321 Park Lake Blvd
Detroit Lakes, MN, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Edgewater Beach Cottages ( Stovewood Cottages )

Statement of Significance:

Within the statewide historic context "Northern Minnesota Resort Industry," the Edgewater Beach Cottages are significant as excellent examples of seasonal tourist cabins intended for summer recreation use, and for their association with post-Depression development of tourism in Detroit Lakes. The Edgewater Cottages gain additional significance because they embody the distinctive characteristics of a scarce method of construction known as stove wood, a technique in which walls are built using short lengths of logs placed in a pile on a bed of concrete. The known use of pre-World War II stove wood construction is limited to a highly concentrated area of the Upper Midwest including northeastern Wisconsin, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, Due to the paucity of this distinctive vernacular building type and the fact that nearly all stove wood buildings are found in remote areas, identification and recognition are vital to their continued survival.

Detroit Lakes came to be known for its outstanding natural features and aesthetic qualities soon after settlement in 1871. The Northern Pacific Railroad greatly contributed to the development and growth of Detroit Lakes and helped promote the city's reputation as the heart of the "Park Region." With nearly 400 lakes, most of which are in southern Becker County, it was inevitable that Detroit Lakes would prosper under tourism. The city is ideally situated on the north side of 3,118-acre Detroit Lake (third largest in the county), with Lakes Melissa, Sallie and Cormorant nearby. Over a thirty-year period between 1889-1919 transportation to resorts and homes on these lakes was provided by several steamboat companies which navigated through a series of canals, dams and locks. As commercial and residential growth edged south toward Detroit Lake the north shore became increasingly popular for recreation. By the early 1900s West Lake Shore Drive, which wound around to the north side of the lake until merging with Washington Avenue, had attracted residents for its picturesque, tree-lined route. The road is inviting today for its public beach area, although the opposite side is crowded with motels. East of Washington Avenue along the north shore of Detroit Lake the city set aside land for a public park, and in ca.l915 built a large beach house.

By 1922 there were about 12 million cars traveling America's roads, and auto camping was a fashionable pastime. Land on which the Edgewater Beach Resort and Cottages was eventually built had limited road access and was privately owned. In 1933 Frederick and Marie Wright purchased lake frontage on which to build a family-oriented resort. Three years later they opened a two-story rustic-styled chateau (no longer extant) that had a recreation room and four bedrooms. Shuffleboard courts and a playground complimented the main building. By the Fall of 1937 they had their first five stove wood cottages completed with steam heat provided by the chateau. Cabins lA-lB were closest to the lake; Cabin 2 had two bedrooms, a living room with fireplace, and bathroom; Cabins 4-5 were built together but not used as one unit; each had one bedroom and a bath; Cabins 6-7 were connected through a porch, 6 had a large living room, one bedroom and a bathroom, 7 was smaller and contained just a bedroom and bath. In 1938 Cabins 8-9, 10-11 and 12-14 were constructed. Considered an unlucky number, 13 was not used. Each building consisted of two one-bedroom, one-bath units under the same roof.

The reason Wright chose to use stove wood for his cottages is not known. Considering the date of construction, it is possible that he or the carpenter Jewell had read about or seen (in person or photographs) stove wood elsewhere. Since the country was still recovering from the Great Depression, perhaps cost influenced his choice of building material. Mrs. Wright indicated in an interview that trees for the buildings were felled just northeast of Detroit Lakes and transported to the construction site by her husband and others. Regardless of their provenance, the Edgewater Beach Cottages represent an unusual and rare construction method. These are the only two known stove wood buildings intact in Minnesota. In classic folk form, Wright and Jewell did not draft architectural plans nor prepare drawings from which to erect the stove wood cabins. Yet the buildings are solidly constructed and exhibit architect-designed, professionally built characteristics from tight mitered joints to the practical solution of joining at right angles the exterior walls.