The Thomas D. Campbell House is a historic

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style log and

wood frame Framing, in construction, is the fitting together of pieces to give a structure support and shape. Framing materials are usually wood, engineered wood, or structural steel. The alternative to framed construction is generally called ''mass w ...

home located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It is significant for its association with Thomas D. Campbell, who became the largest wheat farmer in the United States. It is part of the Myra Museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1879 for Thomas D. Campbell, the house consists of the original 1879 log cabin enclosed within a later

wood-frame addition, which is dated to ca. 1881–1900, with an overall L-shaped floor plan. The home has gabled roofs and clapboard siding. The main facade and south gables are distinguished by lace bargeboards, and the west gable contains a pointed window. A porch extends across the west facade and is supported by turned posts and bentwood arches. It is the only building remaining from the Campbell family's pioneer farmstead. The interior of the house serves as a museum, and is fitted out with turn of the 20th century furnishings befitting a family residence. The chinked log walls and hand-hewn loft joists of the original 1879 log cabin are exposed from within. At the time of its construction the Campbell house was south of the tiny settlement of Grand Forks; it was one of a string of pioneer homes along the Red River, with no other buildings in its immediate area. Associated with the First Dakota Boom and the pre-railroad (pre-1880) era, it is a significant example of the architecture of this period. Log structures were popular at this time due to the expense of hauling cut lumber down the river from the railhead in

Fargo Fargo usually refers to: * Fargo, North Dakota, United States * ''Fargo'' (1996 film), a crime film by the Coen brothers * ''Fargo'' (TV series), an American black comedy–crime drama anthology television series Fargo may also refer to: Othe ...

. The practice of constructing a fairly simple log home, to be supplanted or engulfed later on by a more substantial structure, appears to have been fairly common to the area at this time. The house is notable for being the only

farmhouse in Grand Forks and one of only a few houses of this style in North Dakota's

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

region, and at the time of its enlargement was one of the finer homes in the area.

The Campbell family

Thomas D. and Almira Richards Campbell, immigrants from Scotland and Canada, began their lives in the Red River Valley with a small farm. This grew to include of excellent crop land by 1898. By the turn of the 20th century Mr. Campbell had become a prominent real estate man in the city. The log portion of the home was the birthplace of General Thomas D. Campbell (1882–1966), who was known as the "Wheat King" and owned large tracts of land in Montana and New Mexico. Gen. Campbell was at one time the nation's largest wheat producer, and served in both World War I and World War II. During the latter he developed a napalm firebomb used widely in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Thomas D., House Canadian-American culture in North Dakota Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Dakota Houses completed in 1879 Houses in Grand Forks, North Dakota Historic house museums in North Dakota Museums in Grand Forks County, North Dakota Log cabins in the United States Carpenter Gothic architecture in North Dakota Scottish-American culture in North Dakota Tourist attractions in Grand Forks, North Dakota National Register of Historic Places in Grand Forks, North Dakota Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in North Dakota 1879 establishments in Dakota Territory

The Campbell family

See also

References