Saturday, January 09, 2010

The Past Meets The Future

Past Meets The Future Keegan Monochrome Weekly

While at Crow Wing State Park in Minnesota we came upon this house.

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We were pretty interested in it and really wanted to see what was inside. However, the house was locked up tight.

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We had to settle with just looking in the windows and we found it really was not suitable for inside exploration.

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You can see the interesting building techniques of the inner walls, mud and sticks. Also some remnants of very old wallpaper, all in a state of decay…very dilapidated on the inside.  I do believe it is still in the process of restoration.

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It really looks pretty good from the outside and was considered quite palatial  by frontier standards. The house was owned by Clement Beaulieu. Mr. Beaulieu was one of the best known traders of the area and is credited by some to be they ‘founder’ of the town of Crow Wing. This house is protected by the State of Minnesota as a historical site.

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17 comments:

  1. That looks like an interesting place and the outside is in great condition. I like all of the shots but the first one is my favorite with the little explorer ready to venture in.

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  2. That's a very interesting place and I bet the mud in the walls keeps out the cold and the heat.

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  3. The first shot of the little explorer is done in classic style and is just great.

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  4. Take care of the history you have. there are always those who says "tear it all down - it doesn't make money". It is a global problem

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  5. What a fascinating place! Love the dilapidated interior, but my favourite has to be the wee explorer peering through the window slats - all those different lines! Wonderful.

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  6. I love old buildings - used to live in one and was always amazed at the way it had been put together and how it was still standing with little or no foundations!!!

    Nice post!

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  7. It always makes me smile to see something dated in the 1800s labelled as 'oldest building' because of course, 19th century structures are pretty commonplace in England - but I do see that from the frontier point of view, it really is quite something. Imagine people building that with whatever they could find locally!

    It's not just interesting because of the interior wall construction though - I can't see a chimney! Now surely in Minnesota they would have needed some pretty good heating inside over winter, so what did they do?

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  8. What a cool find! I love all of those pictures!

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  9. What a delightful and evocative image that is - the one where the wee lad is trying to look in the window...

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  10. Thank you everyone. Glad you found it an interesting adventure, we did.

    Jay, you do bring up some interesting thoughts. There are actually older buildings in MN, but perhaps not so many north of the Twin Cities area. Of course Indians were here long before the folks who decided to build such structures. And a lot of the older buildings are no longer standing too...this is entitled 'oldest still standing'. Minnesota is North and Center of the continent pretty much. So it took a while longer for people to get going away from the coasts and up in the cold northlands, thusly you see it settled later than the coastal areas. (however, these are pretty obvious statements I am making to be sure.)

    I agree...there are no midevil castles, only forts that I think would even slightly rival some of the castles of Europe.

    This all being an extremely loose answer to your wonderful comments.

    Now on to the 'heating' element which has me going as well. Absolutely if they were going to spend more than 5 months out of the year in Minnesota the'd need heat. That being some sort of fire. However, would not always, at that point in history, have to be a fireplace. The roof on the house has quite an pitch to it and you can not really see the other side. Quite possibly it was a wood stove, perhaps more than one, that was used to do the heating. Coal is also a possibility at that time. Then then there might well be vents (stove pipe) that ran up and out instead of something that looked like a brick chimney. And might not be seen from the side of the house I took the photos from due to the pitch of the roof.

    All that said and done...I don't know and have written the Crow Wing Historical Society about it, asking them, since they are basically the ones who are currently responsible for taking care of the house and any restoration that might take place. I will let you know what I hear! Thank you for asking!

    Thank you to all who visited, loved all the comments and the fact that a lot of you liked different aspects of different photos.

    I appreciate being able to read what you think!

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  11. Definitely the first photo. It captures the moment perfectly.

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  12. Really interesting post! Like some of the others, I love the first shot with the little explorer! I was wondering the same thing about heating???? Great photos! Have a good week!

    Sylvia

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  13. The little boy must have been rather disappointed.

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  14. i love old houses...

    Come and visit my place too, if you have the time!
    have a great day!

    xoxo
    ~Fickle in Pink

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  15. Unoccupied houses exude mystery and intrigue. I find them fascinating. It will be interesting to watch the house be restored, if that is the intention.

    The b&w mode is perfect for this - it suits the period of the house as well as the mood of the photos.

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  16. Wow, so cool! Mud and sticks! We once had "soddies" up here; they literally cut up the sod (grass with dirt still in the roots) to cover their first settler's buildings (roofs). It's really amazing that home is still standing.

    Great photos!

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