The Clement Beaulieu House

The Clement Beaulieu House. Main Street, Crow Wing — Self-Guiding Trail. , This building is believe to be Minnesota's oldest standing frame house north of the Twin Cities. It was built in 1849 here, in Crow Wing, then the largest town of the region. This house was actually palatial by frontier standards, and was constructed in the Greek Revival architecture style. Located on this hillside overlooking the river, 150 years ago the house also overlooked the village of Crow Wing, which was spread out along the bank of the Mississippi below. The prominent position of the house seems symbolic of the social position of its owner, Clement Beaulieu. He was not the first trader to do business at Crow Wing, but Beaulieu certainly is among the best known. Many attribute him with being a "founder" of the town. Beaulieu was involved in many trade, mercantile and land development endeavors, and this house was a well-known meeting place for people visiting or doing business at Crow Wing. The town declined rapidly in the 1870s, and house owners Clement and Elizabeth Beaulieu moved to White Earth in 1873. In 1875, Crow Wing school teacher Elizabeth Ayer, noting the absence of the family, wrote "The Beaulieu house…is empty; the yard fence is much broken and hogs and other animals are destroying what they can that is valuable on the premises.", The house is a visual reminder of Crow Wing's colorful past, and it is the area's most prominent architectural artifact of Minnesota's Territorial Period (1849-1858).,

Clement Beaulieu , A descendent of prestigious lines of French and Ojibwe, Beaulieu played an important role in early Minnesota History. Born in 1811, he was a fur trader in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. He was responsible for outfitting a number of American Fur Company posts in northern Minnesota while in charge of the company's Fond du Lac department. He moved his trading operation to Crow Wing in 1849. Upon his arrival, he began not only building his business, but also his plans for the future of the community. He served on the first board of commissioners for Crow Wing County, and in 1856 platted the townsite of Crow Wing. After the Northern Pacific Railroad chose a Mississippi River crossing site where Brainerd developed, he sold his remaining interests and he and his wife Elizabeth moved to the newly formed White Earth Indian reservation.

, The Greek Revival Style , Greek Revival was the dominant style of American architecture from about 1830 to 1860., In the decades following the war of 18 12, as the United States rejected traditional ties to England, architecture symbolic of Greek democracy became popular. The style was spread by professional architects as well as by pattern books and carpenter's guides., One of the most familiar stereotypes in American architecture is the full-colonnaded Greek Revival mansion of the southern states. Cities in the north also had their share of ornate Greek Revival houses and public buildings. In rural areas, and especially on the frontier, designs were much simpler. Typical features include a gabled roof, cornice lines and door lintels with a wide band of trim, symbolizing classical entablature; pediments on the gable ends forming a triangular shape, representing the roof line of Greek temples; a front door surrounded by sidelight windows; corner moldings representative of columns; and double-hung windows arranged with six-pane glazing.