Andrew John Volstead House

A National Historic Landmark. Built in 1878. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

From the record

“The Andrew John Volstead House is the historic house in Granite Falls, Minnesota, of ten-term United States Congressman Andrew Volstead (1859-1947). It is now managed as a museum and the organizational headquarters of the Granite Falls Historical Society.”
Wikipedia article Andrew John Volstead House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 5 National Register listings published here for Yellow Medicine County · listed in 1974 · category: Building · built in 1878 · a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

National Historic Landmark. The highest federal designation, held by about 2,600 places in the country against roughly 100,000 Register listings.
What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Listed as. Volstead, Andrew John, House - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
Address. 163 9th Ave., Granite Falls, 56241
When was it listed? December 1974
Category. building
City. Granite Falls city
When was it built? 1878
National Register reference number. 74001046 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

1 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Andrew John Volstead House in 2014, burning about 3 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
8 April 2014	Debris and open burning	3.0 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named

Every fire recorded in Yellow Medicine County

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Andrew John Volstead House: 1 unknown, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Granite Falls Prospect	Gold	Unknown	Gold
	Green Quarry and Mill	Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer

Every working recorded in Yellow Medicine County

Storms near this property

37 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Granite Falls, the town this property stands in, in 37 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 17 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 4 tornado, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 15 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 2000	Tornado (F4)	Granite Falls	1 killed, 15 hurt, $20,000,000	The tornado first touched down in rural Yellow Medicine County, 8 miles west, and 3 miles north of Granite Falls. The tornado lifted before exiting Granite Falls, leaving the most concentrated damage path two miles long, and 500 feet wide, through a primarily residential area of Granite Falls. Most of the damage in Granite Falls was caused by F2 to F3 wind speeds. However, this tornado has been classified as a minimal F4 tornado, based on the twisted wreckage of an overturned railroad car near the intersection of 9th Avenue and 14th street in Granite Falls.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	$1,800,000	Widespread wind damage occurred around the city of Granite Falls. Numerous trees, power lines and structural damage occurred in the city with the Yellow Medicine East School District main building sustaining major damage. The winds tore off the heating and ventilation systems on the roofs, opening the duct work to the rain. Water poured through the ventilation system and directly into classrooms, hallways and on equipment. On the south side of the Minnesota River, the Granite Run golf course suffered significant damage to trees and their local restaurant.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	$1,500,000	Several sources from the media, law enforcement and trained spotters reported widespread damage across the city of Granite Falls. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down along with some roof damage to businesses. The area was concentrated west and south of the Minnesota River in Yellow Medicine County.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	$500	Several large tree limbs were blown down.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Trees were downed.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Several trees and power lines were blown down around the city of Granite Falls.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	A measured wind report from a private weather station.
March 2019	Flood	Granite Falls	-	Numerous roads were closed for several days due to snow melt, and the flood waters that develop from it. Rapidly runoff led to impassable roads, especially along streams and creeks along county roads.
July 2016	Heavy Rain	Granite Falls	-	A trained spotter measured 3.42 inches of rain near Granite Falls.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Measured at the Granite Falls airport.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Many huge trees toppled all over town, some onto homes and vehicles. Shingles torn off of homes. Many branches severed, many two to three feet in diameter, and some even larger.
August 2008	Hail	Granite Falls	-	Hail also reported by the public.
July 2007	Hail	Granite Falls	-	Some corn damage reported.
June 2006	Hail	Granite Falls	-	Ground white with hail. Crops sustained significant damage.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	At Granite Falls airport. Reports of trees down between Granite Falls and Hanley Falls along Highway 23.
September 2005	Tornado (F1)	Granite Falls	-	A tornado touched down a mile west of the Minnesota River (about 2 miles west of Wegdahl) in Yellow Medicine County then crossed the river into Chippewa County. Trees along the river bluff were blown onto Highway 212.
September 2005	Hail	Granite Falls	-	Ping pong sized hail fell in section 33 of Stony Run Township.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Large trees were downed onto Highway 212.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Several trees and power lines down.
June 2003	Tornado (F0)	Granite Falls	-	Brief touchdown on the southwest side of the Minnesota River, with minor tree damage. The tornado then crossed into Chippewa County at 1939 CST.
June 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Several eight inch branches down.
May 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Estimated winds. Numerous trees, a few sheds, and two barns toppled.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Estimated winds. Trees and power lines felled.
July 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Trees and power lines blown down. Estimated windspeed.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.
October 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Granite Falls	-	Power lines blown down. Estimated windspeed.
May 1993	Tornado (F0)	Granite Falls	-	A tornado touched down briefly south of Granite Falls downing power lines and destroying several farm buildings.
June 2011	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
July 2011	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
July 2006	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
July 2006	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
July 2006	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
June 2003	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
April 2002	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
July 2000	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
May 1999	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed
May 1998	Hail	Granite Falls	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Yellow Medicine County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 74001046 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Yellow Medicine County	All 5 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.