Newington Gilbert House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Newington Gilbert House
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The Newington Gilbert House viewed from the southeast
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 Location in Minnesota
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1678 Stagecoach Trail, Afton, Minnesota |
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| Area | Less than seven acres |
| Built | 1864 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| MPS | Valley Creek Residences TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 82003073 |
| Designated | April 20, 1982 |
The Newington Gilbert House is a very old and important house in Afton, Minnesota. It was built in 1864. Back then, it was part of a different small town called Valley Creek.
This house is special because it shows us what homes looked like when people first settled in the area. It also shows a popular building style from that time called Greek Revival architecture. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. This is a list of places in the United States that are important to history or architecture.
What Does the House Look Like?
The Newington Gilbert House is a two-story building made of wood. The first part of the house has a simple rectangular shape.
It was designed in the Greek Revival style. This means it looks a bit like an ancient Greek temple.
- It has flat, decorative columns called pilasters on the front corners.
- There's a wide, decorative band called an entablature near the roof.
- The roof has a triangular part called a gable.
- The windows have straight wooden tops called lintels.
- An attic window at the top of the gable has a small shelf-like hood.
A porch covers the front of the house and wraps around one side. This porch has square columns that match the flat pilasters on the main house. Later, another section was added to the back of the house.
A Look Back: The House's History
Newington Gilbert was born in New York in 1815. He and his wife, Celestia, moved to Washington County, Minnesota, in 1851. They first lived on a farm in Woodbury. Newington worked as a justice of the peace, which meant he helped with local laws and disputes.
In 1857, Newington was part of a group that helped write the rules for Minnesota to become a state. This meeting was called a constitutional convention.
In 1860, he started a gristmill with a partner. A gristmill is a place where grain is ground into flour. Newington sold his share of the mill a few years later. In 1864, the Gilberts moved to Valley Creek and built this house for their family. Newington Gilbert lived a very long life. He passed away in 1912 at 97 years old. He was the last person still alive who had been part of that important state constitutional convention.
The Gilbert House was chosen to be on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. It was one of three early houses from Valley Creek studied for this honor. Another house, the Erastus Bolles House, was also listed.
