Warden's House Museum

The Warden's House Museum is a historic house museum in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States. From 1853 to 1914 it was the official residence for the wardens of the Minnesota Territorial Prison, which became the Minnesota State Prison upon statehood in 1858. The Washington County Historical Society has operated the house since 1941, making it the second-oldest house museum in Minnesota. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 as the Minnesota Territorial/State Prison Warden's House for having state-level significance in the themes of architecture and social history. It was nominated for being the only surviving structure of the prison's Minnesota Territory period and the chief remnant of its statehood years.DescriptionThe Warden's House is a two-story building constructed of local limestone. The house is oriented broadside to the east, with a shallow pitched roof and low gables on the north and south end. Architecturally it conveys an early Greek Revival style but with Federal influences. Wood-frame additions were added to the rear in 1870. The house originally had a full-width balcony along the front, which was replaced in 1910 with a two-story porch topped with a gable. Since the building's 1974 National Register nomination, this porch has been replaced with a smaller balcony-topped porch hugging the main entrance.