Fire damages one of the oldest buildings in Minneapolis
Updated: 12:45 p.m.
Fire caused significant damage to the historic John H. Stevens House in Minneapolis early Tuesday morning.
The house — one of the oldest residential structures in the city — remains standing in Minnehaha Regional Park.
The Minneapolis Park Board and the Minneapolis Fire Department said the fire was reported just before 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Firefighters found smoke and flames showing from the rear of the building. The fire on the exterior burned through a first-floor wall and extended into the second floor.
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“Fire crews worked to preserve, cover, and protect historical items inside the structure to the best of their abilities,” the fire department reported.
“There is extensive damage to the house and further evaluation is needed,” the Park Board said in a statement later in the morning.
The fire had been extinguished by 7 a.m. Tuesday, and crews were boarding up the damaged building. There was visible fire damage to the exterior on the rear of the house.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. There were no reports of injuries.
The white clapboard wooden structure was built by Stevens in about 1850, reportedly the first wood frame house on the west bank of the Mississippi River in what was to become Minneapolis.
The house was relocated to Minnehaha Park in 1896 “in a most unusual display of civic participation,” according to a Minneapolis Park Board history. “The house was pulled by an estimated 10,000 school children, tugging on huge ropes in relay fashion.”
It was moved again in 1983 — a couple hundred yards to a lot near the park's Princess Depot. The Stevens House has been open for tours several afternoons a week.
It was already slated to get a new roof this fall, with siding and trim repairs planned for 2023.