Birdseye view of the Stillwater Lift Bridge and the Commander Building in Stillwater, Minnesota. The Stillwater Lift Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge crossing the St. Croix River between Stillwater, Minnesota, and Houlton, Wisconsin. It first opened to traffic in 1931.
The Brunswick Inn is located at 114 Chestnut Street East Stillwater, Minnesota. Known as the Brunswick House, this building was constructed by William C. Penny, a carpenter by trade, about 1848, the same year in which Stillwater was platted as a town and the year the territorial convention took place. In 1849 the first meeting of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) in Minnesota took place in the upstairs of the house. The Pennys sold the house in 1863 to Julius Brunswick. Brunswick, from Switzerland, worked in the mercantile trade.
The Ann Bean house is located at 319 Pine Street West in Stillwater, Minnesota. In 1879, the Stillwater Lumberman in noted ""Edward Hersey about to build on lots at Pine and Sixth."" Behind those few words are numerous associations: the construction of another opulent home for another of Stillwater's well-to-do lumber families, the possible involvement of architect George Orff in his second home for a Hersey brother, and the abundant use of large, eye-catching architectural elements. The Victorian home offers a virtual laundry list of stylistic elements: a tower, a veranda, a gable, a large chimney, and a two-story bay. While calling such an elaborate structure a ""starter home"" seems strange, Edward Hersey did indeed decide to start over with a new home, selling the house to fellow lumberman Jacob Bean in May, 1881 and building a new home at 320 Pine in 1883. In 1889, Jacob Bean was appointed to the prestigious and powerful position of surveyor general of logs, with the St. Paul Daily globe noting he was ""considerably more than half millionaire, and one of the heaviest log dealers in the Northwest. "" (February 3, 1889) As a political appointment, he held this position until 1893. Cynthia and Jacob made a permanent move to the Alhambra home in Stillwater in 1901, and the Lehmicke family became the home's long-term residents. In recognition of Ann Bean Lehmicke's long association with the house, it became known as the Ann Bean Mansion over time.
Looking north from intersection of Main and Myrtle Streets. Three story brick Masonic Hall is on the left. Smoke is billowing from a fire near Staples Mill.
Freight House in Stillwater, Minnesota. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Freight House and Depot is overlooking the St. Croix River on the eastern fringe of Stillwater. The freight house and depot, built in 1883, is a simple vernacular building. Exterior ornamentation consists of a series of arched doors and windows on both sides of the building. Constructed of limestone and brick the building measures 200 feet by 40 feet. The limestone foundation walls measure approximately two feet thick. The brick bearing walls are eighteen inches thick and thirty feet high. (The limestone was quarried in the nearby North Quarry.) Date of its construction is 1883. The mill construction and truss system of the building are significant as examples of .wood structural engineering. The first map of Stillwater (1848) indicates that the present site of the building was once Lake St. Croix. Therefore, the building required elaborately engineered pilings to support the tremendous weight of the limestone foundation and brick walls. One of the most interesting features of the building was its dual use - passenger and freight. The building served as a freight house and passenger depot until 1955.
The home of Gustaf Erickson at 218 Everett Street North in Stillwater, Minnesota. Erickson, the proprietor of Erickson Furniture, was the father-in-law of the Frederick Holcombe, the photographer. Holcombe marred Elizabeth Erickson in the house.