345 Broadway Street
Owatonna, MN, USA

Ezra Abbott House

The Ezra Abbott House is a historic house in Owatonna, Minnesota, United States. It was built around 1860 for Ezra Abbott (1805–1876), an influential early settler of Owatonna. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 for having local significance in the theme of exploration/settlement. It was nominated for its associations with Abbott, who settled in Owatonna in 1855, helped survey the townsite, built the sawmill that produced much of the town's lumber, served as Steele County's first superintendent of schools, and helped advocate for the creation of the Minneapolis and Cedar Valley Railroad.

National Register of Historic Places - Ezra Abbott House

Statement of Significance:

The Ezra Abbott House is locally significant due to its association with one of Owatonna's earliest and most prominent settlers.

This house was built by Abijab Odell for Ezra Abbott who arrived in Owatonna from New Hampshire in the spring of 1855, one year after the town was first settled. Although the exact date of construction is unknown, it first appeared on Steele County's tax rolls in 1860.The Abbott House is unique as one of the first brick dwellings in Owatonna. Bricks used in the construction of the house were brought overland from Faribault. It is one of less than a half dozen remaining solid brick residences built before the turn of the century in a city not noted for brick dwellings.

Ezra Abbott took a prominent role in the early history of the town and county. He and his brother surveyed the townsite and became part owners of the platted area. In 1855 Abbott built Owatonna's first steam sawmill which furnished most of the lumber; for the new town. He was elected Steele County's first superintendent of schools in 1856, a post he held until 1862. Abbott was one of a group of leading settlers (among whom were Franklin Steele, Isaac Atwater, Henry Sibley, and Alexander Faribault) who attended the 1856 session of the Territorial Legislature and succeeded in getting a bill introduced which incorporated the Minneapolis and Cedar Valley Railroad Company. Abbott was responsible for surveying the route and for locating the transit at Owatonna.