The Banfill Tavern, also known as the Locke House, is a historic building in

Fridley, Minnesota Fridley is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 29,590 at the 2020 census. It was first settled as a place named Manomin where Rice Creek flows into the Mississippi river and the Red River Oxcart trail crosses ...

, United States. It was built in 1847 on the east bank of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

and has served variously as an inn, a logging camp office, a private home, a dairy farm, a post office, and a summer home. With It is now owned by Anoka County and, until April 2022, housed the non-profit Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts (now the North Suburban Center for the Arts). The building stands within Manomin County Park, and the art center is a partner site of the

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a and protected corridor along the Mississippi River through Minneapolis–Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota, from the cities of Dayton and Ramsey to just downstream of Hastings. Th ...

. The Banfill Tavern was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976 for its local significance in the theme of architecture. It was nominated for being one of the earliest and best preserved frame

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

houses in Anoka County.

Description

The Banfill Tavern is located on a wooded site near the mouth of Rice Creek. Its floor plan follows an "L" shape. It exhibits Greek Revival style through such architectural features as the six-over-six pane double-hung windows, a tripartite formal entry consisting of a central door with

sidelight A sidelight or sidelite in a building is a window, usually with a vertical emphasis, that flanks a door or a larger window. Sidelights are narrow, usually stationary and found immediately adjacent to doorways.Barr, Peter.Illustrated Glossary", ...

s and a transom, broken-

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s, corner

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s, and slender brick chimneys. As of 2017, both the interior and exterior of the home remain essentially unaltered. The interior consists of a large communal room on the first floor that contains an entryway, dining room, living room, kitchen, and service room. Seven interconnected rooms make up the second floor. The entire structure lacks any form of modern

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. A central heating system has a Furnace (central heating), furnace that converts fuel or electricity to heat through processes. The he ...

. Instead stoves feeding into three chimneys provide warmth.

History

Built in 1847 by John Banfill, the building initially served as an inn and a base for logging operations northwest of

Saint Anthony Falls Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony (), located at the northeastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. Throughout the mid-to-late 1800s, various dams were built ...

. Due to its proximity to Minnesota's first Territorial Road and the

Red River Trail The Red River Trails were a network of ox cart routes connecting the Red River Colony (the "Selkirk Settlement") and Fort Garry in British North America with the head of navigation on the Mississippi River in the United States. These trade routes ...

s, the inn became a popular rest stop for travelers. John Banfill was elected to the

Minnesota State Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are hel ...

for the 1st Minnesota Legislature in 1848. An account provided by E. S. Seymour, a visitor to the tavern in 1849, reveals that in its first years of operation the popular stop lacked adequate stable space. Consequently, many travelers' horses and mules remained in the open during the winter of 1848–1849. By the time of Seymour's visit, Banfill had expanded his stall space to accommodate forty horses and mules. Another visitor complimented Banfill on his "good old sparkling

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

". Travelers filled the Banfill house every night on their way to destinations along the road, including Fort Gaines (renamed Fort Ripley in 1850), the Chippewa Agency, and

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

s, in addition to private homes. Between 1857 and 1875 it is uncertain who owned the property. In 1876, however, William F. Brown married Laura M. Locke and purchased it. The couple maintained a dairy herd and lived in the house while Brown also worked as

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

until his death in 1887. His wife and children lived in the house until 1912, when Laura sold it to her brother, Cassius M. Locke. Locke and his wife Roberta Pratt Locke raised registered

Jersey cattle The Jersey is a British breed of small dairy cattle from Jersey, in the British Channel Islands. It is one of three Channel Island cattle breeds, the others being the Alderney – now extinct – and the Guernsey. The milk is high in butterf ...

on the farm and used it as a

summer home A summer house or summerhouse is a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed t ...

. They made a few additions to the house, including front and rear porches, kitchen and bathroom electrical service, a pump, a water closet, and a sewage disposal system. Most of these improvements took place in the 1930s. Cassius Locke died in 1947 and Roberta in 1959. The property remained unoccupied until 1967, when Anoka County purchased it. In 1988 an

art center Art Center may refer to: * Arts centre, a type of community centre that focuses on the arts * Art Center College of Design, a college in Pasadena, California {{Disambiguation ...

founded in 1979 forged a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sectors, private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Revie ...

with the county to move into Banfill Tavern after outgrowing its original site. The Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts uses the facility in support of established and developing artists by hosting speakers, classes, and

residents In law and conflict of laws, domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law", which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time t ...

in addition to gallery space.

References

External links

Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts
{{authority control 1847 establishments in Wisconsin Territory Arts centers in Minnesota Fridley, Minnesota Greek Revival houses in Minnesota Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Houses completed in 1847 Houses in Anoka County, Minnesota Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi National River and Recreation Area National Register of Historic Places in Anoka County, Minnesota Tourist attractions in Anoka County, Minnesota

Description

History

See also

References

External links