Fire damages historic John H. Stevens house in Minneapolis' Minnehaha Park

The John H. Stevens House, one of Minneapolis' most significant historic structures, was heavily damaged in a Tuesday morning fire.

Crews rushed to the landmark on the south end of Minnehaha Regional Park just before 5 a.m. and found flames coming from the back side of the 2½-story wood-frame house, Minneapolis Assistant Fire Chief Melanie Rucker said.

The fire, which burned through a first-floor wall, was extinguished by 7 a.m. and was largely contained to one room, said Jack Kabrud of the Friends of the John H. Stevens House, which oversees the house's museum. There was no immediate word as to what caused the fire, said Robin Smothers, spokesperson for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, which owns the house. The Minneapolis Fire Department is investigating.

The house sustained extensive smoke, fire and water damage, Rucker said. No one was injured.

"Considering what could have happened, it could have been worse," Kabrud said as he stood at the site Tuesday morning. "The artifacts [inside], the most important things that belong to the Stevens House, are safe and intact. We believe we can save a majority of the pieces."

Originally built along St. Anthony Falls between 1849 and 1850 near where the Minneapolis post office now stands, the house was a civic and social hub dubbed "the Birthplace of Minneapolis." Early settlers met there to found Hennepin County, select Minneapolis as its county seat and create its first school district. Federal judges presided over territorial courts in the house where John H. Stevens, the "Father of Minneapolis" once lived with his wife, Helen, the "Mother of Minneapolis;" and their six children.

"It's more important than people realize," said Lynette Crane, a longtime volunteer with Friends of the John H. Stevens House, which also manages programming at the site. Crane has written scripts and trained docents to lead tours.

"It's a shock. My heart was in this place for many years," she said. "If it were gone, I'd be heartbroken."

Tuesday's fire was the latest setback for the 172-year-old house, which in recent years has suffered from deferred maintenance including rotting wood and peeling paint. With those problems, "the last couple of years has been a challenge keeping the place open," Kabrud said.

But the Stevens House also was in line to get some much-needed repairs. The roof was set to be replaced later this summer, Kabrud said.

The Park Board took ownership of the house in the mid- to late-19th century — the exact date is unknown — and at one time contemplated moving it to Riverside Park. Instead, in 1896 the board orchestrated the move to what is now Minnehaha Regional Park with muscle provided by 10,000 Minneapolis public school students tugging on huge ropes in relay fashion.

The house was relocated to a new part of the park in July 1982, when the Junior League requested it be moved to a permanent location near the 1875 Minnehaha Depot, a restored railroad depot, and the 1907 Longfellow House, a replica of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home in Cambridge, Mass. Following that move and restoration by the Junior League in 1985, the house opened as a public museum, Smothers said.

A statue originally dedicated to Stevens in 1911 also stands near the Stevens House. In the resolution accepting the statue, Parks Commissioner Portius Deming said that it portrayed a man who "rocked the cradle of Minneapolis in its infancy" and who was "loved for his generous character, gentle personality and unblemished life."

In recent years, the museum has pulled back from offering daily public tours but has continued to offer them upon request, Kabrud said.

The path forward was unclear Tuesday as park board officials surveyed the damage. But Kabrud said the house, boarded up after fire crews left the scene, "will stay around."

Though saddened to see it in its charred condition, Crane said she can't imagine the Stevens House won't be restored. And she hopes the fire will rekindle interest in the building at the center of Minneapolis' history.

"It's incredible that people don't know about it," she said. "I hope this will bring attention to this treasure."