In 1885, Gilbert Pierce was the Governor of Dakota Territory, the Chicago White Stockings (now known as the Cubs) were the champions of the National League in its 10th season of operation, A, T & T incorporated, Mark Twain published “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, and Johannes Brahms premiered his 4th Symphony. This is also the year our home was built by John Kenkel in what is now known as Grand Forks’ Historic Near Southside Neighborhood.
I’m watching it rain outside from my window, and I’m thinking of the people who lived here over the last century and a quarter- watching the weather at times, no doubt, which is often considerable in North Dakota. What were their struggles, and what were their triumphs? They must’ve celebrated North Dakota statehood some 4 years after their home was built, and the turn of the 19th century to the 20th- how modern that must’ve seemed! Soon a service station would open down the street, as well as the grand churches of the neighborhood. The Civil War memorial was dedicated in 1913 in one of the 2 small triangle parks, they must’ve all turned out for the ceremony in a neighborhood celebration.
Not a grand mansion in the neighborhood, it is constantly revealing its charms and quirkiness. Like many, this home was eventually cut up into a multi-family dwelling, but has been converted back. Over time, we’ve found original woodwork and grand staircase parts, many old doors, and the coal chute, all testaments to the era of pre-statehood Dakota. The street out front was dirt, probably for decades, referred to as the “county road” in the old handwritten abstract and title documents, where horses, carriages, and eventually cars traversed.
I can imagine the home in its sorrow witnessing 2 floods of the century (1897 and 1997), bearing out the Great Depression, sending sons and daughters off to war, the passing of family and friends;  the joy of holidays spent, marriages celebrated, and welcoming new additions to the family into the world- some probably born here at the house. These families all lived each day, pondering the future and leaving a legacy for us. I pay respect to the past imagining their memories and dreams, hoping those 100 years from now will do the same.