Rensselaer D. Hubbard House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Rensselaer D. Hubbard House
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 Location in Minnesota
Location in the United States
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| Location | 606 S. Broad Street, Mankato, Minnesota |
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| Built | 1871 |
| Architect | Barnard, Silas |
| Architectural style | Second Empire |
| MPS | Blue Earth County MRA (AD) |
| NRHP reference No. | 76001047 |
| Added to NRHP | June 07, 1976 |
The Rensselaer D. Hubbard House, also known as the Hubbard House, is a historic home in Mankato, Minnesota. It was once a large 16-room private house. Today, it is a popular museum. This house was special because it was the first private home in Mankato to have indoor plumbing, electricity, and even a telephone! It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 7, 1976, which means it's an important historical site.
The house was built in 1871 for Rensselaer D. Hubbard. He was a very successful businessman. The architect, Silas Barnard, designed the house in the French Second Empire style.
Contents
History of the Hubbard House
Who Was Rensselaer D. Hubbard?
Rensselaer D. Hubbard was born in Oswego County, New York, on December 14, 1837. His family were farmers from Connecticut. He didn't have much schooling. At age 15, he left home to work on a survey crew for a railroad.
In 1851, he moved to California and worked on a farm. From 1857 to 1858, he tried gold mining in Nevada and British Columbia, Canada. He returned to New York in 1859. There, he worked as a grocery clerk and quickly became a manager.
During the American Civil War, he tried to join the army in 1863. However, he became very sick with pneumonia and couldn't serve. He then farmed tobacco in Sidney, New York. He married Mary Esther Cook during this time.
In 1866, they moved to Corry, Pennsylvania. He started a grocery business again and was very successful. He then moved back to California in 1870. He planned to start a bank, but the economy was not good. So, Hubbard decided to move to Mankato.
Hubbard's Business Success
In Mankato, Hubbard first built a warehouse and worked in the wheat business. In 1872, he helped start the Mankato Linseed Oil Company. He managed this company for 11 years, and it became very successful.
In 1878, he started the Mankato Milling Company. He was its president until he passed away in 1905. This company grew into a major flour milling business. It changed names several times, eventually becoming the Hubbard Milling Company in 1897.
Hubbard and his partner, George Palmer, built a system of 42 grain elevators. These elevators stretched across southern Minnesota and into South Dakota. The Hubbard Milling Company later started making livestock feed, pet food, and special feed products. It is still in business today as part of a Canadian company called Ridley.
Hubbard's first wife passed away in 1877. They had one son. In 1878, he married Frank Griffith. They had two daughters. His youngest daughter, Mary Ester Hubbard, sold the family home to the Blue Earth County Historical Society in 1938.
The Hubbard House Design
The Hubbard House is located on South Broad Street. This area was once known as Mankato's "silk stocking district." Many large Victorian era mansions were built there. The Hubbard House has a basement made of cut stone. It uses brick and wood with special Mankato stone details.
The house was built in two parts. The main part was built in 1871. It has two and a half stories and a unique mansard roof made of colored slate. In 1888, an addition was built. This part is one and a half stories and is in the Italianate style. The front of the house has a porch with classic Ionic columns.
In 1897, Judge Loren Cray built a large mansion next to the Hubbard House. For several years, the two owners tried to outdo each other by upgrading their homes. This friendly competition seemed to end when Cray added a ballroom on his top floor. Both the Hubbard House and the Cray Mansion are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Hubbard House was completely redecorated in 1905. Members of the Hubbard family lived in the home and made changes until 1938.
The House as a Museum
The Blue Earth County Historical Society bought the home in 1938. They then gave the property to the City of Mankato. The city took care of all maintenance costs. This allowed the society to run the museum and keep the old furniture and items inside.
The society used the house as its main museum from 1938 to 1988. During that time, it had exhibit rooms, storage for old items, offices, and a research center. In 1977, a two-story brick Queen Anne Style carriage house (where carriages were kept) from 1890 was moved to the site.
After the society moved to a new building, they decided to make the Hubbard House a museum about the Hubbard family's life. The home was restored to look just as it did in 1905.
In May 2009, the Historical Society finished a twenty-year project to restore the house. It now looks like it did in 1905. The last part of the project fixed the main porch and repaired 56 wooden storm windows. This restoration was paid for by the Minnesota Historical Society, the City of Mankato, private donations, and fundraising.
Inside the Hubbard House
The Hubbard House has 16 rooms. The Hubbards wanted their home to be both beautiful and useful. When the first part of the house was built in 1871, it had a central heating system (a furnace). It also had four bathrooms, which was very unusual for homes in that area at the time.
The house was also one of the first in the area to have indoor plumbing, a telephone, and electricity. Mr. Hubbard wasn't sure if electricity would become common. So, he had lights installed that could work with both gas and electrical power.
The three fireplaces on the first floor are made of different types of marble from Georgia, Spain, and Italy. They also use Brazilian onyx. The library had cotton wall coverings. The parlor (a formal living room) had fancy silk damask wall coverings imported from Paris.
The grand staircase is made of oak wood. It was added during the 1888 expansion, replacing an older iron spiral staircase. A beautiful Tiffany chandelier hangs over the dining room table.
Visiting the Hubbard House Today
The Hubbard House is now a museum run by the Blue Earth County Historical Society. You can visit it for a fee. About a quarter of the original furniture from the Hubbard family is still in the house. Other old furnishings were given by people who support the museum. Much of the wall paper has been replaced with copies that look just like the originals.
Fourteen of the original rooms are part of the museum tour. The carriage house now displays horse-drawn vehicles, old automobiles, and a 1916 fire engine. The gardens around the house are kept beautiful by a group of volunteers called the Twilight Garden Club.
See also
In Spanish: Casa de Rensselaer D. Hubbard para niños
