Walk down a Litchfield street and you’re likely to find countless monuments to the city’s early history.

To get a close-up view, take a tour and uncover some interesting architecture as well as personal history.

Stop by the Grand Army of the Republic Hall, 308 Marshall Ave. N., and pick up a driving/walking tour featuring some of the town’s most impressive historic homes. Museum hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For information, call (320) 693-8911.

To learn more about residential architecture in Litchfield, take the following driving — or walking — tour featuring some of the town’s most impressive historic homes.

Litchfield was founded in 1869. It was established as the county seat of Meeker County due to the railroad built by Mr. Litchfield and his brothers in the 1860s. Prior to that time, Forest City, a town six miles north, had been the county seat, but citizens determined that a city next to the railroad would be more convenient and have a better economical base. The homes on this tour are from the 1869-1920s era. This was a time of great change and growth out here on the Northern Plains.

The tour begins on Marshall Avenue, with the G.A.R. Hall on your right and Central Park on your left.

Go north on Marshall Avenue three and a half blocks, and on your left is,

611 Marshall Ave. N.
This early 1920s, English Tudor Revival home was built by F.R. and Dora Lasely, who moved from Minneapolis to Litchfield to manage the Litchfield Woolen Mills. Now a bed and breakfast known as The Marshall Estate Bed and Breakfast, it features hardwood floors, built-in China cabinets with lead/beveled glass, hand-crafted woodwork, a fireplace and a curved window with seating. Feel free stop in for a tour.

Go back (south) one block on Marshall Avenue and turn left onto Fifth Street. On the corner to your left is,

503 Holcombe Ave. N.
A distinctly Victorian home, originally the Morrison House, this home is an excellent example of a style referred to as the “Painted Lady.”

Turn left here onto Holcombe Avenue North and proceed one block to Sixth Street East, turn right, go one block and turn right onto Armstrong Avenue North. On your left is,

518 Armstrong Ave. N.
This home was built in the late 1800s by August Lenhardt. This family built the Litchfield Brewery and owned Lenhardt Hotel and many of the first lots surveyed in Litchfield after the town was laid out.

Four doors down also on the left side of the street,

506 Armstrong Ave. N.
A two-story house with a large porch, this home was built in 1908 and has remained virtually unchanged inside and out. It is an excellent example of Victorian architecture featuring a dignified home with a wrap-around veranda porch, artistic windows and a large, quiet yard.

If you look to your right,

Fifth Street and Armstrong Avenue
You see a large Tudor-style home. August T. Koerner, a prominent business and political leader, built this home in 1894. The large round turret is one of the more striking characteristics of this home. Through the years, this home has been extensively remodeled. Mr. Koerner, the original owner, also served as Minnesota state treasurer in the late 1800s.

Proceed onto the next block, three doors down on your right and you will see,

413 Armstrong Ave. N.
This large red brick house was built by Peter Hanson as a wedding gift to his daughter, Nellie, when she married Mr. March in 1905. It has a ballroom on the third floor and the light oak woodwork throughout remains in impeccable condition. There is a servants’ staircase, a fireplace in the master bedroom and a large beautiful dining room with 10-foot ceilings.

Next door on the corner is,

405 Armstrong Ave. N.

Completed in 1904, local folks call this home “the Red Castle.” Peter E. Hanson, the original owner, had the home built while he served in the Minnesota Senate from 1895-1898 and as Secretary of State from 1901 to 1907. It is interesting that the state Capitol in St. Paul was being built at the same time as this home. The original tile roof of this home (some of which you can see on the turret) was the same color and design as the tile used on the roof of the capitol building. The house has five fireplaces, a grand stairway, an oak dining room, and cherry woodwork throughout. The outside walls are quadruple-brick for insulation. It was the original owner of this home, Mr. Hanson, who built the home we saw next door for his daughter, Nellie, when she married.

Across the street on the corner you will see,

406 Armstrong Ave. N.
This home was built about 1888 and is where John T. Mullen, a well-known Litchfield merchant, lived. This home to this day is unchanged inside and out.

Proceed to the next block and immediately on your left at the corner,

326 Armstrong Ave. N.
Built about 1910, the architecture of this home is untouched since construction. It is a lovely home inside with a quiet breeze coming in from the curved porch during the summer months.

Next door,

320 Armstrong Ave. N.
This home was constructed between 1910-1915. Its turret is an example of the Victorian Era. The home was once owned by Fred Richter, a former Litchfield mayor.
Go to the next corner and turn right onto Third Street. Across the street on your right, you will see a large yellow brick home.

307 Holcombe Ave. N.
Built about 1895 by a prominent banker named O.H. Campbell, this house was once known as the “Raven’s Nest.” From 1920 to the late 1940s, it was used as a nun’s conservatory, and many people in Litchfield remember taking piano lessons there. It remains unchanged and a stark example of the fortress style of Victorian homes of the 1890s. It is built of yellow brick produced in Litchfield during that time.

Continue on Third Street to the stop light and turn left onto Sibley Avenue North.

As you drive through downtown, notice on your right the office of the Litchfield Independent Review. Litchfield had a population of 1,000 in 1876, the year the newspaper began and the year of the Grasshopper Plague. The grasshoppers were so thick on the railroad tracks, it took three hours to go 5 miles. The grasshoppers died, but the newspaper has not. The Independent Review is 132 years old, and has published more than 6,500 issues. Some of the original subscriptions were paid for with cordwood or muskrat skins at a time when ox teams were a common sight here on the streets of Litchfield.

Follow Sibley Avenue across the railroad tracks to the second house on your right.

206 Sibley Ave. S.
This little gingerbread style home has an interesting history. It was built in Forest City about 1865. In 1869, when Litchfield was established, the house was moved to its current location. It’s hard to imagine this house being 130 years old, and it’s also hard to imagine this house being “moved” in 1869.

Next door,

210 Sibley Ave. S.
Fred Kopplin, owner of a lumber yard and sash company, built this home in 1894. It was the last house to the south of the city to receive city steam heat and even has ducts leading into the garage. The owners have done extensive restoration work on this home. This stately Victorian home does show some of the “painted lady” style we saw earlier.

Turn right at the end of this block onto Ripley Street West. Follow Ripley five blocks to Donnelly Avenue South. Turn left onto Donnelly and at the far end of this block on the right corner, you will see,

326 Donnelly Ave. S.
This lovely house has been the home of two famous Meeker County residents. It was built in 1893 and stood on the corners of Swift and Ripley avenues. Many years later it was moved here to Donnelly Avenue. One well-known resident was Gale Sondergaard. Miss Sondergaard was an Academy Award winning actress and starred in many movies including: “Maid of Salem,” “The Letter,” “The Cat and The Canary,” “Anna and The King of Siam,” and “Anthony Adverse” for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1936. She also starred on Broadway. She lived in this home with her family during early childhood. Later on, this was the home of Bernie Bierman, famous football coach of the University of Minnesota Gophers. He played football for the Litchfield team and went on to play left end for Minnesota. He coached at Tulane University and in 1932 took his team to the Rose Bowl. He returned to Minnesota to coach the Gophers and brought on what was to be known as the “Golden Era” of Minnesota football. The house was restored, and is a great example of the Victorian design.

Turn left here onto West Weisel Street and drive five blocks to Sibley Avenue. Turn right onto Sibley. Drive three blocks. Just past the hospital on the right corner pull curbside.

700 Sibley Ave. S.
This lovely home was built in the late 1920s and is a perfect example of what is known as Craftsman Architecture. We have several homes in our town of this style from the early 1920s era.

Proceed to the far end of this block to,

724 Sibley Ave. S.
The Rosemary Home. This was the home of Dorothea Kopplin and her family. Mrs. Kopplin lived from 1898 to 1970. She was a mother, teacher, homemaker and author. She was Minnesota Mother of the Year in 1949. In accordance with her will, her home became a home for nursing students, nurses and business women. This was done in memory of her daughter, Rosemary, who died of leukemia at age 6. Her daughter’s bedroom is a small room at the front of the second floor and is still furnished as it was when the child lived there. Mrs. Kopplin wrote “Something to Live By” in 1945 with all royalties being donated to the Minnesota Federation of Women’s Clubs for nursing scholarships. The home was built in the late 1890s and has a permanent caretaker living on the grounds.

Go to the next block and immediately on your right is,

806 Sibley Ave. S.
This lovely, large home was built in 1906. The garage replaces what was once the livery barn which had room for two horses and one carriage. An irony to this home is that it was built by Hans Christian Larson who sold it to Jane Larson who later sold it to the current owner, Alva Larson. It has had three owners, all named Larson and none related.

At the end of this block, just before the Methodist Church, and again on the right, you will see,

910 Sibley Ave. S.
This Victorian home was built in the late 1800s, and was the first house in Litchfield to have running water. It was built by Mr. Sweetman who had an oil business. The property includes a goldfish pond and a windmill, which was used to pump water into a storage tank in the attic and provided running water to the house. The interesting garage behind this house was built in 1940 to replace the large, old barn which had to be torn down. This property once extended back three blocks to Swift Avenue. The house has been well maintained and retains its distinctive Victorian appearance.

Proceed several blocks down Sibley Avenue to Anderson Gardens, on your right, beside Lake Ripley.

If you wish, you may stop at this time and take a walk through these lovely gardens. Parking is allowed on your right and there is a small parking and turn-around area just ahead, also on your right. In the park is a gazebo built where the ferry boat landing once stood in the late 1800s. The ferry boats would tour around the lake during summer months. Atop the gazebo you will see what was once the cap of a turret from a large, prominent home in Litchfield. When the home was demolished, a good citizen with foresight rescued the turret cap so it could be used somewhere in Litchfield in the future. This is its new home.

To continue the tour, turn around and head north on Sibley Avenue, in the direction from which you came. As you proceed down Sibley Avenue about five blocks, you come to the corner of McQuat Street and Sibley Avenue.

805 Sibley Ave. S.
This large English Tudor style home was built in 1910 and was once the home of Dr. Karl Danielson. Dr. Danielson is remembered for swimming in Lake Ripley nearly every day of his life, even in winter. He lived to be 90 years old.

Continue down Sibley Avenue about four blocks to Weisel Street, pull right curbside and on your left you will see,

316 Sibley Ave. S.
Currently Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home, this home was built by B.P. Nelson in 1903 as a family residence. There was a tennis court on the south side of the home and a three-stall carriage house on the north. The third floor was a ballroom with dance parties still being held there in the 1930s and ’40s.

Next door is,

310 Sibley Ave. S.
This lovely Victorian home was built in 1899. The owners have extensively researched the house, even to the reading of old newspapers, to learn this house cost $2,000 to build. Few changes have been made to the interior. In the dining room of this home is a beautiful fireplace. It is artistic from floor to ceiling with several different types of woodwork combined with copper inlay for a mantle. The house has five original ornate windows, and a maplewood mosaic on the entryway floor.

Next door you will see,

304 Sibley Ave. S.
This two-story red brick office building was once a home built in the late 1880s. It was the home of a well-known, successful brewer who operated a large brewery on the north shore of Lake Ripley. Not to be outdone, his brother founded St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Litchfield. Despite this home becoming an office, little has changed in the outside appearance. The architect was careful to add to the building without destroying the original presentation.

Turn right on Weisel Street. Proceed east three blocks to Armstrong Avenue. The house in front of you:

403 Armstrong Ave. S.
Built in 1889 by C.W. Wagner, then owner of the Litchfield newspaper and the man for whom Wagner Elementary School is named, his wife Emma Chandler Wagner and their only daughter, Harriet. Following the deaths of her parents, Harriet lived in the house for part of each year, spending the rest of her time traveling abroad. Changes made through the years include the addition of a fireplace in the front parlor, the partial enclosing of the front porch, and a first-floor back room with an upstairs enclosed back porch.

The home’s present owner, Neil Brodin, is owner of Brodin Studios Inc. in Litchfield. He purchased the house in 1999, and has worked to restore the interior to its Victorian glory.

Turn around and head back west on Weisel Street to Sibley Avenue. Turn right on Sibley and proceed to the middle of the block where you will see:

215 Sibley Ave. S.
David Gebhard’s “Guide to the Architecture of Minnesota” (1977) describes this home as an “Eastlake style frame clapboard house with extensive turned work on the Queen Anne porch.” It was built by Mr. McClure, a well-known Litchfield banker, in 1890. It has only changed owners once, and remains so close to its original condition that the original oil cloth wallpaper is still on the walls in the dining room, along with tin ceilings in the kitchen and bath.

Proceed to Third Street and turn right at the stop light. Drive one block and turn left onto Marshall Avenue. The GAR Hall where we began this tour is on your right and is your final destination.

Compiled by the Meeker County Historical Society