Historic Tour to Stop in Northfield

While Jesse James preoccupies Northfield’s historical consciousness (what with the guns and the robbery and all), an upcoming, coach-borne tour of southern Minnesota’s historic buildings will highlight other elements of the city’s past.

The Minnesota Main Streets tour, which the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota will lead on Saturday, will focus on the architecture of Owatonna, Faribault and Northfield.

Northfield will be trip’s final stop, where visitors will go on a walking tour of downtown’s historic buildings, including the , the , the and the .

The excursion begins at the Owatonna Chamber of Commerce and progresses into the town’s historic center, where attendees will tour the National Farmer’s Bank. The building was designed by Louis Sullivan—an influential architect and critic that mentored Frank Lloyd Wright—and is known as “The Jewel Box of the Prairie.”

After Owatonna, the tour moves to Faribault, home of the Paradise Center for the Arts. Paradise's building was constructed in 1929 on the foundations of the town’s fire-wrecked opera house, and it recently underwent restoration. In addition to seeing the theater’s renovated interior, visitors will explore historic Central Avenue on foot.

Ross Currier, executive director of the Northfield Downtown Development Corp., said the tour will pay special attention to the connections between Northfield downtown’s historic architecture and its continued economic health.

“Each stop looks at the projects at the location—private and public—that illustrate the reinvestment in the historic district to produce sustainable economic vitality,” said Currier. “The preservation of our past has created potential for our future."

Todd Byhre, general manager of the Archer House River Inn, agreed that historical buildings are also important to Northfield’s economic health.

“Certainly in Northfield, and many of the small towns here, historic buildings become the anchor for a healthy downtown," he said. "The Archer House draws in ten times as many people to just look and experience the place than ever actually stay in the building."

The Archer House was built in 1877 and added two new wings over the course of the 20th century. It has been renovated periodically, and the owners have studiously adhered to the hotel’s period aesthetic—to a point. Most of the rooms, for example, did not originally have private baths, but that’s all changed.

“We don’t want to be too period,” Byhre joked.

Hayes Scriven, executive director of the Northfield Historical Society, said that history’s value transcends the economic realm.

“It tells you where the city came from. The buildings have always been here … if you don’t understand your history or the buildings that you're in, you don’t know where you are,” he said.


WANT TO GO ON THE MINNESOTA MAIN STREETS TOUR?
WHEN:  8:30 a.m. Saturday. Registration starts at 8:15.
WHERE: The tour begins at the Owatonna Chamber of Commerce and will stop in Faribault and Northfield.
PRICE: $30 for Preservation Alliance of Minnesota members, $35 for non-members.
TICKETS: Visit www.mnpreservation.org or call (651) 293-9047, extension 2