204 W Main St
Caledonia, MN, USA

National Register of Historic Places - David R. Sprague & Ellsworth A. Houses

Statement of Significance:

Located side by side not far from the Sprague National Bank, are the houses of Ellsworth Ara and Robert David Sprague, two of the sons of Ara David Sprague whose own house Is gone. The houses are significant for the many commercial and financial activities of the Sprague family as established by A.D. and carried on by E.A. and R.D. As the 1919 history of the county stated, "Ara David Sprague, pioneer merchant of Caledonia, was for many years one of the most Influential men in the whole county, and his life and work are an Inseparable part of the business, financial, agricultural, religious, educational, and social life of the community." Although he became the county's largest landowner, A.D. Sprague Is most remembered for founding, with Jason Easton of Chatfield, the county's first bank. The bank was Incorporated In 1908, a year before his death, as the Sprague State Bank, with E.A. as president and R.D. as cashier. Today the bank continues as the Sprague National Bank although ownership Is out of the family. The daughters of E.A. and R.D. Sprague, however, continue to own and occupy the houses built in 1900-01 and 1903-05, respectively, by their fathers.