252 7th St W
St Paul, MN 55102, USA

Justus Ramsey House

Justus Ramsey House
By Caroline Daykin with research support from Historic Saint Paul

Nestled among the bustling restaurants and bars of West Seventh Street is the city's oldest standing private residence, the Justus Ramsey House. Built in 1852, the small limestone residence now sits in the patio of Burger Moe's restaurant.
Justus Ramsey came to Minnesota in 1849 with his brother Alexander Ramsey, who had been appointed Minnesota's first territorial governor. There is no evidence that Justus ever lived in the house himself, opting instead to rent it out to fellow pioneers.

The St. Paul that the Justus Ramsey House began its life in was very different from the current city. By 1857, St. Paul had only 343 buildings. Stores, lumber yards, cattle pens, and residences housing all social classes were located in close proximity to each other.

One of the earliest occupants of the Justus Ramsey House was Robert A. Smith, who arrived in St. Paul in 1853 to serve as a secretary to his brother-in-law, Territorial Governor Willis A. Gorman. Smith went on to hold subsequent government positions at the territorial, county, and city level.

Justus Ramsey himself held public office. He was elected to the Territorial House in 1851, in 1853 as a member of the Opposition Party, and in 1857 as a Republican. Other civic involvement included serving as secretary for the first St. Paul Mason’s Lodge. He lost the house in 1859 after his investments took a downturn following the Financial Panic of 1857.

The Justus Ramsey House is representative of St. Paul’s Pioneer Era houses. Before the railroad arrived in 1862, building materials were limited and houses were often constructed of locally quarried limestone.

Platteville limestone, which is unique to southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin, was often quarried at the site of the new house. Although Platteville limestone was easy to quarry because it breaks easily, it was considered to be undesirable since it was too crumbly to be carved or polished, and its use was discontinued after other building materials became available.

Cite this Page
Caroline Daykin, “Justus Ramsey House,” Saint Paul Historical, accessed June 22, 2022, https://saintpaulhistorical.com/items/show/413.

National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

Built between 1855 and 1857 and a well-preserved representation of an early pioneer cottage, the stone building, known commonly as The Justus Ramsey House is an excellent example of frontier stone craftsmanship.

Justus Ramsey, brother and business/real estate partner of the Minnesota political giant, Alexander Ramsey (see nomination form for the Alexander Ramsey House) is commonly attributed to having built this house as his first residence. However, a check of the Minnesota Historical Society's Ramsey manuscripts, a collection of business and personal records for both brothers reveals that the first reference to the building is a lease in 1857 to a well-known historical family in early Minnesota. Also, a thorough check of the early St. Paul city directories and land transfer records fails to uncover any evidence of a Ramsey residency. They do, however, reveal that the building was constructed during Ramsey's ownership. This is further reinforced by a check of the city real estate tax records which show a major tax increase for 1857.

Ramsey lost the building in 1859 as a result of the financial crash which nearly bankrupted the embryonic state, and the stone house then went through a lengthy series of land transfers until the turn of the century. The house has traditionally been used as Income property since its earliest days and has served as a residence for some of St, Paul's most colorful pioneers. The Munger brothers, a family who later became millionaires, trading in grain issues at Duluth, Minnesota are the first recorded residents. One brother, W. A. Munger is especially well known for he is locally attributed to having commissioned Dan Emmett, the brother of the state's first Supreme Court Justice, Lafayette Emmett, to write the famous song "Dixie," This apparently took place during Emmett's visit to St. Paul in the late 1850s and a specially requested work for Munger's band, the first private band organized in Minnesota. Should further research prove this true, the house would be the only extant site to interpret this incident.

The house, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was the home of a pioneer clothier, a real estate entrepreneur, and even functioned for a short time as a kitchen for the neighboring boarding house. In the 1930s the house was bought by its present owner and has been used as part of an antique store ever since.

The Justus G. Ramsey House is mainly important for its association with the Ramsey family. Justus and Alexander were tightly associated in their early business dealings and no doubt that the location of the stone house had some part in the location of the first Alexander Ramsey House, the first permanent governor's house, on the lot to the rear. When the stone house first exchanged hands, both brothers owned an equal share of the property.

Architecture Home Place

Photograph of the exterior of a building identified as the Justus Ramsey Stone House. Located at 252 West 7th Street and built in 1855, this residence is the oldest remaining house in the city of St. Paul. This property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.