The Riley Lucas Bartholomew House is a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
in
Richfield, Minnesota
Richfield is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling. An inner ring suburb of Minneapolis, it is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minn ...
, United States, originally the home of prominent early Minnesotan
Riley Bartholomew
Riley Lucas Bartholomew (May 30, 1807 – September 23, 1894) was a Minnesota pioneer and politician who served as state senator from 1859 to 1860.
Riley Bartholomew married Fanny A. Watkins in 1829. He became a merchant in Geneva, Ohio, se ...
(1807–1894). The Richfield Historical Society operates the house as the Bartholomew House Museum adjacent to their Richfield History Center.
History
In 1852, when
Fort Snelling
Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anth ...
was greatly reduced in size, the area that would become the city of
Richfield became available for settlement. Bartholomew came to the area and filed a claim on the shores of
Wood Lake. He proceeded to build the two-story section of the home with local lumber, using white pine for the floors. His wife, Fanny, and two children joined him in the spring of 1853. Soon after the construction of the house, two additions were added by moving two single story dwellings from near
Minnehaha Falls
Minnehaha Park is a city park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and home to Minnehaha Falls and the lower reaches of Minnehaha Creek. Officially named Minnehaha Regional Park, it is part of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board syst ...
and adding them on to the house. Bartholomew went on to become influential in local politics as a member of the Republican Constitutional Convention which framed the
Minnesota Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Minnesota was initially approved by the residents of Minnesota Territory in a special election held on October 13, 1857, and was ratified by the United States Senate on May 11, 1858, marking the admittance of Minne ...
in 1857. He also represented District Four in the
Minnesota 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 ...
.
[ Bartholomew, who earlier in life had risen to the rank of general in the Ohio militia, also joined a company of volunteers during the ]Dakota War of 1862
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several ban ...
.National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
for local significance in military and politics/government for its association with Riley Bartholomew.
See also
*
References
External links
Richfield Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew, Riley Lucas, House
1852 establishments in Minnesota Territory
Federal architecture in Minnesota
Historic house museums in Minnesota
Houses completed in 1852
Houses in Hennepin County, Minnesota
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
Museums in Hennepin County, Minnesota
National Register of Historic Places in Hennepin County, Minnesota
Richfield, Minnesota