13600 Pioneer Trail
Eden Prairie, MN 55347, USA

John R. Cummins Farmhouse - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The John R. Cummins House is significant as an example of a "second generation" farmhouse in southern, Hennepin County and for its association with John Cummins, Eden Prairie pioneer and noted local horticulturist.

John R. Cummins was born in Ireland on 24 July 1834 and immigrated to the United States prior to 1850. He originally settled in Media, Pennsylvania, before purchasing land in southern Hennepin County in 1856. The area was organized as Eden Prairie Township in 1858. Here he built a log cabin which he and his wife, Martha, lived in for 23 years before constructing the present house. For two years, 1865-67, he was carpenter at the Leech Lake Indian Agency in northern Minnesota. Active in township affairs, he served as Eden Prairie Township Board Supervisor and Township Assessor, and was a member of the Minnesota Territorial Pioneers. He is noted locally for his horticultural pursuits, contributing many papers on vegetable and hardy fruit growing to the Minnesota Horticulturist, a publication of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. Of special significance is the collection of 60 volumes of diaries written by Cummins from 1855 to 1916. These important documents, which are in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, include descriptions of life in Eden Prairie, weather" crops, grasshoppers and the construction of his home. Cummins retired from his agricultural pursuits in 1908, moved to Minneapolis, and traveled extensively through the United States, Europe, Canada and Central America until his death on 27 January 1921.

The Cummins House significantly typifies a type of fast-disappearing rural residential dwelling in Eden Prairie, a once-traditional rural township which, since its incorporation in 1962, is yielding to ever increasing urbanization. The house stands as a reminder of Cummins' efforts to permanently document and record the course and direction of horticulture in Minnesota and of his dedication to its scientific Improvement.