The James J. Hill House

On the 6th of October my Interior Design Class was able to venture out to Summit Ave. Our first stop was the James J. Hill House and it is the biggest house on the street.

             James J. Hill is the owner of this magnificent home. He was born in Ontario, Canada September 16th, 1838. He Grew up in a quite poor home with only his Parents, but sadly later on (age 14) only his mother. James had gone to a very nice school and got high education at Rockwood Academy. After his father's death he had to drop out of school and begin working. He worked as a grocer while Reverend William Wetherald taught him English and Mathematics. Later at 17 he moved to the United states to find a better job than Fur Trading. He settled in Kentucky for a couple years as a bookkeeper, and later on moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. He then took up working for a steam boat company. James did not take part in The Civil War because he had no sight in his right eye from an archery incident when he was young. Instead he helped with book keeping and handling freight for his many employers. He learned about trading and shipping from this experience. James had a keen eye with opportunities, he knew he had to go after them. One of the business opportunities, that would change his life, was basically the unfortunate of others. People needed jobs so he decided that people would get more jobs if they helped expand railroads, and this would help new towns get started; where more jobs would be needed. He was the president of his company "Northern Railway Company." Later on he had competition with E.H Harriman's Union Pacific Railroad, but they eventually allied. James J. Hill was married to Mary Theresa Mehgan. They ended up having ten children, and when James felt it was right he gave the company to his son in 1901. He still worked for his company until his death on May 29th, 1916.

This huge home's head architect was Mark Fitzpatrick. The house is now worth 2.5 billion dollars. It is now owned by the Minnesota Historical Society, and they hold tours of the house, and of Summit Ave. The James J. Hill House is considered a National Historic Landmark.

This a picture of what the house used to look like. It was much brighter than it is now. The pollution of coal in the air turned the bricks of the house black or a darker shade of brown. (The coal really gave me a "Batman" feeling for some reason.)

This house really is enormous! The field trip allowed me to see how big, and beautiful, this house really is.