#491 – Dick Bernard: Heritage. An Old House on the Winter Solstice
UPDATE: December 21, 2012: December 9 it was snowing on Heritage House, and it appeared unofficial winter had arrived. I include a photo December 9, and another taken today at noon at Heritage House as well. They are near the end of this post. The album which follows includes 48 photos. Click on any photo to enlarge it.
UPDATE: November 7, 2012: This date I went over to Heritage House to do my November photos. As the below shows, I’ve been doing these photos each month for over a year. Today was a fall day at Heritage House, overcast, cool but not cold. A feeling of coming winter, but only subtle hints of things to come. Todays trip I noticed some new information pieces about the history of the site and some explanation of its features. These are posted at the end of this page.
Here’s the original post from Dec. 22, 2011
click on all photos to enlarge them
Dec 21, 2011, 4:30 p.m.
Last August I looked for an outdoor place to do some reading.
There were a number of options in my town. Ultimately, Marsh Creek Park at the corner of Lake Avenue and Radio Drive in Woodbury spoke most convincingly. I drove near it most every day, and the little pioneer house that was its centerpiece always beckoned, but I had never actually been in there.
So, in mid-August I drove in the parking area, got out my folding chair, found a spot and started to read a book, an hour or so at a time.
Several books and two months later I packed up for the winter. But I’ll be back.
The first day I was there, I took several photos, one of which follows (click to enlarge):
1870 house at Marsh Creek Park, Woodubry MN August, 2011
The site is maintained by the Woodbury Heritage Society* and during my times there I watched people from the Society doing this and that, as well as touring (such as one can ‘tour’) the one room house (there is an upstairs, but that is closed to visitors).
The succinct history of the home, provided by the Heritage Society says that it “was built about 1870 as an attachment to the log cabin home of original property owner Frederick Raths. Raths emigrated from Germany in 1853 and purchased the Woodbury property in 1866. This addition was used by the Raths family as a kitchen and living quarters. Over the years, it has also been used as living quarters for farm hands, and as a washing room and utility room.” An earlier log structure had been attached to the house, but many years ago was removed.
As settlers to this area go, Raths was among the earlier arrivals. Minnesota became a state in 1858; the railroad didn’t even reach St. Paul until about 1867. In 1870, St. Paul’s populations was about 20,000, about a third of Woodbury’s current population. St. Paul was Minnesota’s largest city: Minneapolis/St. Anthony together did not equal the population of St. Paul in 1870.
Tours of the house are given in the summer months, but the Raths and other had to live in the dwellings of the time year round. I keep that in mind as I pass near the pioneer house every day. We romanticize what had to have been an extraordinarily difficult existence for those who came before.
Have a wonderful Christmas.
* – Woodbury (MN) Heritage Society, 8301 Valley Creek Rd, Woodbury MN 55125, 651-714-3564
The garden in the yard of the house Sep. 22, 2011.
December 21, 2011, 4:30 p.m.
NOTE: Earlier this fall I did a multi-part post on the general topic of ‘heritage’. It begins on October 5, here.
My two messages for Christmas 2011, here.
UPDATE January 7, 2012
above and below: Sunrise at Heritage House 7:50 a.m. January 7, 2012
UPDATE March 23, 2012: a single snowy day in February, and the day after “Spring has sprung”
Feb. 29, 2012: the only day with snow in February in Woodbury MN
Spring begins to spring at Heritage House,Woodbury MN, March 23, 2012
At the front entrance to the house, in memory of the pioneers.
Heritage House March 23, 2012
Spring Flower seen at Heritage House front yard March 24, 2012
April 2, 2012
Past and Present April 2, 2012
A tree at Heritage House April 10, 2012, “compares notes” with a tree in Albuquerque NM April 10, 2011: here.
Dick Bernard April 10, 2012
6:25 a.m. April 17, 2012
May 1, 2012: Robins and Dandelions, Spring in Minnesota
May 1, 2012 at Heritage House
May 1, 2012 at Heritage House
May 1, 2012
Time to replace 1870s siding...May 22, 2012
Father's Day June 17, 2012
The re-siding project continues, July 6, 2012
July 6, 2012
July 6, 2012, 95 degrees
A sunny July 6, and the sundial was absolutely precise!
From the tree in the yard of Heritage House August 4, 2012
At Heritage House August 4, 2012
Renovation on the House continues August 8, 2012
Look closely for the tiny flowers resting in the tree August 8, 2012
September 17, 2012, nearing Fall.
An old pump. September 17, 2012
Settling in for the coming first snowfall. October 10, 2012
October 10, 2012. Look carefully at the shovel, and the whimsy of some artistic type!
A year in photos at Heritage House completed. Sunrise, 7:07 a.m. on October 12, 2012, at the corner of Lake and Radio in Woodbury MN. Heritage House would be just to the right of the photo, just out of sight to the southeast. You can see the picket fence.
Letter to Editor of Woodbury Bulletin October 31, 2012: here
Nov. 7, 2012 - remnants of the summer garden
Nov. 12, 2012. A morning dusting of snow (which quite rapidly disappeared as the morning progressed.)
Dec. 3, 2012, damp and 55 degrees (average for Dec. 3 31 degrees; record temp 63)
Dec. 3, 2012
Fall falls as the first serious winter show arrives, December 9, 2012
Noon, December 21, 2012
POSTNOTE: Sometime between October 10 and November 7, 2012, the below signs were added at Heritage House, to give a visitor a better understanding of what he/she was seeing. Nice touch.
November 7, 2012
Nov. 7, 2012
Nov. 7, 2012
Nov. 7, 2012 (see next photo)
The Grove, Nov. 7, 2012
Nov. 7, 2012
Nov. 7, 2012
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