HomeMy WebLinkAboutCH5-HistoricResourcesPLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-1
Historic Resources
Introduction Stillwater is well known as one of the oldest cities in
Minnesota, and its historic downtown and neighborhoods
are inseparable from its picturesque St. Croix River setting.
Beginning in the mid-1840s, the levee was lined with lumber
and grain mills, factories, and rail yards. In the early 1900s, at
the end of the St. Croix lumber era, citizens planned and raised
funds to reclaim this riverfront land. Lowell Park, named for
hotel owner and city leader Elmore Lowell, was the result.
Lowell Park represented a growing understanding that the city’s
historic buildings and landscapes were important resources
worthy of protection. This effort has grown steadily and has
gathered great community support. As detailed in this chapter,
preservation goals, objectives, and policies are linked to many
others, including those for downtown land use, transportation,
natural resources, housing, and economic development.
This Comprehensive Plan chapter update is intended to
strengthen Stillwater’s preservation planning framework by
examining existing needs and identifying new opportunities.
Following a review of Stillwater’s development, the components
of current planning programs and tools are analyzed, along with
the result of meetings with the Historic Resources Advisory
Committee, Heritage Preservation Commission members,
and City staff. This information was used to develop goals,
objectives, and policies as well as implementation timelines.
Chapter 5 Contents
Introduction ........................5-1
Context for 2040: An Overview of Stillwater
History and Development ............5-2
Analysis: Preservation Planning and
Stillwater ...........................5-9
Goals, Policies, and Objectives .......5-25
Historic photo credits:
Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS)
Washington County Historical Society (WCHS)
Abbreviations:
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)
National Historic Landmark (NHL)
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Context for 2040: An Overview of
Stillwater History and Development
Lumber prospectors founded Stillwater on land
inhabited by the Ojibwe for hundreds of years.
Indian treaties signed in 1837 ceded millions of
acres of land across Minnesota and Wisconsin,
and investors from New England were drawn to
potential sawmill sites on the St. Croix River. In
1844, John McKusick (1815-1900), a native of Maine,
was among the founders of the Stillwater Lumber
Company. Other companies added about a dozen
more mills within the next decade.
Stillwater was the site of the 1848 Territorial
Convention that initiated the path to Minnesota
statehood. It was selected as the seat of Washington
County in 1849, and as the Territorial Prison site in
1851. Three years later, Stillwater organized a city
government and elected John McKusick as mayor.
When the second Washington County Courthouse
(NRHP), was placed atop Zion Hill in 1869, it
announced the city’s continuing significance as an
important axis of the “St. Croix Triangle” lumber
economy. This triangle was bounded by the St.
Croix and Mississippi Rivers and extended as far
north as Mille Lacs Lake.
Despite its location on Lake St. Croix—a setting
highly praised by some steamboat visitors seeking
scenery—early investors focused on Stillwater’s
full industrial potential. For more than sixty
years, Stillwater would prove an ideal setting for
sawing and shipping the white pine harvested in
Minnesota and Wisconsin forests. In addition to
mill, factory, and steamboat sites, the riverfront
offered a platform for rail construction connected to
a national network. Sheltering bluffs offered some
degree of separation from the smoke and noise of
industry, but much of the activity was visible across
a wide viewshed of city neighborhoods.
Overview adapted from the Stillwater Cultural Landscape
Report (2011) prepared by Landscape Research for the
Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Cultural
Resources Unit (MnDOT CRU).
Lowell Park in 1918. MNHS
As the stage for one of Minnesota’s leading lumber centers
and a supply depot for the St. Croix Valley, the city’s early
riverfront was continually remodeled to serve industry and
commerce. The area below present- day Pioneer Park is
shown in 1874 in the Illustrated Historical Atlas of Minnesota
(A. T. Andreas).
Looking downriver from the Stillwater Public Library in 2016.
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The city’s leading position in the St. Croix lumber
industry soared with the creation of the St. Croix
Boom Corporation. Isaac Staples and other
investors incorporated the company in 1856 to
collect, measure, and raft logs downriver, creating
a distribution point for the entire St. Croix. Located
about two miles north of Stillwater, rafts containing
millions of board feet of lumber were directed to
the city’s mills and were also bound for Winona, St.
Louis, and other mill sites.
Inexpensive frame buildings made up much of
the early commercial district. By the end of the
Civil War in 1865, however, the owners of the six
sawmills then in operation began to build enduring
integrated business networks that included real
estate, flour milling, transportation, banking and
insurance, and manufacturing. Lumbering financed
new enterprises, and new masonry buildings
reflected increased investment. Many early sawmill
firms would remain in business until 1914 and the
end of the lumber era.
After the Civil War, builders of Greek Revival and
Italianate style houses selected prominent sites
with panoramic views of the river as well as its
numerous new industries. Isaac Staples’ Second
Empire Style residence (ca. 1873), atop North Hill,
featured an eye-catching mansard roof clad in
polychrome slate tiles.
In 1867, area business leaders organized the
Stillwater & St. Paul Railroad. This line and the two
that followed immediately brought economic and
population growth and secured the city’s position
as a lumber center. In 1871 the Stillwater, White
Bear and St. Paul Railroad connected Stillwater
with Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth. In 1872,
the St. Paul, Stillwater, and Taylor’s Falls Railroad
reached the city.
By 1878 the Stillwater and St. Paul became part
of the Northern Pacific transcontinental system.
Rails and spurs were laid across the riverfront to
sawmills and factories and connected to depots
that supplied freight and passenger service and
connected to river steamers. In 1876 a pontoon-
supported, wood drawbridge spanned the river to
The same area in 1910. MNHS
St. Croix Boom Site in ca. 1886. MNHS
Main Street looking north in 1870. MNHS
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Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
Houlton, Wisconsin. This structure was rebuilt in
1911 and occupied the site of the present Stillwater
Lift Bridge (1931; NRHP).
By 1900, eleven sawmills located on the levee. Sawn
lumber had been rafted downriver to other markets
for processing, but rail connections allowed local
manufacturers to produce lumber, lath, shingles,
doors, sashes and furniture. The peak year for
lumber traffic on the St. Croix was 1890, when one-
half-billion board feet passed through the St. Croix
Boom. The boom closed in 1914, marking the end of
Stillwater’s lumber era.
Grain dealers built mills and warehouses served
by rail spurs laid along the levee. Boat builders,
icehouses, and foundries of various types also
located here. Foundry products were needed for
mill and railroad development, and there was
demand for many types of agricultural implements.
In 1882, Seymour, Sabin & Co., a manufacturer
of furniture and wood products, launched the
Northwestern Manufacturing and Car Company,
which had several successor firms including
Northwest Thresher, until the building was razed
in 1946.
Stillwater’s late nineteenth-century prosperity
mirrored that of many other Minnesota
manufacturing cities. The townsite platted by John
McKusick in 1848 was a standard grid plan, but
many of the lots surveyed across the city’s hills
and ravines provided picturesque building sites.
Simple, gable-roofed vernacular dwellings built for
laborers, shopkeepers, and artisans filled many of
the lots, and some enjoyed great river views.
North and South Hill were the focus of much early
development. Builders erected excellent examples
of Greek Revival, Second Empire, and Italianate
style houses. A growing economy and wealth of
local wood and stone products also underwrote
large Queen Anne style houses constructed by
the city’s “lumber barons.” Many of these houses
feature complex rooflines and elaborate porches
and millwork trim.
In 1870, with about 4,000 inhabitants, Stillwater was the
largest settlement in Washington County. Small creeks
creased the lightly wooded ravines, and the beginning of
dense residential development is evident along the grid-plan
streets: between 1870 and 1871, more than 200 houses were
finished. MNHS
A simple vernacular house at 408 Maple Street W. (ca. 1875).
WCHS
The Italianate Style: 214 Elm Street N. (1877). WCHS
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The Queen Anne Style: L. E. Toronius House, 812 Harriet
Street (1901). MNHS
St. Michael’s Catholic Church (1873), 611 3rd Street S.
(MNHS)
Union Depot (1888, razed). MNHS
Stillwater’s large community of laborers included
Germans, Scandinavians, Italians and other
European immigrants, including Jewish families
from Eastern Europe. African-American families
were also members of the early community.
Prominent hilltop sites were sought for steepled
churches representing a variety of denominations
and ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The
Washington County Courthouse (1869, NRHP) was
placed on the most prominent parcels on South
Hill.
A new crop of commercial-district business blocks
reflected the economic success of the city as well as
its cultural life. The Union Depot (1888, razed), an
exceptional example of the Shingle Style, presided
over its riverfront location near the bridge. The
Hersey and Staples Block (1890; Main and Myrtle
streets; razed), was built of locally quarried stone,
with Lake Superior brownstone trim. The Lumber
(Lumbermen’s) Exchange Building (1890; NRHP)
was the first modern business block in the city
and featured heating, plumbing, and electrical
service, as well as an elevator. The craftsmanship
and size of these buildings reflected a high level of
investment for a city of 11,268 residents in 1890.
Closing of the St. Croix Boom Company in 1914
was a critical event in the city’s economic history.
Riverfront mill and factory buildings were put to
other uses, but the new businesses were often short-
lived. Investment in diversified manufacturing
such as agricultural implements, allowed the city to
retain its workforce and position as a trade center.
The city’s population stood at 12,318 in 1900, but
declined to 10,198 in 1910, 7,735 in 1920 and 7,013
in 1940.
The Northwest Thresher, Twin City Forge and
Foundry, Foote-Schultze, Smithson Paper Box,
Stillwater Market Creamery, Minnesota Mercantile,
and Stillwater Garment companies were among the
city’s important early twentieth-century employers
on or near the riverfront. The Stillwater Prison,
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Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
Lumbermen’s Exchange, 101 S. Water Street (1890). MNHS
Looking up Chestnut Street in 1912. MNHS
Main Street looking north, in ca. 1925. MNHS
located on N. Main Street in Battle Hollow since
1853, closed in 1914. During the next decades the
riverfront area was slowly transformed by removal
of industrial buildings, railroad tracks, and
boathouses.
The popular City Beautiful Movement, which
emphasized urban planning built on a foundation
of improved streets and neighborhood parks, was
underway just as many people in Stillwater were
beginning to understand the potential need for
new uses for the riverfront. Evidence of the city’s
progressive planning included streetcar service
inaugurated in 1889, opening of the Minneapolis
and St. Paul Suburban Railway (which after
1899 offered half-hour service to St. Paul), and
completion of the Carnegie Library in 1903.
Although the riverfront would continue to be
dominated by industry for several more decades,
the initial construction of Lowell Park (1911)
represented the first step in reworking the city’s
gateway, creating a public use along the former
levee, and accommodating new automobile traffic.
William A. Finklenburg of Winona designed the
first phase of Lowell Park. The park extended two
blocks south of Chestnut Street and featured a river
wall with a lawn, plantings, and concrete benches.
A north extension was completed in 1917 with
plans by Minneapolis landscape architects Morell
& Nichols. A riverfront pavilion was completed in
1923. The firm also prepared the Plan of Stillwater
(1918). It was a blueprint for the modern city,
proposing new ideas for parks, boulevards,
housing, and riverfront land use. It called for a
system of scenic drives linking views of the river
valley, and the reclamation of ravines for park
purposes. In 1917, the East Side Lumber Company
on the Wisconsin side of Lake St. Croix donated
their property to the City of Stillwater for park
use. In 1931 American Legion Post 48 constructed
Legion Beach. The site was later named Kolliner
Park. It has been closed since 1979.
When the new Stillwater Lift Bridge opened in
1931, the two-lane, 1,050-foot structure was the
centerpiece of a redesigned riverfront. This was
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Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-7
Carnegie Library (1903). MNHS
Lowell Park sunken gardens in 1934. MNHS
General Plan of City of Stillwater, Minnesota, Showing Parks,
Boulevard, and Main Highway System. Morell and Nichols,
Landscape Architects and Planners, 1918.
also a period, however, when city leaders planned
to build future tourism and recreation markets.
The Lowell Inn (1927), built on the site of the
popular Sawyer House hotel, was an early symbol
of the city’s potential as an automobile traveler’s
destination.
During the Depression years of the 1930s, Works
Progress Administration (WPA) and other public
funds assisted with some area improvements
geared at tourism, including the placement of
commemorative markers at Battle Hollow and near
the Tamarack House, the site of the first county
courthouse. Design and construction of the Lake
St. Croix Overlook (NRHP), south of Stillwater,
and the St. Croix Boom Site (NHL), north of the
city, was completed by the Minnesota Department
of Highways and utilized federal relief funds.
Increasingly, visitors saw less and less of the city’s
industrial past, although railyards still defined
much of the riverfront. Notably, in 1918, lumberman
Isaac Staples’ North Hill residence, built in ca. 1873
and overlooking his St. Croix Lumber Mill, was
razed. During the 1930s, Pioneer Park was built on
the site and offered a dramatic view of the Stillwater
Lift Bridge and broad river and valley vistas.
Following World War II, some merchants
remodeled downtown façades with large signs and
materials such as aluminum panels. In 1960, a new
one-story Hooley’s Supermarket (razed) replaced
the Shingle style Union Depot (1888). Attractions
such as the Stillwater Caves drew tourists, while
replacement of key downtown buildings—such as
the Hersey Staples Block at Main and Myrtle Streets
with the Cosmopolitan State Bank in 1968—altered
the traditional streetscape.
Residents’ pride in the city’s historic houses was
always evident, but interest in downtown historic
preservation grew during the early 1970s. The
Brick Alley (432 S. Main Street) was among the first
of several downtown buildings adaptively reused
as restaurants and specialty stores. The Connolly
Shoe Factory at 123 N. Main Street, which now
houses the city’s largest event center, is exemplary
of continuing success with adaptive reuse.
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Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
In 1973, the Stillwater City Council approved
creation of the Stillwater Heritage Preservation
Commission (HPC), reflecting increased
community interest in preserving and revitalizing
the city’s historic and cultural resources. In 1988,
the National Park Service designated Stillwater as
a Certified Local Government (CLG), providing
access to historic preservation guidance and grants.
In 1992, the Commission began to provide design
review for properties within the Commercial
Historic District.
In the 1990s, the vacant Stillwater State Prison
was proposed for adaptive reuse as housing. In
2002, before development began, the N. Main
Street buildings were destroyed by fire. More
than 300 rental and condominium units in three
new riverfront housing projects have since been
constructed on the prison and adjacent sites.
Adaptive reuse projects continue within the
Commercial Historic District and surrounding
Downtown Design Review District, including a
boutique hotel development (2018) in the former
Joseph Wolf Brewery (1886) at 402 N. Main Street.
Since completion of the St. Croix Crossing Bridge
(2017), closure of the Stillwater Lift Bridge to
vehicular traffic offers new recreational potential
for the community and visitors.
The Stillwater Caves in 1962. MNHS
N. Main Street in 1974, looking south. (MNHS)
S. Main Street in 2018, looking north.
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-9
Public stairway reconstruction accompanied the adaptive
reuse of the Joseph Wolf Brewery, 2018.
First National Bank (1888) in the Stillwater Commercial
Historic District.
Analysis: Preservation Planning and
Stillwater
Stillwater’s efforts to identify, evaluate, and
preserve its historic and cultural resources while
encouraging adaptive reuse and reinvestment
follow national standards for preservation planning.
Preservation planning is “the process by which a
community develops a vision, goals, and priorities
for the preservation of its historic and cultural
resources.” The National Park Service within the U.
S. Department of the Interior provides Standards
and Guidelines for all aspects of planning. The
principles include:
• Important historic properties cannot be
replaced if they are destroyed.
• To make responsible decisions about historic
properties, existing information must be
used to the maximum extent and new
information must be acquired as needed.
• Preservation planning includes public
participation.
As a Certified Local Government (CLG), one of forty-
four in Minnesota as of 2018, Stillwater is eligible
for federal grants that support historic preservation
studies and public education programs. The
Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office
(SHPO) and National Park Service (NPS) are
partners in the effort.
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for
Preservation Planning recommends:
1. Preservation Planning Establishes Historic
Contexts
Historic contexts organize information based
on a cultural theme and its geographical and
chronological limits. Contexts describe the
significant broad patterns of development in an area
that may be represented by historic properties. The
development of historic contexts is the foundation
for decisions about treatment of historic properties.
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Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
2. Preservation Planning Uses Historic Contexts to
Develop Goals and Priorities for the Identification,
Evaluation, Registration and Treatment of
Historic Properties
Preservation goals are developed for each historic
context to ensure that the range of properties
representing the important aspects of each historic
context is identified, evaluated and treated. Then
priorities are set for all goals identified for each
historic context. The goals for each historic context
may change as new information becomes available.
3. The Results of Preservation Planning Are Made
Available for Integration Into Broader Planning
Processes
Preservation of historic properties is one element of
larger planning processes. Preservation goals and
priorities, and results of studies and projects, need
to be integrated with all aspects of community
planning.
Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission
(HPC)
The creation of the Heritage Preservation
Commission in 1973 occurred during a period
of increased interest in historic resources at the
national as well as local level. In the late 1970s, the
successful rehabilitation of Stillwater’s Main Street
buildings—such as those housing Brine’s Meat
Market (219 S. Main Street) and Kolliner’s Clothing
Store (113 S. Main), and development of the Brick
Alley (423 S. Main) and the Grand Garage (324 S.
Main)—demonstrated adaptive reuse and renewed
interest in the city’s downtown core.
As adopted by the Stillwater City Council, the
Heritage Preservation Ordinance (Section 22-
7) states that the “preservation, protection,
perpetuation and use of areas, places, buildings,
structures and other objects having a special
historical, community or aesthetic interest or
value is a public necessity and is required in the
interest of the health, prosperity, safety and welfare
of the community.” The seven-member HPC
meets monthly and is supported by Community
Development Department staff. Commissioners
are appointed to staggered three-year terms.
The ordinance charges the HPC with designating
heritage preservation sites and conducting design
review for individual properties and those within
specified districts; conducting ongoing study and
survey of areas, places, buildings, structures and
objects in the city; providing information and
assistance to property owners, and with obtaining
grants and other funds for ongoing work.
By 1994, the Stillwater HPC was recognized in a
Minneapolis Star Tribune article for demonstrating
that “historic preservation is an economic
development tool for drawing great numbers
of visitors to town.” By this time, the HPC had
sponsored several important studies, including
the Historical Reconstruction of the Riverfront
(1985), the Intensive National Register Survey of
Downtown Stillwater (1989) and Stillwater Historic
Contexts: A Comprehensive Planning Approach
(1993).
In addition to overseeing local designation and
related studies, the HPC conducts design review
for individually designated properties and those
in the Downtown Design Review District and the
Stillwater Commercial Historic District (Figure
5.1). The HPC reviews new construction in the
Neighborhood Conservation District (Figure 5.1).
The HPC also conducts design review for properties
in the West Stillwater Business Park. Each district
has specific design review guidelines.
HPC responsibilities are also specified in other
city ordinances. For example, the Demolition
Ordinance (Chapter 34) provides procedures for
HPC review of demolition permits for properties
not currently listed but potentially eligible for
local designation. The ordinance notes that such
properties must be built on or before January 1, 1946,
the date coinciding with the historic context period
recommended in 1993. Site Alteration Permits (Sec.
31-215) further specify the requirements of design
review for historic properties.
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Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-11NEAL AVE NCROIXWOODBLVD
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Figure 5.1: Design Review
Districts
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Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-13
Washington County Courthouse (1869), in ca. 1900. Listed in
the NRHP in 1971. (MNHS)
Commissioner Training and Education
In 2015 the City of Stillwater, in conjunction with
the cities of Eden Prairie and Mankato, received
a Heritage Partnership Program grant from the
Minnesota Historical Society to retain professional
services and develop a training curriculum for
statewide distribution. The focus of the grant was
to develop materials satisfying the educational
needs of Heritage Preservation Commissions across
Minnesota. The Heritage Preservation Commission
Training Manual (2016) and other materials are
posted on the Stillwater Heritage Preservation
Commission website.
The National Register of Historic Places and
Stillwater
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list
of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation.
The passage of the National Historic Preservation
Act (NHPA) in 1966 created the National Register
of Historic Places (NRHP). The NRHP is part of a
national program to coordinate and support public
and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect
America’s historic and archaeological resources.
NRHP-eligible properties may be evaluated for the
effects resulting from federally funded projects,
such as road and bridge construction, as provided
by the Section 106 process. Owners of income-
producing properties eligible for the NRHP may be
able to use federal historic tax credits for certified
rehabilitation projects.
Stillwater’s first NRHP property listing was in 1971
with the Washington County Courthouse (1869).
The building was nominated as Minnesota’s oldest
functioning courthouse and one of its few surviving
examples of monumental public architecture from
the mid-19th century. The second property was the
Minnesota Territorial Warden’s House (1853), listed
in 1974. It was recognized as the only surviving
structure of the prison’s Minnesota Territory period
and chief remnant of its statehood years.
The Stillwater Commercial Historic District (1992)
and twelve individual properties have since been
listed in the NRHP. They include a broad range
Austin Jenks House (1871, NRHP).
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PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
of dwellings, public buildings, and industrial and
commercial properties recognized for architectural
style as well as their historical value to the
development of the city. Some properties, including
the Washington County Courthouse (1869), also
have state significance.
Why are NRHP Properties Significant?
Properties are evaluated for significance with the
following NRHP criteria:
The quality of significance in American history,
architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture
is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures,
and objects:
A. That are associated with events that have
made a significant contribution to the broad
patterns of our history; or
B. That are associated with the lives of
significant persons in our past; or
C. That embody the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction,
or that represent the work of a master, or
that possess high artistic values, or that
represent a significant and distinguishable
entity whose components may lack
individual distinction; or
D. That have yielded or may be likely to
yield, information important in history or
prehistory.
Properties must also retain integrity of location,
design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling,
and association. There are also seven criteria
considerations, including those applicable to
religious properties, cemeteries, reconstructed
buildings, and properties achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Stillwater NRHP Districts
• Stillwater Commercial Historic District
Stillwater NRHP Districts Determined Eligible but
not yet listed:
• Stillwater South Main Street Archaeological
District
• Stillwater Cultural Landscape District
Individually-listed NRHP Properties
In Stillwater Commercial Historic District:
• Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Depot and
Freight House (1883)
233 and 235 Water Street
In Downtown Design Review District:
• Roscoe Hersey House (1880)
416 Fourth Street S.
• Ivory McKusick House (1868)
504 Second Street N.
• St. Croix Lumber Mills/Stillwater
Manufacturing (1850, 1900)
402 Main Street N.
• Washington County Historic Courthouse
(1869)
101 Pine Street W.
• Mortimer Webster House (1865)
435 Broadway Street S.
Other:
• Point Douglas-St. Louis River Road Bridge
(1865)
• Stillwater Lift Bridge (1931)
• Bergstein Shoddy Mill and Warehouse
(1890)
805 Main Street S.
• Austin Jenks House (1871)
504 Fifth Street S.
• Albert Lammers House (1893)
1306 Third Street S.
• Nelson School (1897)
1018 First Street S.
• William Sauntry House and Recreation Hall
(1891) 626 Fourth Street N.
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-15
that are represented by the physical development
and character of the built environment. Historic
contexts can be developed for many kinds of
properties, including designed historic landscapes
and archaeological sites.
Neighborhood Studies
In 1993, following the completion of the city-
wide historic context study, Stillwater Historic
Contexts: A Comprehensive Planning Approach,
the HPC began in-depth study of the city’s historic
neighborhoods. Sixteen neighborhoods were
initially identified. Context development, property
inventory, and recommendations for future actions,
including local designation and/or NRHP listing,
have been completed for ten neighborhoods. Figure
5.2 shows the areas completed 1995-2005:
• North Hill Original Town (1995)
• South Hill Original Town (1996)
• Greeley Addition (1997)
• Dutchtown District (1998)
• Holcombe District (1999)
• Hersey Staples & Co. Addition (2000)
• Carli & Schulenburg’s Addition (2001)
• Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter West Half
(2002)
• Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter East Half
(2003)
• Staples and May’s Addition (2005)
To date, no action has been taken on
recommendations to designate all or part of these
areas as local or NRHP districts. In 2013 the HPC
and its consultant produced a draft of Stillwater,
Minnesota: Preserving Historic Neighborhoods.
The document includes general historical
information, building rehabilitation information,
and design guidelines. This information and
detailed guidelines are adaptable to design review
for any future historic districts, and are also an
excellent source of general information.
Stillwater Local Heritage Preservation
Designation
The Heritage Preservation Commission can
recommend designation of individual properties
and districts through the local nomination process
authorized by Minnesota Statutes (471.193).
Properties must meet one or more of seven local
significance criteria:
A. The character, interest or value as part
of the development heritage or cultural
characteristics of the city, state or county.
B. The location as a site of a significant historic
event.
C. The identification with a person or persons
who significantly contributed to the city's
culture and development.
D. The embodiment of distinguishing
characteristics of an architectural style,
period, form or treatment.
E. The identification as work of an architect or
master builder whose individual work has
influenced the city's development.
F. The embodiment of elements of
architectural design, detail, materials or
craftsmanship that represent a significant
architectural innovation.
G. The unique location or singular
physical characteristic representing an
established and familiar visual feature of a
neighborhood, community or the city.
Properties must also retain integrity of location,
design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling,
and association.
Historic Contexts
As recommended by the Secretary of the Interior’s
Standards for Preservation Planning, evaluation
of any individual property or district’s historic
significance and integrity is based on one or more
historic contexts. Contexts are typically based on one
or more themes, a geographical area, and periods
of significance. They describe the broad patterns of
historical development of a community or region
5-16
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A. Dutchtown A ddition
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D. North Hill (Original Town)
E. Greeley Add ition
F. South Hill
G. Holcomb e's A dditions
H. Churchill, Nelson, Slaughter Addition (East Half)
I. Churchill, Nelson, Slaughter Addition (We st Half)
J. Hersey, Staples Addition
Future Survey
1. Third Street South Neigh borhood
2. Pine Street West Neighborhood
3. Olive and Pine Neighborhood
4. Sabin's Additio n
5. Wilkin's Addition
6. Owens Street North N eighborhood
Neighborhood Architectural
Survey Areas
Downtown Survey
City Limit
Surface Water
Figure 5.2: Neighborhood
Architectural Survey Areas
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-17
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Dow ntown Commercial Historic District Inset
Property Designation
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[e National Register Listed Places
Draft South Main Archaeological District
Draft Cultural Landscape D istrict
1. Old Stone Bridge
2. William Sauntry Mansion and B&B
3. Territorial Prison Site & Warden's House
4. Ivory McKusick House
5. Staples Mill
6. Lift Bridge
7. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Depot/Freight H ouse
8. Mortiz Bergstein Shoddy Mill & Warehouse
9. Mortimer Webster House
10. Roscos Hersey House
11. Washington County Historic Courthouse
12. Austin Jenks House
13. Nelson School
14. Albert Lammers House
Historic District Boundary
City Limit
Surface Water
Figure 5.3: National
Register of Historic Places
5-18
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
Stillwater Commercial Historic District
The Stillwater Commercial Historic District was
listed in the NRHP in 1992 and is also locally
designated, with a slightly different boundary.
Both districts encompass the area that parallels the
river along Water and S. and N. Main streets, and
the cross-streets of Mulberry, Commercial, Myrtle,
Chestnut, Olive, and Nelson (Figure 5.3). The NRHP
district includes 56 contributing buildings, two
contributing sites, three contributing structures,
and one contributing object.
Contributing properties include primarily brick
commercial buildings representing a variety of
architectural styles from the 1860s through the 1930s.
There are also examples of 1860s and 1870s Greek
Revival and Italianate style dwellings at the edges
of the district. The oldest remaining downtown
core along N. and S. Main Street is composed
of structures built between 1864 and 1875; some
feature stone, party walls with brick-faced façades.
In addition to historic commercial enterprises of
many types, buildings related to lumber, rail, and
manufacturing are well represented.
Stillwater Commercial Historic District Design
Guidelines
The HPC reviews all building permits for exterior
alterations and additions to properties within
the Stillwater Commercial Historic District,
including landscape alterations. If determined to
be maintenance-related, roof repair and similar
projects may receive review and approval from
City staff.
The Commercial Historic District is located within
the larger Downtown Design Review District
(Figure 5.1). Buildings in the larger district may
have different levels of significance and integrity
than those in the Commercial Historic District. The
Design Manual for the Commercial Historic District
(2006) contains design guidelines applicable to
both districts. The adopted guidelines are intended
to “direct and lead Stillwater in its endeavor to
conserve and enhance its appearance, preserve its
historical and/or architectural assets, protect and
encourage areas of existing or potential scenic
Main Street from the Main Street stairs, in 2018 and in ca.
1880.
Bryan Mosier Cigar Store, Main and Chestnut Street, in 1915,
and in 2010. (MNHS)
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-19
value, and assist its property owners.”
Both NRHP listing and local designation are usually
limited to buildings at least 50 years old, which
now includes buildings dating from 1968 or before.
District boundaries could accordingly be revised to
include mid-twentieth century buildings.
Stillwater Neighborhood Conservation District
In 2006 the Stillwater City Council established
the residential Neighborhood Conservation
District (NCD; Figure 5.1). According to the NCD
ordinance, the objective of the NCD is to “conserve
traditional neighborhood fabric, to guide future
infill development within the district, and to
discourage unnecessary demolition of structures
that contribute to the district’s historic character.”
The NCD includes most of Stillwater’s late
nineteenth- and early-twentieth century residential
building stock.
Neighborhood Conservation District Design
Guidelines
The Neighborhood Conservation District Design
Guidelines (2006) include standards for new
construction, including garages. Standards
emphasize setback, height, size and scale, massing,
and overall relationship to the streetscape and
neighborhood. The HPC reviews design proposals
prior to issuance of a building permit for new
construction, but additions and alterations to
existing buildings are not currently subject to
design review.
National Register-Listed and Eligible Districts
Stillwater South Main Street Archaeological
District (NRHP)
Beginning in the 1840s, decades of milling and
other industrial use resulted in great alteration to
the Stillwater riverfront. Although many structures
have been razed, in certain areas there remains an
important historic archaeological record.
The Stillwater South Main Street Archaeological
Stillwater Conservation District Design Guidelines
300 block of Hickory Street W., as shown in the Architectural
Survey of the Staples and May’s Addition to Stillwater (2005).
5-20
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
District has been determined eligible for listing in
the NRHP (Figure 5.3). It includes the Hersey &
Bean Sawmill and Planing Mill sites, which were
part of one of Stillwater’s major nineteenth-century
lumber milling complexes.
At the northern end of the district, Slab Alley
was a commercial and residential working class
neighborhood dating from the height of the lumber
boom prior to 1870; the dwellings were removed
when TH 95 was constructed in 1934.
Stillwater Cultural Landscape District
As defined by the Department of the Interior, a
cultural landscape is “a geographic area, including
both cultural and natural resources and the wildlife
or domestic animals therein, associated with a
historic event, activity, or person or exhibiting
other cultural or aesthetic values.” The Stillwater
Cultural Landscape District has been determined
eligible for listing in the NRHP (Figure 5.3).
The district encompasses the city’s setting of
shoreline, hills and ravines, and the Stillwater
Commercial Historic District. It also includes
the bluff-top historic neighborhoods that are
part of the North and South Hill landscapes. The
boundary generally follows the alignment and area
of the Original Plat of the Town of Stillwater (1848),
including viewsheds up, down, and across the St.
Croix River.
The Stillwater Cultural Landscape District includes
248 contributing properties on both the Minnesota
and Wisconsin sides of the St. Croix River,
including the Stillwater Lift Bridge, Lowell Park,
and archaeological sites. On the Wisconsin side of
the river, the district includes Kolliner Park, owned
by the City of Stillwater.
Determination of district boundaries and
significance was useful to planners during studies
for the St. Croix Crossing Bridge (2017), to assess
potential effects to the landscape setting. The
district boundaries and historic contexts highlight
the significance of Stillwater’s unique setting and
natural resources, and the preservation of its hilltop
and river views.
Slab Alley on South Main Street in 1932 (razed). MNHS
South Hill, 2018.
Looking at Stillwater, across the St. Croix River, from
Houlton, Wisconsin, in 2011. Chris Faust, photographer.
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-21
Looking south from Pioneer Park in ca. 1935. (MNHS)
Looking south from Pioneer Park in 2011, prior to St. Croix
Crossing Bridge construction.
Thomas and Elmira Sinclair House (1857), NRHP), 402 Fourth
Street N. (Suki Thomsen photograph)
The South Main Street Archaeological District and
the Stillwater Cultural Landscape District are not
locally designated.
Public Outreach and Educational Resources
Heirloom Homes and Landmark Sites Program
(HHLS)
In 2007 the City of Stillwater and the Heritage
Preservation Commission established the Heirloom
Homes and Landmark Sites Program to recognize
property owners who maintain the historic
character of their properties (Figure 5.4).
In 2014 the program received an award from the
National Alliance of Preservation Commissions
(NAPC) for Best Practices in Public Outreach and
Education.
Heirloom Homes are defined by the HPC as houses
located in the older part of Stillwater that have
“good historical integrity and represent the various
architectural styles of the nineteenth century or the
first half of the twentieth century;” these landmarks
are “among the most historically and architecturally
significant properties in Stillwater.”1 Landmarks
retain their architectural integrity and have been
recognized by the City of Stillwater, although they
are not locally designated. Some are listed in the
NRHP.
To date, more than one hundred dwellings of many
styles and types have been recognized. In addition
to showcasing these properties and providing
information to owners about best practices in
building conservation, the program illustrates
the potential of historic preservation in the city’s
neighborhoods.
Program resources are linked to the Heritage
Preservation Commission website. The website
includes rehabilitation information, searchable
databases, intensive research reports on the
properties, and photographs.
1 http://www.stillwater-mn.org/hpc/Sample_interface/
Categories/about.asp
5-22
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic ResourcesNEAL AVE NOSGOOD AVE NCROIXWOODBLVD
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Figure 5.4: Heirloom
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This page intentionally left blank.
5-24
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
Albert and Helen Lammers House (1893, NRHP), 1306 Third
Avenue S. (Suki Thomsen photograph)
From Pastcasts
South Hill Walking Tour
Walking Tours and Videos
The Stillwater HPC has an extensive and innovative
program of videos and printed tour brochures
that focus on the Commercial Historic District
and the South Hill area. The material enhances
public understanding of the city’s resources,
and contributes to the offerings of the Stillwater
Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
The tour stops on the “Pastcasts” by Daniel
Hoisington, which are designed for viewing on
hand-held devices, cover general Stillwater history
as well as fourteen properties throughout the
downtown area. Loops on Pine Street and Chestnut
Street areas include eighteen properties. This work
has been supported by the City of Stillwater and
by Minnesota Cultural and Heritage grants, and
with funds from the Department of the Interior
through the CLG grant program. The Minnesota
Department of Transportation also funded a
walking tour brochure for the Cultural Landscape
District (2013).
In 2018, the City is developing additional web
mapping applications including Arc GIS Story
Maps, and walking tours.
Research Resources
The Washington County Historical Society,
founded in 1934, is headquartered in Stillwater and
operates the Warden’s House Museum at 602 N.
Main Street (1853, NRHP). The organization also
provides information about Stillwater’s historic
resources and maintains a significant research
collection. Planning for a new heritage center is
underway. The Society is represented on the seven-
member Heritage Preservation Commission.
The Stillwater Public Library, housed in the
Carnegie Library at 224 Third Street N., maintains
the unique St. Croix Collection. The Collection
holds important books, photographs, and other
materials on the history of Stillwater, the St. Croix
Valley, and Washington County.
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-25
Goals, Policies, and Objectives
Heritage Preservation Program for 2040
Previous sections outlined the background and
components of Stillwater’s Heritage Preservation
Program. As discussed, the Heritage Preservation
Commission has both regulatory and public
education responsibilities, and interacts with many
other city departments and commissions. The
City and HPC also interact with federal and state
agencies on management of resources eligible for
or listed in the NRHP.
Stillwater has been successful in documenting
many aspects of its built environment, including
the Commercial Historic District and historic
neighborhoods. Maintaining existing historic
resources while encouraging rehabilitation,
reinvestment, and new development is an important
challenge for the City and the HPC. Stillwater’s
prominence as a scenic visitor destination with
a recreational waterfront adds another dynamic,
as does the potential to develop new mixed-
use development within and at the edges of the
Commercial Historic District.
With the opening of the St. Croix Crossing Bridge
in August 2017, the historic Stillwater Lift Bridge
was closed to vehicular traffic. Currently being
repurposed as a pedestrian and bicycle path
and under restoration to its 1931 appearance, the
structure remains the city’s central landmark. The
new pedestrian and bike trail will be known as the
St. Croix Loop Trail.
Formerly, about 17,000 vehicles per day were
traveling though downtown Stillwater and
across the bridge, causing traffic congestion that
discouraged pedestrians and cyclists. With the loss
of this traffic, many residents report the city center
feels more “knit together”. This is attractive to local
residents, who are more likely to shop and dine
downtown, as well as to visitors.
The Stillwater Market Analysis (2016), prepared by
Maxfield Research and Consulting LLC, noted that
anticipated population growth in key cohorts may
create additional opportunities for retail goods
and service businesses in Stillwater’s Commercial
Historic District and adjacent areas. A significant
number of new retail businesses and restaurants
could be anticipated, as could proposals for
residential and office development in mixed-use
buildings. Demand for increased parking may
accompany this growth. Maxfield also noted that
Downtown Stillwater has “a number of physical
characteristics that make it a strong shopping
location and a highly desirable urban district.”
1This analysis suggests that the City and HPC may
review new development proposals geared for an
increased number of visitors and residents. Good
communication about the need for conservation of
historic resources and application of appropriate
guidelines for building rehabilitation and new infill
construction will be required.
Challenges and Opportunities
It is easy to take Stillwater’s natural setting and
unique historic resources for granted. However,
future planning will need to adapt to many kinds
of changing conditions. These changes may be due
to increased visitor demand and increased number
of residents, as well as environmental needs.
For example, peak-season parking capacity and
additional garage development requires careful
consideration of impacts on existing resources.
For historic resources as well as the community in
general, many types of resiliency plans need to be
considered, including those for significant rainfall
events and seasonal high water and flooding.
Historic and cultural resources also need to be
addressed when considering the demand for solar
arrays, electric vehicle charging stations, and
increased wireless capacity.
1 Maxfield Research & Consulting, Market Potential
Analysis for Downtown Stillwater, Stillwater, Minnesota. Prepared
for SRF Consulting, 2016, 53.
5-26
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
2040 Historic Resources Chapter Development
Process
The City of Stillwater organized an Advisory
Committee to participate in the preparation
of the 2040 Historic Resources Chapter of the
Stillwater Comprehensive Plan update, along
with the Heritage Preservation Commission. The
consultant from Landscape Research attended
several meetings to review Stillwater’s preservation
planning process and the 2030 comprehensive plan
and recommend updates and revisions for 2040.
The five preservation planning goals identified in
the Heritage Preservation Ordinance and adopted
by the Stillwater City Council in 1980 have been
retained.
Heritage Preservation Ordinance Goals
Goal 1. Safeguard the heritage of the city
by preserving historic properties that reflect
Stillwater’s cultural, social, economic, political,
visual, aesthetic, or architectural heritage.
Goal 2. Protect and enhance the city’s appeal
and attraction to residents and visitors, using the
presentation of historic properties to support and
stimulate business and industrial investment.
Goal 3. Enhance the city’s visual interest and
aesthetic character and diversity.
Goal 4. Foster civic pride in the beauty and notable
accomplishments of the city’s past.
Goal 5. Promote the preservation and continued
use of historic sites and structures for the education
and general welfare of the city's residents.
The consultants also reviewed the Heritage
Preservation Ordinance and related documents,
the many studies and inventories completed
since 1984, and public education materials. The
recommendations of each study were noted,
and the previous components of Stillwater’s
preservation planning program presented in the
2030 Plan were analyzed. The Advisory Committee,
Heritage Preservation Commission members,
and Community Development staff provided
information and feedback.
Comments and observations from the Advisory
Committee, HPC, staff, and the public were
organized into categories including Ordinance and
Guidelines, Staffing and HPC Resources, Local
Designation and Program Development, Public
Education, and Implementation.
Objectives and Policies
Each chapter in the Comprehensive Plan provides
a list of goals and objectives. However, the Historic
Resources Chapter provides another level (i.e.,
policies) of specificity in how the goals and objective
may be obtained. The policies were developed
through the Historic Resources’ planning process,
which included involvement from the Heritage
Preservation Commission.
Objective 1.
Promote educational outreach and engagement
opportunities related to historic preservation,
including the cultural values and economic benefits
of historic preservation.
Areas: Public Education and Awareness
Policies:
Policy 1. Create new ways to participate in heritage
preservation that encourage more residents to
engage in and influence decisions about the places
that matter to them.
Policy 2. Expand outreach around heritage
preservation activities and resources, and encourage
opportunities for learning and enjoyment through
creative ways of presenting cultural and historic
resources to the public.
Policy 3. Expand outreach to owners of designated
historic properties and other properties important
to the city’s heritage. Focus on the historic value
of the properties, and offer maintenance and
adaptive reuse information, including preservation
workshops, expanded annual reports, and email
updates.
Policy 4. Engage with and educate the next
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-27
generation of stewards of the city’s built and
natural environment. Include engagement with
local schools, and existing and new owners of
historic properties. Internships with the HPC may
also create new audiences and participants.
Policy 5. Partner with community organizations
to connect property owners with preservation
education and technical support services.
Policy 6. Continue to support the efforts of the
Stillwater Public Library (St. Croix Collection) and
the Washington County Historical Society to collect
and conserve materials related to all aspects of
Stillwater’s history.
Policy 7. Provide ongoing training for Heritage
Preservation Commissioners, including annual
retreats and access to state and national preservation
conferences.
Policy 8. Continue to expand current public
education measures including videos and podcasts,
brochures, walking tours, and interpretive exhibits.
Policy 9. Continue to add information from studies
and public education programs to the HPC website,
including the Heirloom Homes and Landmarks
Sites program. Consider adopting a graphic system
to unify the presentation.
Policy 10. Digitize existing historic resource
inventory data (approximately 2,000 properties)
and integrate all records with the HPC website.
Policy 11. Expand the Commission’s use of online
web mapping applications such as Arc GIS Story
Maps.
Policy 12. Continue to produce an HPC annual
report designed for wide circulation. Such annual
reports ensure that all city departments, community
organizations, and residents have an understanding
of the City’s ongoing historic preservation efforts.
Stillwater Lift Bridge, 2018, during renovation as a pedestrian
and bicycle path, and a foreground interpretive panel on
bridge history and operation.
Looking from North Hill to South Hill over Second Street N.,
2018.
S. 5th Street, 2018.
5-28
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
Objective 2
Continue to identify, examine, and evaluate historic
resources with historic contexts and historic
designation.
Areas: Identification, Evaluation and Designation
Policies:
Policy 1. Prioritize identification of publicly
owned historic resources, including city parks, for
evaluation, designation and preservation. Ensure
that Stillwater’s capital improvement budget
includes historic preservation activities.
Policy 2. Engage communities that have been
traditionally underrepresented in Stillwater’s
heritage preservation efforts to identify valuable
historic resources and conduct further research on
these resources.
Policy 3. Evaluate the ten previously completed
neighborhood historic context studies and surveys
for local and/or national designation. Recommend
individual or district resources for local designation,
and work with property owners, elected officials,
and the State Historic Preservation Office to
implement. These efforts should be incorporated
into a long-range work plan.
Policy 4. Continue to complete additional context
studies and survey for areas associated with the
city’s history and overall development:
• Sabin’s Addition and H.R. Murdock’s
Addition
• South Hill
• North Hill
• Wilkin’s Addition
• Churchill Nelson 2nd Addition and Marsh’s
Addition
Policy 5. Work with qualified archaeologists
to organize existing data on significant and
potentially significant archaeological sites and,
where appropriate, develop tools to identify and
protect these resources.
Policy 6. Use the Cultural Landscape District
documentation as a guide to inventory the city’s
public stairs, stone retaining walls, and linear
circulation features such as stone paths. Work with
Public Works staff on documentation, and evaluate
the features for potential local heritage designation.
Policy 7. Evaluate the historic landscape of Lowell
Park to ensure that future improvement conserves
the scale, grades, circulation, and other features of
the early-twentieth-century plans.
Policy 8. Identify and preserve unique Stillwater
viewsheds.
Objective 3
Continue to preserve and maintain historic
resources, and encourage adaptive reuse.
Areas: Preservation and Regulation
Policies:
Policy 1. Consider revisions to current preservation
regulations to clarify approval practices and
processes. Eliminate City Code inconsistencies,
strengthen the connection between the Code and
the design guidelines, and better clarify HPC roles
and responsibilities.
Policy 2. Continue to refine and administer design
guidelines so that the integrity of setting and
context is maintained around historic resources,
and that new development is compatible. Ensure
that design guidelines reflect—and are tailored
to protect—the significance criteria for which a
property is designated.
Policy 3. Analyze design review practices to
ensure that they are generally compatible with
the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the
Treatment of Historic Properties, especially with
regard to maintaining historic integrity.
Policy 4. Analyze the Downtown Design District
and the Commercial Historic District. Review
the existing Commercial Historic District design
guidelines manual to determine if it meets the needs
of the larger design review area. At minimum,
revise the introductory material to better fit its
current use.
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources 5-29
Policy 5. Evaluate the potential expansion of the
Commercial Historic District to include properties
designated in 1992 that may now be potentially
eligible within the 50-year local designation cut-off.
Policy 6. Explore interim protection as a tool for
evaluation of threatened properties eligible for
local designation.
Policy 7. Create and adopt design guidelines
for evaluation of critical historic landscapes and
viewsheds.
Policy 8. Encourage new development that retains
and conserves many types of resources, including
historic landscapes and archaeological sites.
Policy 9. Promote preservation as a means of
achieving sustainability by reducing demolition
waste and reducing the need for additional raw
building materials. Support adoption of new
technologies that make Stillwater more sustainable,
including solar devices and electric charging
stations.
Policy 10. Develop a financially feasible mothballing
program for key resources requiring protection,
including acquisition by the City or others, until
suitable uses or owners are found.
Policy 11. Develop appropriate mitigation activities
in cases where an important historic resource is lost
or compromised.
Objective 4
Incorporate Stillwater’s cultural and heritage
preservation goals in all city department initiatives,
policies and practices.
Area: Preservation Integration
Policies:
Policy 1. Strengthen heritage preservation and land
use regulations to align with City goals, current
preservation practices, and emerging historical
contexts.
Policy 2. Work with city officials and planners
to revise and clarify heritage preservation and
zoning ordinances as they relate to the duties of the
Heritage Preservation Commission. Eliminate City
James and Rose Spencer House, 205 Walnut Street E. (ca.
1870), in 2016.
Code inconsistencies, strengthen the connection
between the Code and the design guidelines, and
better clarify HPC activities.
Policy 3. Encourage preliminary review and early
consultation with City staff to explore appropriate
reuse for historic properties.
Policy 4. Address the need to provide operating
budget for professional services for long-term
projects, such as local designation studies.
Policy 5. Increase staff capacity and resources
related to implementation of historic preservation
plans and objectives.
Policy 6. Establish a yearly internship program to
assist HPC staff with special projects.
Policy 7. Improve current archiving of historic
property records in City Hall, including
reconnaissance-level surveys currently only on
paper. Conserve records of Rivertown Restoration
Inc. and other early preservation organizations and
efforts.
5-30
PLAN OF STILLWATER
Chapter 5 : Historic Resources
Objective 5
Promote historic preservation as an economic
development tool.
Area: Preservation Partnerships
Policies:
Policy 1. Promote investment in cultural and historic
resources that reflect broader City priorities.
Policy 2. Continue to incorporate historic and
cultural resources into Stillwater’s tourism efforts.
Work with the Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s
Bureau to support the many types of businesses
that operate in historic buildings.
Policy 3. Develop, strengthen and promote
partnerships to accomplish local preservation
goals. These partners may include the Preservation
Alliance of Minnesota, Washington County
Historical Society, Stillwater/OPH Convention
and Visitors Bureau, Stillwater Chamber of
Commerce, Stillwater Public Library, St. Croix
River Association, and the National Park Service-
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway Association,
and organizations that seek to convert properties
into affordable housing.
Objective 6
Develop and promote financial incentives for
preserving historically designated and other
properties important to Stillwater’s heritage.
Area: Financial Incentives
Policies:
Policy 1. Identify financial assistance for
preservation planning and the rehabilitation of
historic properties. Preservation programs may
receive support from Minnesota Historical and
Cultural Heritage Grants (Legacy, Partnership
and Capital Projects Grants-in-Aid), MnDOT
Transportation Alternatives, and the Jeffris
Foundation. Sources of private sector support
should also be identified.
Building rehabilitation resources may include loan
and grant programs, Tax Increment Funds (TIF),
façade easements, façade improvement programs,
and historic rehabilitation tax credits. Promote
these programs and host educational sessions for
owners of historic properties.
Policy 2. Consider financial preservation incentives
for owners and developers of properties that are
not locally designated but that may be highly
important to the city’s heritage.
Policy 3. Consider subsidizing architectural
assistance for property owners who face challenging
maintenance and remodeling issues.
Objective 7
Develop and expand recognition programs related
to heritage preservation activities.
Area: Recognition
Policies:
Policy 1. Continue to recognize outstanding
projects, programs, organizations, and individuals
that have significantly contributed to Stillwater’s
heritage, broadened the appreciation of its history,
and enhanced the urban environment. Include
preservation partners and elected officials in the
annual preservation awards programs.
Policy 2. Recognize the rehabilitation and
maintenance efforts made by the owners of historic
residences, and determine what kinds of “awards”
are most effective and appreciated. Providing
technical information and assistance, for example,
may be more useful than a plaque or similar
recognition.