On preserving Minnesota's historical buildings

We've made too many mistakes in the past; let's not make them again

by Thomas P. Hagen

Mankato, Minnesota, unlike other settlements founded in the 1850’s had every natural resource necessary to 19th century success. The Minnesota River had exposed one of the finest deposits of limestone in America. Glaciers had deposited vast amounts of sand and gravel as well as clay suitable for the making of brick. To the north and east of Mankato was the great hardwood forest, furnishing fuel and lumber, and to the west stretched prairies rich with wildlife.

The architecture of the Mankato area was a natural outgrowth of the bounty of its resources. The earliest log houses gave way to structures of stone and brick. Quarries at the north end of Front Street turned out tons of building material each day, and along the river stood kilns to burn some of the stone into lime. The earliest stone buildings were made in a style called rubble masonry and there were scores of them, but only a few remain. The best preserved of these is the Chapman House (1856) in Le Hillier.

Several cut and split stone buildings were erected in the late 19th century and still stand including the Federal Post Office and the First Presbyterian Church, but the treasure of the city was the Blue Earth County Court House. Built in 1887, it was considered to be one of the finest county court houses in the upper mid-west until the interior was gutted in the early 1970’s.

Stone continued to be used for foundations and trim, but eventually Mankato became a city more of brick than of stone. A large number of working class brick homes can still be found on the north end of Mankato, but it was the south end that would sport brick mansions like the Hubbard house (built in 1871), the Roland Patterson house (demolished in 1965), the General Widel house (demolished in 1973), and the Brett mansion (demolished in 1974).

Mankato’s commercial district followed the railroad and hugged the river. The brick Saulpaugh Hotel (demolished in 1970) had elegant Palladian ballroom windows looking out over the Minnesota River. Across the street was the Greek revival style Salet’s department store (demolished in 1970). From this hub of activity at Front and Main, the city stretched north to the stone quarry and south to the slough now occupied by Mankato West High School. The red brick Purrington and Flint pavers in the street mirrored the brick of the buildings lining Front Street. The buildings proclaimed the prosperity of the commercial ventures they contained.

In the early sixties, the first commercial structures jumped the river valley on to the hilltop along Madison Avenue. In an attempt to halt the deterioration of the old central business district the city turned to urban renewal. Under city administrator Bill Basset regional landmarks disappeared. The destruction was wholesale. The State Historical Society said of Mankato in the late 80’s that Mankato had lost more of its architectural heritage than any other city in the state. Pictures speak more eloquently than any list of what was lost.

What replaced the older structures was pitiful by comparison. Most buildings erected since urban renewal are completely unremarkable and without distinction. Notable exceptions to these bland and downright ugly structures are the chapel on the Bethany Lutheran College using native limestone carved in relief by local artist, Tom Miller, and the attempt to match the new Civic Center to the art deco architecture of the Ellerby Building.

The architectural carnage continued into the 90’s. Recent examples of destruction include the old Standard Oil building, the First National Bank (one of the two finest renaissance revival buildings in the state) the Odd Fellow’s Building, and the Schmidt Mansion.

Those who settled Mankato built many of their buildings as a legacy for future generations; an embodiment of their vision of the community, and those buildings became city landmarks and monuments. It is this architectural legacy that makes a city memorable. But they are not valuable only as nostalgic reminders. The structures of the past are essential in order to have a future; for how do we convince the next generation that anything they might create has value when they can see by our actions that we value nothing that has gone before? Destroying the past to build the future diminishes both.

Now, for the first time in forty years an attempt is being made to preserve the city’s remaining landmarks. The citizen’s group, 20/20 has emphasized the need to encourage individual preservation efforts and is asking for the establishment of a heritage preservation commission. We need a commitment, however, to better design in the future as well.

We have never lacked local talent or local materials. What has been lacking was the vision and will to use them. As citizens we need to renew our commitment to both preservation and to the future by building new structures with attention to detail and the quality to last; and by utilizing our local resources, both human and natural, to create distinctiveness. The talent is here. The financial resources have always been here. And the Minnesota stone and clay unique to this area still lie just beneath our feet.