The Alexander Ramsey 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 ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

, United States; the former residence of

Alexander Ramsey Alexander Ramsey (September 8, 1815 April 22, 1903) was an American politician. He served as a Whig and Republican over a variety of offices between the 1840s and the 1880s. He was the first Minnesota Territorial Governor. Early years and fam ...

, who served as the first

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota and wester ...

and the second governor of the state of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. It was listed on the

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 ...

in 1969. It is also a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the

Irvine Park Historic District Irvine Park is a neighborhood just west of downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that contains a number of historic homes. The neighborhood was platted by John Irvine and Henry Mower Rice in 1849. At the center of the neighborhood is ...

. It is located at 265 Exchange Street South in the Irvine Park area, which was one of the first trendy neighborhoods in Minnesota. Designed by noted early Minnesota architect Monroe Sheire, the house is one of the nation's best-preserved Victorian homes, featuring carved walnut woodwork, marble fireplaces, crystal chandeliers, and many original furnishings. The Ramsey family began building the house in 1868, including innovations like hot water radiators, gas lights and hot and cold running water, and when it was completed in 1872, the total cost of construction was nearly $41,000. To furnish the house, Ramsey's wife Anna filled two boxcars with fashionable and expensive Renaissance-revival furniture from the A.T. Stewart Company Store in New York to bring home to Minnesota. The Ramseys' daughter Marion married Charles Furness in a lavish wedding in the parlor in 1875. The 15-room house remained in the Ramsey family until the death of Alexander Ramsey's last surviving granddaughter Anita in 1964. The house and its contents were left to the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...

, which now operates it as a museum with tours offered year-round. They offer special programs such as "A Victorian Christmas at the Ramsey House" in which the house is decorated for the holidays and visitors can discover how the Ramseys would have prepared for and celebrated Christmas. Tours show the dining table set with the family's

china China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

, with a Christmas tree decorated with the family's own ornaments.

Gallery

References

External links

Minnesota Historical Society: Alexander Ramsey House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Alexander, House Historic house museums in Minnesota Houses completed in 1868 Houses in Saint Paul, Minnesota Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Minnesota Minnesota Historical Society Minnesota state historic sites Museums in Saint Paul, Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Saint Paul, Minnesota Second Empire architecture in Minnesota National Society of the Colonial Dames of America Governor of Minnesota