Old Landmark Burns - Minneopa House Hotel [old Barrett House], Mankato, 
Blue Earth Co., MN December 1902

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Old Landmark Burns - Minneopa House Hotel [old Barrett House], Mankato, 
MN December 1902

Source: Newspaper
Mankato Daily Review
13 December 1902
Page 4: Column 2; Reads as follows:

OLD LANDMARK BURNS

The Minneopa House Caught Fire this Morning and is Badly Damaged.

IT WAS BUILT IN 1858.

Fire is Supposed to be the Result of a Defective Chimney - Hotel was First 
Built in West Mankato and Moved to Present Location.

The Minneopa Hotel, corner of Second and Cherry streets, one of the old 
landmarks of Mankato, was so badly damaged by fire this morning that the 
remnant will undoubtedly be torn away.

It was an old frame building, and it would seem an easy trap for a fire.  
Early this morning Amos N. Riley, proprietor of the hotel, discovered that 
the rafters of the first floor and other parts of the basement were on fire.  
How they caught on fire can only be conjectured.  Possibly it started in 
some way from the chimney flue.  In a few minutes the fire had worked its 
way through the hollow of one wall and was attacking the attic and roof. 

The fire department was called and before 9 o'clock the streams of water 
thrown upon the roof had the blaze safely under control as far as the 
neighboring houses and buildings were concerned.  The boys worked over 
the building for about two hours.  A large portion of the furniture was 
rescued and stored in the Minneopa barn.  A great deal of it was damaged, 
the loss considerably exceeding the insurance.

The building itself was ruined, though one would not know it from external 
appearances.  The attic was almost entirely destroyed, though a large part 
of the roof remains.  The first and second stories were badly damaged with 
fire, smoke and water.

The building is insured for $1,000 with the Theodore J. Williams insurance 
agency.  It was generally considered worth from $1,500 to $1,800.

The building cannot be repaired or rebuilt, as there is a city ordinance 
forbidding the repair and rebuilding of frame structures within the fire 
limits after they have been damaged by fire over 50 per cent of their value.  
These fire limits are included in the main between Willow, Pike, Byron, 
Second and Vine streets.

This old and historical hotel was built in the fall of 1858 by a 
gentleman named Lyons, one of our earliest settlers.  It was built 
on a piece of property back of the present West Mankato school in the 
old West Mankato townsite.  It was at that time one of the most pretentious 
buildings in this section. Mr. Lyons rented the hotel to a Mr. Draper, 
who run [ran] it for five or six years, after which it was again rented 
to Mr. Lard, who conducted it a year or so.

The building was then sold to L. G. Barrett, who moved it to its present 
location and the hotel was run by him under the name of the Barrett house 
for a number of years, when that gentleman moved to Colorado with his 
family.  Miner Porter then leased the hotel and ran it for three years, 
after which time it has been rented to various parties.

Mr. Barrett sold the property to Horace Cummings, of Eagle Lake, he 
disposed of it to Dr. Warner, who sold it to the present owner I. A. 
Pelton.  While in his possession Mr. Pelton improved the house and also 
erected a brick barn on the property in the rear.


[Information in brackets added by the transcriber, William W. Porter 
on 7-19-2001]