Pill Hill is a

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 ...

district in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

. The residential neighborhood encompasses almost 130 houses built on a limestone bluff, predominantly for staff of the nearby

Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...

. "Pill Hill" was initially an irreverent term coined by early local residents which was eventually embraced by the community. Its period of significance is approximately 1885-1937, with the vast majority of the homes being constructed in an approximately 30-year span in the first third of the 1900s. The neighborhood contains houses that showcase a diverse spectrum of Western architectural tradition, with numerous examples of

Colonial revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

Tudor revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

Craftsman style American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its i ...

Prairie school Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

, and

Spanish revival The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish archi ...

homes, and also including fewer examples of Elizabethan revival, French eclectic, Neoclassical, Queen Anne, and Storybook, among others. Notable Minnesotan architects have works represented in the neighborhood, including Harold Crawford (36 houses, including 5 remodels), Ellerbe and Associates (approximately 30 houses), and Edwin Lundie (two houses, both remodels). The original owners of the homes and past residents also contribute to the neighborhood's historic significance, including Nobel prizewinners

Edward Calvin Kendall Edward Calvin Kendall (March 8, 1886 – May 4, 1972) was an American biochemist. In 1950, Kendall was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Swiss chemist Tadeusz Reichstein and Mayo Clinic physician Philip S. Hench, fo ...

and

Luis Walter Alvarez Luis Walter Alvarez (June 13, 1911 – September 1, 1988) was an American experimental physicist, inventor, and professor who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968 for his discovery of resonance (particle physics), resonance states in ...

, as well as numerous pioneers and leaders in medicine who worked at the adjacent

including William J. Mayo, John W. Kirklin, Fredrick A. Willius, Louis B. Wilson, and Alfred W. Adson, among many others. In 1990, Pill Hill was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Homeowners in the neighborhood started a grassroots campaign in 2023 and were successful in achieving a local historic landmark district designation for Pill Hill from the City of Rochester in 2025.

List of Residences in the Pill Hill Historic District

See List of Residences in Pill Hill Historic District, Rochester, Minnesota.

Boundary

The boundaries of Pill Hill are roughly 3rd and 9th streets and 7th and 10th avenues Southwest. The Mayo Foundation House, the historic home of William J. Mayo, is within the district and serves as the neighborhood's boundary to the northeast. The Plummer House, the historic home of Henry S. Plummer, lies just outside Pill Hill to the southwest and is a separately-listed historic landmark. More generally the neighborhood is found between U.S. 52, U.S. 63 (Broadway), Memorial Parkway, and 2nd Street SW. Saint Mary's Hospital is at the bottom of the hill to the northwest of the district.NRHP listing
/ref> Pill Hill Local Map 2025

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Houses in Olmsted County, Minnesota Buildings and structures in Rochester, Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Olmsted County, Minnesota