fifth Ave. S. 0925, Solomon Fuller, engineer, Musser S.L.L. & Mnfg. Co, res Fifth Ave. S. 0936, Daniel Donohue, foreman, bds Fifth Ave. S. 0936, Thomas Hoy, steamboat captain, res. Fifth Ave. S. 1004, August Miller, laborer, G. H. Atwood, res Fifth Ave. S. 1004, August Millucke, Jr. bds Fifth Ave. S. 1004, August Millucke, laborer, res. Fifth Ave. S. 1004, Herman Millucke, laborer, bds Fifth Ave. S. 1008, William E. Tracy, res Fifth Ave. S. 1008, Mrs. Agnes Donelly, nurse, res. Fifth Ave. S. 1009, Daniel Olstad, wks M. Olstad, bds Fifth Ave. S. 1009, Martin Wilberg, laborer, res. Fifth Ave. S. 1009, Ole Olstad, laborer G.H. Atwood, res Fifth Ave. S. 1015 Joseph Hinz, laborer, res Fifth Ave. S. 1019, Edward Krause, laborer, bds. 78 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fifth Ave. S. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. Fourth Ave. 1019, Henry Krause, laborer, G.H. Atwood, res. 1019, Paul Krause, laborer, bds. 1023 (rear) John Nelson, laborer res. 1023, Christopher Gerbach, laborer, res. 1024, Martin Olstad, Lock and Gunsmith, Etc, res. 1036, Edward Crotty, lumberman, bds 1036, Frank Crotty, lumberman, bds 1036, James Crotty Jr, lumberman, bds 1036, James Crotty, lumberman, res. 1036, John Crotty, Jr. lumberman, bds 1209, Edward Beaging, laborer G. H. Atwood, res. S. 0918, Wm. F. Drechsler, clerk, A. Johnson, res S. 0926, Charles Lawrence, laborer East Side L. Co, res. S. 0926, Julius Janett, laborer, res. S. 1002, Christian Neuschwander, driver, F.J. Aiple, res S. 1005, Emil J. Noack, laborer, F. J. Aiple, res. S. 1006, Joseph Weckworth, laborer, F.J. R. Aiple, res. S. 1014, Frank Zybirth, trimmer, G. H. Atwood, res. S. 1014, John Arndt, travel agent, res. S. 1015, John McGuire, baggageman C St. P.M. & 0 Ry, res. S. 1017, David J. Wilson, foreman, G. H. Atwood, res. S. 1019, Charles W. Hitchcock, piano tuner, res. S. 1019, Laila Hitchcock, teacher, Nelson School, bds S. 1019, Susan Lowry (wid Lucius L) res S. 1022, James Sullivan, rafter, bds. S. 1022, John Sullivan, lumberman, bds. S. 1022, Mary Sullivan, dressmkr E. Curtis, bds. S. 1022, Robert Sullivan, Jr. lumberman, bds. S. 1022, Robert Sullivan, lumberman, res. S. 1036, John Crotty, lumberman, res. S. 1036, Joseph Irvine, lumberman, res. Fourth Ave. S. 1204, Andrew Kearney, horseshoer 308 S. 2d, res. 79 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Fourth Ave. S. 1209, Ferdinand Borchert, mason, res. Fourth Ave. S. 1213, Charles Granz, laborer, Joseph Wolf, res. Fourth Ave. S. 1213, Frank Borchert, mason, res. Fourth Ave. S. 1220, George E. Tracy, laborer, res. Fourth Ave. S. 1225, Carroll Preble, laborer, G. H. Atwood, bds Fourth Ave. S. 1225, Richard G. Latta, wks G. H. Atwood, res Fourth Ave. S. 1225, William L. Preble, wks, G. H. Atwood, res. Fourth Ave. S. 1312, Agnes McGrath, bds Fourth Ave. S. 1312, James E. McDermott, clerk, bds Fourth Ave. S. 1312, John A. McDermott, travel agent, bds. Fourth Ave. S. 1312, Phillip McDermott, lumberman, res. Fourth Ave. S. 1316, Frances McLeod, dressmaker, bds. Fourth Ave. S. 1316, Peter McAlpin, logger, res. Fourth Ave. S. 1331, Hannah Hodgson (wid James) res. Main east side, 1 blk north of Orleans, Charles H. Waldo, laborer Main east side, 1 blk north of Orleans, Charles Walring, laborer Main S. 0734-802, Frank J. R. Aiple Northwestern Brewery Main S. 0735, G. H. Atwood, Mnfr and Dealer in Lumber, Lath and Shingles. Main S. 1306, Ronald McDonald, laborer, res. Main S. 1320, Edward A. Kelly, laborer, res. Main S. 1336, John Kenny, scaler, bds. Main S. 1336, Margaret Kenny, bds. Main S. 1336, Selina Hayes, domestic Second Ave. S. 1326, Francis H. Mack, wks. G. H. Atwood, res. Second Ave. S. 1329, James G. Foley, farmer, res. Second Ave. S. 1329, John Shannon, wks G.H. Atwood, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0901, Albert C. Johnson, lampman Stillwater G & E L Co. res Sixth Ave. S. 0901, Peter H. Nelson, carpenter, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0907, Peter J. Stadler, compositor, St. Croix Post, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0911, Christine Moody (wid. John) res. Sixth Ave. S. 0911, George W. McClay, wagonmaker, C. E. Conners, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0911, Peter A. Quinn, car operater, Stillwater Street Ry Co, res. 80 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Sixth Ave. S. 0915, Andrew Seim, setter, David Tozer, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0915, Mary Severson, tailor, M.A. Thon, bds. Sixth Ave. S. 0923, Catherine M. Ehrig, bds Sixth Ave. S. 0923, Ida E. Ehrig, milliner L. Albenberg, bds Sixth Ave. S. 0923, John Ehrig, bartender, 802 S. Main, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0923, Louis Ehrig, bartender, 802 S. Main, bds. Sixth Ave. S. 0927, John T. Upgren, plasterer, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0927, Nels P. Upgren, plasterer, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0927, Olin S. Watkins, gold cure institute 10 Torinus Blk, res. Sixth Ave. S. 0931, Andrew Carlson, mason, res. Sixth Ave. S. 1005, Catherine McCann (wid. Martin) res. Sixth Ave. S. 1005, Martin McCann, laborer bds. Sixth Ave. S. 1005, Michael McCann, lab, bds. Sixth Ave. S. 1005, William McCann, lab, bds. Sixth Ave. S. 1009, Patrick Bowes, bds Sixth Ave. S. 1015, Gilbert Babcock, lumberman, bds Sixth Ave. S. 1015, John H. Morgan, grocer, res. grocery store. Sixth Ave. S. 1019, Adam Brotherton, lumberman, res Sixth Ave. S. 1101, Henry P. Preble, wks, G. H. Atwood, res. Sixth Ave. S. 1101, Joseph DeCurtius, painter, res. Sixth Ave. S. 1105, William E. Lane, tallyman, res. Sixth Ave. S. 1113, Edward Staples, blacksmith, 538 S. Main, res. Sixth Ave. S. Michael Maher, lumberman, bds. St. Louis E. 516, George W. Schuttinger, compositor, Clewell & Easton, res. St. Louis E. 809, Charles Arney, laborer, res. St. Louis E. 809, Frank Trepanier, works East Side Lumber Co, bds St. Louis E. 809, Joseph Trepanier, laborer, East Side Lumber Co, res Third Ave. S. 0936, Evan Leighton, fireman, bds. Third Ave. S. 0936, Samuel Leighton, lumberman, res. Third Ave. S. 1002, Collins Downs, rafter, Musser S.L., L & Mnfg. res Third Ave. S. 1002, Henry Downs, rafter, Musser S.L., L & Mnfg, bds Third Ave. S. 1010, Amos Keller, fireman, res. Third Ave. S. 1114, Edward S. Brown, office 10 Mower Blk, res. 81 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Third Ave. S. 1114, George L. Patchin, cashier, G. H. Atwood, bds Third Ave. S. 1114, James D. Bronson, bkpr, East Side Lumber Co., res Third Ave. S. 1204, Francis V. Comfort (Comfort & Wilson, Lawyers) res. Third Ave. S. 1214, Daniel S. Stombs, engineer, res Third Ave. S. 1214, Mrs. Nancy Stombs, bds Third Ave. S. 1214, Samuel B. Stombs, conductor, C St. P M & 0 Ry, res. Third Ave. S. 1224, George E. McAloon, cook, res. Third Ave. S. 1224, John McAloon, cook, rms. Third Ave. S. 1224, Thomas McAloon, rafter Musser S L L & Mnfg Co, bds Third Ave. S. 1229, August Utecht, driver T.C. Kilty, res. Third Ave. S. 1229, John Weiss, laborer T.C. Kilty, res. Third Ave. S. 1230, Ernest W. Doe, bkpr J. P. Hanson, bds. Third Ave. S. 1230, Warren A. Doe, lumberman, res. 82 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 83 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition APPENDIX D These addresses and names are taken from the Polk's Stillwater 1930-1931 City Directory Burlington E. 608 Thomas G. McAloon Fifth Ave. S. 906 Swan Berglund Fifth Ave. S. 910 Frank A. Soens Fifth Ave. S. 918 Hugo O. Raduenz Fifth Ave. S. 919 Vacant Fifth Ave. S. 924 Axel Thomsen, contractor Fifth Ave. S. 925 Ludwig M. Huelsman Fifth Ave. S. 925 Nicholas J. Kyll Fifth Ave. S. 936 Otto A. Fehlow Fifth Ave. S. 1004 Charles H. Grimsley Fifth Ave. S. 1004 George J. Reimers Fifth Ave. S. 1008 Robert W. Donahue Fifth Ave. S. 1009 Mrs. Mary J. Mullin Fifth Ave. S. 1009 Mrs.Priscilla Thompson Fifth Ave. S. 1015 Harry S. Hitchcock Fifth Ave. S. 1019 Joseph P. Lamere Fifth Ave. S. 1023 Miles A. Carroll Fifth Ave. S. 1024 August C. Torsch Fifth Ave. S. 1024 Joseph J. O'Conner Fifth Ave. S. 1036 Dewey R. Anderson Fifth Ave. S. 1036 The Trade News, printers, Geo Schuttinger, publisher Fifth Ave. S. 1209 Mrs. Amanda Bieging Fifth Ave. S. 1213 Mrs. Alice Carlson Fifth Ave. S. 1215 Frank T. Nolde Fourth Ave. S. 910 Fourth Ave. S. 926 Fourth Ave. S. 1001 Fourth Ave. S. 1002 Fourth Ave. S. 1005 Fourth Ave. S. 1006 Fourth Ave. S. 1014 Fourth Ave. S. 1015 Fourth Ave. S. 1017 Fourth Ave. S. 1019 Fourth Ave. S. 1022 John H. Buskirk Albert A. Schultz Martin L. Roloff Thomas H. Mosher Anton F. Stauffacher Mollie Walsh Charles E. Mayde John Stenstrom Martin Wilberg Henry C. Glasbrenner Lawrence S. Skramstad 84 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Fourth Ave. S. 1030 Fourth Ave. S. 1036 Fourth Ave. S. 1204 Fourth Ave. S. 1213 Fourth Ave. S. 1213 Fourth Ave. S. 1215 Fourth Ave. S. 1220 Fourth Ave. S. 1225 Fourth Ave. S. 1225 Fourth Ave. S. 1332 Fourth Ave. S. 1348 Mary E. Sullivan Mrs. Clara Cartony Mack W. Clay Frank Borchert George W. Evans Ferdinand S. Borchert Mrs. Johanna Crotty Chris R. Brown Frank L. Rice Charles Sommers Mrs. Emily Owens grocery Main S. 1306 Edmund F. Weckwerth Main S. 1314 V. N. Bartholomew Main S. 1315 Walter J. Lawrence Main S. 1336 Mandus G. Bjorkman Second Ave. S. 1326 Second Ave. S. 1329 Second Ave. S. 1336 Herman L. Wojahn Le Roy C. Olson Mrs. Amanda Beyers Sixth Ave. S. 901 John Sullivan Sixth Ave. S. 901 Mrs. Anna Nelson Sixth Ave. S. 907 Frederick L. Krahn Sixth Ave. S. 911 John A. Carlson Sixth Ave. S. 915 Axel E. Carlson Sixth Ave. S. 919 John N. Muldoon Sixth Ave. S. 923 John Connors Sixth Ave. S. 927 Edward M. Gerner Sixth Ave. S. 927 Howard E. Beaham Sixth Ave. S. 931 Lewis F. Kreger Sixth Ave. S. 935 Helmer A. Westby Sixth Ave. S. 1003 Joseph J. Arndt Sixth Ave. S. 1009 Nicholas Junker Sixth Ave. S. 1015 George G. Pieu Sixth Ave. S. 1019 Vacant Sixth Ave. S. 1101 John J. Hughes Sixth Ave. S. 1105 Mrs. Florence McPhetres Sixth Ave. S. 1113 Paul Gelhard St. Louis E. 516 Mrs. Anna Hanson Third Ave. S. 936 Third Ave. S. 936 Evon E. Leighton Robert L. Trepanier 85 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Third Ave. S. 1010 Muritz Johnson Third Ave. S. 1114 August J. & Wanda Wojahn Third Ave. S. 1204 Emil Magnuson Third Ave. S. 1204 F. V. Comfort, lawyer Third Ave. S. 1214 Charles F. Voeltzman Third Ave. S. 1224 Ernest McAloon Third Ave. S. 1230 William J. Hemsch Third Ave. S. 1330 Albert Weckwerth 86 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 87 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition APPENDIX E These names and addresses are taken from the Polk's 1956 Stillwater City Directory Burlington E. 503 Burlington E. 506 Burlington E. 518 Burlington E. 603 Burlington E. 608 Burlington E. 618 Dubuque E. 518 Dennis L. Breau Arne Thomsen Mary E. Sullivan Fred J. Peterson Raymond B. Garling Sherman S. Crane Elbert D. Seaquist Fifth Ave. S. 906 Burton H. Jones Fifth Ave. S. 910 Frank A. Soens Fifth Ave. S. 918 Hugo O. Raduenz Fifth Ave. S. 919 Albert J. Ritzer Fifth Ave. S. 919 Ritzer Landscape Service Fifth Ave. S. 924 David W. Larson Fifth Ave. S. 925 Ludwig M. Huelsman Fifth Ave. S. 935 Gordon F. Handevidt Fifth Ave. S. 936 Otto A. Fehlow Fifth Ave. S. 937 Dean T. Carlson Fifth Ave. S 1004 Lewis W. Cran Fifth Ave. S 1005 Rodney D. Hobson Fifth Ave. S 1008 Wayne L. Stephenson Fifth Ave. S 1009 Mrs. Priscilla Thompson Fifth Ave. S. 1015 William E. Roettger Fifth Ave. S. 1019 Mrs. Hazel R. Smith Fifth Ave. S. 1023 Louis A. Parnell Fifth Ave. S. 1024 Alois J. Polzin Fifth Ave. S. 1032 Elmer D. Pederson Fifth Ave. S. 1036 Henry Jacoby Fifth Ave. S. 1036 James C. Delahunt Fifth Ave. S. 1209 Richard J. Shattuck Fifth Ave. S. 1213 Carl A. Peterson Fifth Ave. S. 1215 William C. Kinsel Fifth Ave. S. 1315 Richard C. Garbe Fourth Ave. S. 920 Fourth Ave. S. 926 Fourth Ave. S. 1001 Donald H. Roettger Fred A. Schultz Clarence Ulrich 88 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Fourth Ave. S. 1001 Martin Roloff Fourth Ave. S. 1002 Culver Davis Fourth Ave. S. 1019 Herbert A. Harland Fourth Ave. S. 1022 Kenneth L. Rydeen Fourth Ave. S. 1030 Leighton D. Charlsen trucking Fourth Ave. S. 1204 Mrs. Marie C. Meyer Fourth Ave. S. 1205 Glenn L. Anderson Fourth Ave. S. 1209 John L. Schwarz Fourth Ave. S. 1212 Floyd L. Jacobson Fourth Ave. S. 1213 Herman G. Dickhausen Fourth Ave. S. 1215 Donald P. Peterson Fourth Ave. S. 1220 Joseph A. Junker (Joe Junker & Sons Trucking Service) Fourth Ave. S. 1221 Clarence Peterson Fourth Ave. S. 1225 Herman A. Dalluhn Fourth Ave. S. 1225 Norman C. Johnson Fourth Ave. S. 1302 Joseph N. Ritzer Fourth Ave. S. 1305 Harry W. Palm Fourth Ave. S. 1312 Mrs. Nellie Rafferty Fourth Ave. S. 1312 Robert J. Randall, printer Fourth Ave. S. 1313 Melford F. Westrom Fourth Ave. S. 1316 Mrs. Elsie Nehring Fourth Ave. S. 1325 Alf. J. Dulon Fourth Ave. S. 1331 Mrs. Idella Barnholdt Fourth Ave. S. 1332 Mrs. Bertha Sommers Fourth Ave. S. 1348 Mrs. Emily Owens Main S. 1306 Edmund F. Weckwerth Main S. 1314 V.N. Douglas Bartholomew Main S. 1315 Emil A. Bartkey Main S. 1323 Richard E. Carlson Main S. 1336 John Bjorkman Orleans E. 704 Harold R. Zolldan Second Ave. S. 1326 George W. Blair Second Ave. S. 1329 James Foley Second Ave. S. 1336 Kermit J. Sommers Sixth Ave. S. 901 Ida M. Johnson Sixth Ave. S. 907 Ruth A. Brodeen Sixth Ave. S. 911 Mrs. Rose J. Curtis Sixth Ave. S. 915 Axel E. Johnson Sixth Ave. S. 919 William C. Roloff Sixth Ave. S. 923 John J. Connors 89 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Sixth Ave. S. 927 Mrs. Margaret T. Berg Sixth Ave. S. 927 Paul C. Salmore Sixth Ave. S. 931 Kenneth P. Carrol Sixth Ave. S. 935 Clifford L. Olson Sixth Ave. S. 1003 Mrs. Mary Arndt Sixth Ave. S. 1009 Jerome T. Junker Sixth Ave. S. 1015 Harold J. Lynch Sixth Ave. S. 1019 Edward Ratledge Sixth Ave. S. 1019 Mrs. Anna R. Berg Sixth Ave. S. 1101 John J. Hughes Sixth Ave. S. 1105 Edward C. Seim Sixth Ave. S. 1113 Mrs. Anna M. Gelhar St. Louis E. 513 Richard G. Ritzer St. Louis E. 516 Austin McGough St. Louis E. 615 Axel E. Holmberg Third Ave. S. 936 Norman G. Plaster Third Ave. S. 1010 Frances R. Wiese Third Ave. S. 1029 Robert S. Davis Third Ave. S. 1204 Lloyd Nelson Third Ave. S. 1213 Albert G. McCormick Third Ave. S. 1214 Frank J. Schilling Third Ave. S. 1221 Carroll J. Brown Third Ave. S. 1224 Floyd W. Brown Third Ave. S. 1229 Jerry W. Brown Third Ave. S. 1229 Mrs. Ruth Stussi Third Ave. S. 1230 William J. Hemsch Third Ave. S. 1234 Talbott W. Norlin Third Ave. S. 1319 Roger J. Hayes Third Ave. S. 1325 Howard J. Thompson Third Ave. S. 1330 Catherine O. Weckwerth 90 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition 91 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition BIBLIOGRAPHY Birds Eve Views of Stillwater, 1870 and 1879. Drawn by Albert Ruger. Originals in the Washington County Historical Society, Warden's House Museum, and the Minnesota Historical Society. Reprints available from Empson Archives, P.O. Box 791, Stillwater, MN 55082. Bangor, Maine 1769-1914; An Architectural History by Deborah Thompson, U. of Maine Press, Orono, 1988. Paul Caplazi, unpublished manuscript, 1944, in the Stillwater Public Library_ The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Stillwater. Compiled by C. F. Gregory, City Attorney. Stillwater, Lumberman Steam Printing Co, 1881. Fifty Years in the Northwest by W.H.C. Folsom, Pioneer Press Company, 1888. "General Hersey's Will" a newspaper clipping undated unattributed from the Bangor, ME Public Library clipping collection; Hersey, Staples & Co papers; Manuscript Department, Minnesota Historical Society. Hersey, Staples & Company, 1854-1860: Eastern Managers and Capital in Frontier Business by Lucille Kane in the Bulletin of the Business Historical Society. History of the St. Croix Valley, Augustus Easton, ed, H.C. Cooper, Jr. & Co, Chicago, 1909. The History of Oakdale Township, Volume 1, published by the Oakdale Lake Elmo Historical Society, (MN) 1996. Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Minnesota, published by A.T. Andreas, Chicago, 1874. The Industrial Journal, January 25, 1901. From the Bangor, ME. Public Library Maine, a Bicentennial History by Charles E. Clark, W.W. Norton & Co, NY, 1977. Maine; A Guide 'Down East; published in 1937 by Houghton Mifflin, Boston as part of the American Guide Series. Minnesota Beginnings, History Network of Washington County, Stillwater, MN, 1999 Minnesota Biographies, 1655-1912. Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Volume XIV. New England Library of Family History: Representative Families of the State of Maine, Boston, 1903 T.M. Newson. Pen Pictures of St. Paul, Minnesota and Biographical Sketches of Old Settlers. By the Author, St. Paul, 1886. 92 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Sanborn Insurance Maps, Stillwater, MN, 1884, 1891, 1898, 1904, 1910, 1924. St. Croix Union [newspaper, Stillwater, MN] Stillwater City Directories, 1876-1964 Stillwater Daily Gazette [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota] Stillwater Historic Contexts: A Comprehensive Planning Approach. Stillwater: Stillwater, MN Heritage Preservation Commission, July 1993. Stillwater Democrat [newspaper, Stillwater, MN] Stillwater Gazette [newspaper, Stillwater, MN] Stillwater Lumberman [newspaper, Stillwater, MN] Stillwater Messenger [newspaper, Stillwater, MN] Stillwater Public Library. Stillwater Building Permits [on microfilm] Stillwater Public Library. St. Croix Collection. Washington County Recorder's Office: Books of Deeds, Books of Mortgages, Books of Bonds, Books of Plats. Washington County Tax Assessor's records for 1861-1900. Minnesota State Archives. Microfilm copies can be found at the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Stillwater Public Library. Whig and Courier [newspaper], Bangor, ME 93 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition RECOMMENDATIONS The following are my recommendations for the Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition. They are based on the assumption it is desirable to maintain and promote the historic character of this neighborhood. It is my belief that the long-term prosperity and value of Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition and Stillwater's other older neighborhoods lies in preserving their 19th Century character. This is what distinguishes Stillwater from the myriad of other suburban developments surrounding the Twin Cities, and makes Stillwater a unique place to live. LOT SI%E REQUIREMENTS During the building boom after World War II, many of the empty lots in Stillwater and in Hersey, Staples Addition were built upon, and today we often see blocks in which two 100-year old houses may be separated by one or two 1950's ramblers. However, there are still a surprising number of vacant, buildable lots in Hersey, Staples Addition unlike other parts of old Stillwater where the housing density is higher and many of the previously empty lots have been built upon,. As the pressure to build within Stillwater continues, these empty lots will become a greater and greater source of temptation to developers and real estate speculators. Under the present city ordinances, any half lot of 7,500 square feet is a buildable lot. If present trends continue, more and more of these now -vacant lots will be built upon. It is quite possible that in 20-30 years, the density of Hersey, Staples Addition could double from 120 houses to 240 houses. Because there are presently no design building restrictions in Stillwater residential neighborhoods, these new houses will not only increase the density of the area — thus destroying some of its appeal — they will also add further to the architectural jumble, and obliterate what historic streetscape remains today. Because no one builds small houses these days, (and the city has no design guidelines for blending into a neighborhood) these newer houses of 2,000-4,000 square feet will overwhelm the small 7,500 square foot building lots, and destroy the scale of the streetscape that is one 94 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition basis, albeit subtle, of Stillwater's attraction. Spacious yards and open spaces are a characteristic of 19th Century neighborhoods. I recommend the City of Stillwater change the minimum buildable lot size from 7,500 square feet to a minimum of 10,000 square feet. I also recommend the City explore the possibility of design guidelines for the older parts of Stillwater including Hersey, Staples Additions. HISTORIC DESIGNATION In this survey, as in previous surveys, I have tried to identify homes that are significant or unique; homes that are typical of an earlier era; or homes that are particularly representative of Stillwater architecture. But these surveys of mine are soon forgotten, and the significance I have ascribed to a particular dwelling may be forgotten as soon as the next owner moves in. I urge the City of Stillwater and the Heritage Preservation Committee to initiate a process of designating and marking the historically significant houses in Stillwater. This will have the benefit of apprising the present owner that his or her home has value as a city landmark, and it will enable those interested in the history of the city to find the historical homes. The City of Stillwater should initiate its own historic designation for houses throughout the city that are a significant part of Stillwater's history. THE DEMOLITION OF HOUSES Every year, a few more old homes in Stillwater are demolished despite a city ordinance regulating and discouraging the process. In some cases, it is a matter of business or church expansion; in some cases it is the owners wishing to build a new house on the same lot; and in several cases lately, it has been a matter of demolishing the old house to increase the value of the lot which can then be used for a new more expensive house. This latter situation has been particularly true of those lots with a river view. While this practice may be lucrative for the developer, I believe it detracts from the community as a whole: the old houses are part of a legacy, an inheritance, left for future generations. One of the additional steps the city might take to encourage preservation would be to have architects and builders on call who are sympathetic to repairing and restoring older houses. This might 95 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition discourage one of the most frequent rationales — that the house is beyond repair —used to justify demolition. EDUCATION ON REMODELING OLDER HOMES The city — or some local organization — should make some efforts to provide information to the public on maintaining and remodeling or repairing the older homes. In Stillwater, older homes with original integrity command a higher price than those homes that have been changed from their original appearance. But the average homeowner who might be concerned about preserving the integrity of his house is presently hard pressed to find good information on how to improve or update his house without destroying it historic value. A simple brochure containing some basic guidelines to be distributed by realtors, neighborhood groups, and the city could — over a period of years — make a substantial difference on the overall appearance of the city. THE BRIDGE Although any recommendation I make here will be futile, I must observe that a new interstate bridge of the type and size presently planned will have a negative effect on the Hersey, Staple Addition, particularly those areas directly overlooking the river. The additional noise, pollution, and visual clutter of such a bridge will, in my opinion, detract from the present appeal of the neighborhood. However, I must in all honesty add that even a new bridge pales in comparison to the noise and pollution of the industrial landscape that existed along the riverfront a century ago. 96 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Aiple Brewery, 28, 49 Aiple, Frank, 26 Aiple, Jr, Frank, 30 Aiple house, 27 Athletic Field, 43, 54 Atwood, George H., 53 Bangor City Hall, 10 Barge Terminal, 39 baseball field, 54 Bean, Charles, 23, 58 Bean, Jacob, 23, 32, 43, 45, 47, 58 Bean's Grove, 43 Bieging, Emil H., 56 Billido, Louis, 46 Bluff City Lumber Company, 59 Borchert, Ferdinand, 52 Borchert, Frank, 52 bridge, 26 Brown, Edward, 25, 32, 46, 47, 58 Burlington Street E. 506, 59 Burlington Street E. 518, 46, 60 Burlington Street E. 603, 60 Burlington Street E. 608, 49 Burlington Street E. 618 32, 46, 68 Buying a home, 48 Caplazi, Paul, 42 Carlson, John & Mary, 49 Central Lumber Company, 59 chimney, Mill, 36 Collopy, Michael & Anna, 35, 45 Consolidated Lumber Company, 59 Coots, A., 52 Crosby, Henry & Hannah, 12 Crotty, James & Johanna, 46 Crotty. John & James, 46, 47 Curtis, Mary A, 45 Danforth Brothers & Bean, 33 Danforth, Stephen, 46 Danforth, William & Mary, 49 Davis, Col, 47 Davis, James S. 46 Dickhausen, Deanna Auer, 39 Elliot, George & Harriet, 35, 45 Fazendin, Mrs. Catherine, 59 Fellows, Tisdale E., 49 Fenno, John Brooks, 11, 12 Fifth Avenue S. 0906, 50 Fifth Avenue S. 0910, 35, 46 Fifth Avenue S. 0918, 33, 46 Fifth Avenue S. 0919, 50 Fifth Avenue S. 0924, 49 Fifth Avenue S. 0925, 50 Fifth Avenue S. 0936, 52 Fifth Avenue S. 1004, 49 Fifth Avenue S. 1008, 49 Fifth Avenue S. 1009, 47 Fifth Avenue S. 1015, 47 Fifth Avenue S. 1019, 47 Fifth Avenue S. 1023, 47 Fifth Avenue S. 1024, 52 Fifth Avenue S. 1036, 46 Fifth Avenue S. 1209, 52 Fifth Avenue S. 1319, 60 Foley, William & Ellen, 45 Foley house demolished, 60 Fortin, Gilbert, 59 Fourth Avenue Extension, 36 Fourth Avenue S. 1001, 52 Fourth Avenue S. 1002, 35, 46 Fourth Avenue S. 1006, 49 Fourth Avenue S. 1017, 47 Fourth Avenue S. 1022, 32, 46 Fourth Avenue S. 1030, 35, 46 Fourth Avenue S. 1204, 46, 49, 67 97 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Fourth Avenue S. 1213, 52 Fourth Avenue S. 1215, 52 Fourth Avenue S. 1220, 35, 45, 63 Fourth Avenue S. 1222, 60 Fourth Avenue S. 1225, 47, 52, 66 Fourth Avenue S. 1302, 59 Fourth Avenue S. 1312, 33, 69 Fourth Avenue S. 1316, 52 Fourth Avenue S. 1325, 60 Fourth Avenue S. 1348, 64 Fuller, Amanda, 50 Fuller, Joseph, 50 Gabbert, Louis & Reinhold, 52 Gail, Frederick, 50 Grandma Bean's playhouse, 47 grocery store, 50 H Hall, Dudley C., 11, 14, 23, 25, 32,45, 47, 58 Hansen, Patricia, 41 Hastings, 18 Hersey & Bean, 23 Hersey, Bean and Brown, 25, 31 Hersey, Bean & Brown Mill, 15 Hersey, Edward, 23 Hersey, Eugene, 23 Hersey Memorial Bldg, 10 Hersey, Roscoe, 23, 58 Hersey, Samuel F., 8, 9, 12, 14, 23, 32, 58 Hersey Staples & Bean, 24 Hersey Staples & Co. plat, 17 Hersey, Staples & Hall, 23 Hillcrest Addition, 59 hobo jungle, 39 Hoy, Thomas & Margaret, 52 Hudson, 18 Jung Brewery, 30 98 Kearney, Andrew, 46, 47, 49 Kern, Frederick, 52 Kimmick, Norbert, 12, 26 Kimmick, Suzanne, 26 Kinney, John, 45 Kirk, Charles & Clara, 50 Krenz, Anton, 52 Kuhlman, M.H., 59 Kutz, August, 52 L Leech, Samuel, 12 Leighton, James, 33, 46 lien on Elliot house, 37-38 lots built upon 1855-1870, 34 lower quarry path, 41 M I Main Street S., 39 Main Street S. 1306, 45 Main Street S. 1336, 45 Maison, Thomas, 49 Map of 3rd & 4th Ave. Extensions, 40 Map of Survey Area, 5, 13 McDermott, Phillip, 33 McKusick, John, 8, 11 Meier, W. E., 58, 60 Mill demolished, 58 Miller, J.L., 59 Moodhe, Charles & Erik, 49 Moodhe, John & Christine, 49 Moodhe, John Jr., 47 Moore, James, 35, 46 Morgan, Charles & Annette, 50 Morgan, John & Martha, 50 Morgan, Martha, 49 Neighborhood in 1879, 44-46 Nielson, M., 52 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition Oasis Cafe, 39 Old houses as antiques, 51 Olson, Edward, 50 Olstead, Martin, 52 Poirier, Isaac, 50 Preble, Henry & Catherine, 50 Prices in Stillwater, 25 Pulzin, Carl F., 52 quarry, 16, 21 Quarry Lane, 510, 41 quarry road, 36 racetrack, 43 Red Wing, 18 reservoir, Mill, 36 Rice, Franklin, 35, 46 Ritzer, Joseph, 59 Roloff, Martin, 52 Roney, Thomas, 47, 57 Ryan, John, 50 Ryan, John S., 49 Seaquist, Duane, 39 Searle, Judge, 60 Second Avenue S. 1326, 49 Second Avenue S. 1329, 60 Second Avenue S. 1336, 50 Shortall, Mathew, 45 Six over six windows, 33 Sixth Avenue S. 0901, 47 Sixth Avenue S. 0907, 47 Sixth Avenue S. 0911, cover, 49, 66 Sixth Avenue S. 0915, 49, 66 Sixth Avenue S. 919, 49, 66 Sixth Avenue S. 0923, 49 Sixth Avenue S 0927, 50 Sixth Avenue S. 0931, 47 Sixth Avenue S. 0935, 47 Sixth Avenue S. 1003, 49 Sixth Avenue S. 1015, 50, 64 Sixth Avenue S. 1019, 47 Sixth Avenue S. 1101, 50 Sixth Avenue S. 1113, 43, 46, 49, 67 Slaughter, John E., 59 St. Croix Lumber Company, 35 St. Louis Street E. 15, 47 St. Paul, 18 Staples & Kearney, 49 Staples, Edward & Catherine,43, 46, 47, 49 Staples, Isaac, 8, 9, 11, 21, 35, 43, 58 Staples Doe & Hersey, 24 Steinmetz, F, 59 Stenwick, Mrs. Effie,58, 60 Stickney, Alpheus, 32, 46 Stillwater Building Association, 49 Stillwater City School District, 55 Stombs, Daniel & Nancy, 35, 45 street names changed, 16 Sullivan, Robert, 35, 46 Tepas, Herman & Suzanne, 29 Third Avenue S. 0936, 33, 46, 65 Third Avenue S. 1002, 46 Third Avenue S. 1010, 46, 60, 65 Third Avenue S. 1029, 47 Third Avenue S. 1114, 32 Third Avenue S. 1204, 32, 45, 68 Third Avenue S. 1213, 59, 61 Third Avenue S. 1214, 35, 37-38, 45, 63 Third Avenue S. 1221, 59 Third Avenue S. 1224, 47, 69 Third Avenue S. 1229, 32, 45, 61 Third Avenue S. 1230, 47 Third Avenue S. 1234, 58, 60 Thomsen, Arne, 39, 59 Thomsen, Axel, 59 Tracey, William, 49 99 Hersey, Staples & Co. Addition U Ulrich, Butch, 39 Upgren, Nels P, 50 Waldo, Charles, 52 Walker, Francis & Ellen, 45 Warner, A.D. & Laura, 49 Watkins, Olin S., 50 Weckwerth, Joseph, 49 Whitney, George, 23 Whitney, James A., 11, 12 Winona, 18 100 If you enjoyed this book, consider reading the other books in the series: Vti `la` aen e5� GYee e rg °le t°YY o giJ, Son �ata.EtylP vi9 ea of y050 6, ;cOt ille ' gc510 ist°� i c i O,O • ,,° ,lillu' plt c yre er0(ll`ll`0tcf ?� Ci jRt 6 0\c°1^b 101 Available for the First Time in 129 Years TWO iFD 'S 1FJf fflfis of STIbbWATER, MINNESOTA Drawn in 1870 -- Drawn Again in 1879 featuring *All Homes and Neighborhoods of the Day* *Churches Built by Those Early Congregations* *Bustling Waterfront Lumber Mills* *Trees, Hills, Bluffs, and Streams* In the Fall of 1869, four years after the Civil War, Albert Ruger, an accomplished urban illustrator, made a pencil sketch of Stillwater. The Stillwater Republican wrote that Ruger's sketch "shows every street, and the name of same, and the buildings are clearly defined, and properly located that every citizen can point out his own residence be it ever so small." In 1879 Albert Ruger returned to Stillwater to again draw the prosperous city, which had doubled in size. The Stillwater Gazette wrote, "The picture will be valuable as a present map of the city, and will in the future possess great interest for reference. Remarkably Accurate and Scrupulously Detailed plus A Thoroughly Documented Guidebook Complete with Footnotes Framed copies may be seen in the Reference Room at the Stillwater Public Library --ONE (1870 or 1879) Bird's Eye View and Guidebook: $25, plus $1.63 tax, plus $5 for mailing tube and postage (FREE DELIVERY in ZIP Code 55082). ---BOTH (1870 & 1879) Bird's Eye Views and Guidebook: $40, plus $2.60 tax, plus $5 for mailing tube and postage (FREE DELIVERY in ZIP Code 55082). To Order Send a Check to: EMPSON ARCHIVES P.O. Box 791 Stillwater, MN 55082 or call 651-351-0172 ,d/