Alexander Faribault House

Infobox_nrhp | name =Alexander Faribault House
nrhp_type =

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caption =
location= Faribault, Minnesota
lat_degrees = 44
lat_minutes = 17
lat_seconds = 27.2
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 93
long_minutes = 16
long_seconds = 0.2
long_direction = W
locmapin = Minnesota
area =
built =1853
architect= Alexander Faribault
added = September 22, 1970
governing_body = Local
refnum=70000309cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Alexander Faribault House, built in 1853, was the first wood-frame house built in Rice County, Minnesota. It was built by fur trader Alexander Faribault in the Greek Revival style. Besides serving as a house, it also served as a civic center, polling place, and a church. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.cite book|title=The National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota|last=Nord|first=Mary Ann|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|date=2003|isbn=0-87351-448-3]

Alexander Faribault, son of Jean Baptiste Faribault, was a contemporary of Henry Hastings Sibley and served as his secretary for a time. In 1835, Alexander Faribault set up a trading venture at the confluence of the Straight River and the Cannon River. He had a relationship of mutual respect with the Dakota Indians with whom he traded, even to the degree of sheltering friendly Indians during the Dakota War of 1862. In 1853, he built a large frame house. His house reflected his prosperity, with nine bedrooms, a music room, a parlor, a sitting room, an office, a kitchen, a summer kitchen, and a sewing room. Part of his wealth came from "traders' claims" stemming from the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, but he was also the proprietor of a sawmill and a flour mill. In turn, he was generous to the community, donating $3,000 to Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple for the church and for Shattuck School. He also donated land for the Seabury Divinity School. He served as a delegate to the Minnesota Territorial Legislature and remained friends with Henry Mower Rice and Henry Hastings Sibley, even though Rice and Sibley were personal and political enemies. [cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Roger G.|title=Historic Homes of Minnesota|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|date=2006|pages=pp. 72-74|id=ISBN 0-87351-557-9]

References

External links

* [http://www.rchistory.org/afarbhouse.html Rice County Historical Society: Alexander Faribault House]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.mn0433 Historic American Buildings Survey: Alexander Faribault House]