16376 7th Street Lane South
Lakeland, MN, USA

Mitchell Jackson Farmhouse

The Mitchell Jackson Farmhouse is a historic house in Lakeland, Minnesota, United States. It was built around 1850. Its second owner, in residence from 1854 to 1871, was Mitchell Jackson (1816–1900). While farming the surrounding property Jackson kept a wide-ranging diary that remains a valuable primary source on early Minnesota settlement. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for its local significance in the themes of agriculture and exploration/settlement. It was nominated for its association with Jackson, whose "acute perceptions and wide range of observations place him above the ordinary farm diarist", in the words of Rodney C. Loehr, who edited Jackson's diaries for publication in 1939.

National Register of Historic Places - Mitchell Jackson Farmhouse

Statement of Significance:

The Mitchell Jackson Farmhouse is significant for its association with its second owner, Mitchell Y. Jackson, whose highly informative diaries have been partially reproduced in Minnesota Farmers 1 Diaries. The book's editor, Rodney C. Loehr, stated "(Jackson's) acute perceptions and wide range of observations place him above the ordinary farm diarist. Few other Minnesota farm diarists showed an equal facility with the pen or exhibited an interest in so wide a range of subjects." The farmhouse provides an important three-dimensional link to Jackson's activities in early Minnesota settlement.

Jackson came to Minnesota in the first great wave of immigration in the early 1850s. His original intention was to go west to Oregon from his home in Wabash, Indiana, but decided to seek opportunity in Minnesota. Railroads threatened the Wabasha Canal and his means of livelihood as a Wabasha businessman. In 1854 Jackson bought the APos Newell farm in Lakeland and named the Greek Revival farmhouse "Cottage Spring" for the natural water supply a few yards from the front door. He became active in Washington County politics, serving as the county assessor (1855-58), and register of deeds (1866-70). He subdivided part of his land to form Jackson's Addition to Lakeland in partnership with St. Paul businessmen in 1857. Jackson's business and social life put him in touch with other important early settlers in the county (J.P. Furber, Lemuel Bolles, and others). His agricultural pursuits were typical of early farmers. He is significant not as an unusual farmer, but as one whose active years in Minnesota are well documented in his diaries.

In 1857, Jackson recorded: "I have now a nice little farm of 67 acres all under fence, a good house, barn, and spring. And if the soil was as good as I should like and I had some wood I think I should call this home." By 1871, though, he gave up agriculture to seek business opportunities. He moved to Iowa, then to Shakopee, Minnesota, where he entered the lumber business. Two years later he moved to Mason City, Iowa, to sell insurance. His life reflects an individual business pattern common with western entrepreneurs, combining agriculture, real estate, commercial trade and often moving from location to location to seek new opportunities.