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Blue Earth County Historical Society

The Renesselaer D. Hubbard House

The Rensselaer D. Hubbard House, (also known as the Hubbard House) is a historic house in Mankato. Originally a private home, it is currently a museum.

The house was built in 1871 for Rensselaer D. Hubbard, a successful businessman. Hubbard built a warehouse in Mankato and worked in the wheat market until March 1872. At that time he entered a partnership that started the Mankato Linseed Oil Company. He later founded the Mankato Milling Company and served as its president until his death in 1905. The companies combined into the Hubbard Milling Company, which later expanded into livestock feed, pet food, and specialized feed products. The company still exists today.

Designed by Silas Barnard in the French Second Empire style, the house's location on South Broad Street was once part of Mankato's "silk stocking district", which included a number of Victorian era mansions. Built on a basement of cut stone, the structure used brick and wood with Mankato stone trim details. The home was built in two sections. The original section of the main house, built in 1871, is two and a half stories with a mansard roof of colored slate. The 1888 addition is one and a half stories and is telescoped in the Italianate style. The structure features a front porch with Ionic columns.

Hubbard’s youngest daughter by his second wife, Mary Ester Hubbard, sold the home to the Blue Earth County Historical Society in 1938. In May 2009, the Historical Society completed a twenty-year restoration project on the structure, bringing it back to its 1905 appearance. The final phase restored the main porch and refurbished the 56 wooden storm windows. The project was funded by the Minnesota Historical Society, City of Mankato, private donors and fundraising.

The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 7, 1976.

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Blue Earth County Historical Society

A 52 Weeks of Fun Fascinating Fact about The Renesselaer D. Hubbard House

The Hubbard home, built in 1871, was the first private residence in Mankato to have indoor plumbing, electricity and a telephone.

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Blue Earth County Historical Society

The restoration project brought the home and gardens back to its 1905 appearance. The carriage house displays a 1916 fire engine.
Historical Marker Data Base

The Hubbard Milling Company dynasty established a system of 42 grain elevators stretching across southern Minnesota and into South Dakota.
Blue Earth County Historical Society

The house contains approximately a quarter of the Hubbard family's original furniture, with remaining antique furnishings donated by patrons of the museum.
Blue Earth County Historical Society

Judge Loren Cray built his large mansion next to the Hubbard property, and the two engaged in friendly one-upmanship, ending when Cray added a top-floor ballroom.

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