604 Chestnut Avenue
Carlton, MN, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Henry C. Oldenburg House

Statement of Significance:

The Henry C. Oldenburg house, located in the town of Carlton in Carlton County, Minnesota, is locally significant under Criterion B of the National Register of Historic Places under the Areas of Significance of Industry and Conservation due to its association with attorney Henry C. Oldenburg. The Oldenburg home relates to the broad statewide context Northern Minnesota Lumbering (1870-1930s). The period of significance for the home is 1894 to 1926.

Henry Carl Oldenburg is one of the earliest Minnesotans to embody the evolving term “conservationist’ during the development of a formal forestry conservation and preservation movement in the United States. Oldenburg’s efforts, which were often an outgrowth of his duties as a legal advisor for the Weyerhaeuser lumber companies, reflected those of other successful conservationists of the era, particularly in his ability to bring together political and business factions in support of conservation efforts.

Oldenburg was a respected politician and gifted orator, achieving several positions of elected and voluntary community leadership. As an attorney, he served a variety of clients throughout his career, but was primarily employed as a legal advisor for the Weyerhaeuser lumber interests, particularly those in Cloquet. He served as a member of the Minnesota Forestry Board from 1911 to 1917, at a time when the use and management of state and national forests were matters of national concern and assisted in the founding of the Cloquet Forestry Station, created specifically for scientific research into forest management. As the chair of the Jay Cooke State Park Commission, Oldenburg employed his mastery of local politics and business relationships, as well as his personal support of conservation efforts, to find the park and ensure its future.

Within these many spheres, Oldenburg notably influenced both the economic and environmental development of Carlton County and the surrounding area, swaying the processes and outcomes of many events significant to Carlton County history. In addition to his work to establish the state park, he is noted locally for his efforts in establishing the town of Carlton as the county seat and in coordinating the immediate and long-term recovery efforts following the 1918 Cloquet fire, as well as his early and enthusiastic embrace of outdoor recreation as a leisure activity.

Traditional biographical data serves as a basic framework for Henry Oldenburg’s life. He was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on September 18, 1858, to Gerhardt and Margarethe Oldenburg, immigrants from Schleswig Holstein, Germany. Three brothers and two sisters survived to adulthood. One of Henry Oldenburg’s obituaries summarizes:
After getting a common school education he left his home at about age seventeen. He worked his way through Ripon College at Ripon, Wis.... He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin, getting his degree is the early ‘80s. He came to Carlton County shortly after, and was admitted to the bar of the then Seventh Judicial district on Oct. 7, 1884... He worked for a year down at Duluth and then he came to Carlton and started the practice of law. He was elected County attorney Nov 2, 1886, and served two terms.

On June 28, 1888, Henry married Mary Elvira Lampson (born 1862) from Seymour, located just west of Green Bay, Wisconsin. A daughter, Margaret Elizabeth, was born on June 27, 1892, and a son, Carl Gerhardt, on May 7, 1894. Carl died suddenly in 1902, a victim of “croup.” Henry lived a full and active life, dying unexpectedly in April 1926 (at the age of 68) in South Carolina, where he had traveled with Mary for (ironically) the sake of her health.

Beyond these dates, Henry Oldenburg’s life and work reflect a transitional era, in which many different groups began to recognize that resources upon which many American fortunes had been built were not limitless. Oldenburg brought with him to this arena interests, education, and a political savvy that allowed him to operate with great success within the rapidly shifting circumstances at this time in history.