Ivory McKusick House

Ivory McKusick House
The Ivory McKusick House from the east
Location 504 N. 2nd St., Stillwater, Minnesota
Coordinates 45°3′37″N 92°48′33″W / 45.06028°N 92.80917°WCoordinates: 45°3′37″N 92°48′33″W / 45.06028°N 92.80917°W
Built 1868
Architectural style Second Empire
Governing body Private
MPS Washington County MRA
NRHP Reference #

82003077

[1]
Added to NRHP April 20, 1982

The Ivory McKusick House is a house in Stillwater, Minnesota listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The McKusick family was involved in the lumber business during Minnesota's territorial years and in the early era of statehood. John McKusick arrived from Illinois in 1840 and settled in Stillwater, eventually establishing the town's first sawmill. His brothers Jonathon, Ivory, and Noah moved to Minnesota later and also established themselves in the lumber business.[2]

Several of the early lumbermen in the St. Croix River valley were motivated to build elaborate, monumental houses to boast of their success in industry. Besides the Ivory McKusick house, other houses of industry pioneers include the Roscoe Hersey House, the Captain Austin Jenks House, and the Albert Lammers House. These houses are also listed on the National Register.[2]

Writer Roger G. Kennedy, in his book Historic Homes of Minnesota, critiques the house as an example of a "strenuous and unsuccessful effort toward monumentality". In describing Minnesota's examples of Second Empire architecture, he said, "At its worst, it made small houses look like boys struggling to look out from beneath their fathers' hats."[3]

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Saint Croix NSR: Historic Resource Study (Chapter 2)". National Park Service. October 17, 2002. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  3. ↑ Kennedy, Roger G. (2006). Historic Homes of Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 137.