BlockBefore
Photograph of Ivory McKusick House
Photograph by McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Ivory McKusick House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

From the record

“The Ivory McKusick House is a historic house in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, completed in 1872 for Ivory McKusick (1827-1906). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having local significance in the themes of architecture and commerce.”

Wikipedia article Ivory McKusick House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 42 National Register listings published here for Washington County · listed in 1982 · category: Building.

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

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Listed as. McKusick, Ivory, House - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. 504 N. 2nd St., Stillwater, 55082
  • When was it listed? April 1982
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. Washington County MRA
  • City. Stillwater city
  • Architectural style. Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada
  • National Register reference number. 82003077 - 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.

The ground it stands on

37,980 words

The chapter on Stillwater City in History of Washington County and the St. Croix Valley Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, published 1881 names Stillwater. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

It is drained by Lake St. Croix, which washes its entire eastern shore from north to south; its average width is about three-quarters of a mile, with a curve in it opposite South Stillwater. From this curve extends a bay into the land, run¬ ning north-westerly about half a mile. The narrow neck or point of land extending between the bay and main lake, is known as Kittson's^ Point. It is covered with a thin growth of oak. On section three are some fine springs, from which flows a small creek, which, extending in a south-eastern direction, and called Perro creek, ^ enters the lake on section 11. The water of this creek is conducted through a race for some distance, supplying the power which runs the Baytown flour-mill. In the western part of the_ town, located on sections 7 and 8 is a fine lake, % covering about fifty acres, called McDonald's lake, in honor of R. McDonald, one of the oldest settlers in that part of town..

Passage source: History of Washington County and the St. Croix Valley Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, published 1881.

Annual town meeting called at school-house No. 14, Marchllth, 1873, Charles 13. Fisk, in the chair. Voted a tax of three mills for current ex¬ penses; elected A. Secrest, J. Whalen and E. Mackey, supervisors; David Cover, clerk. The question of license was again voted on, with one for and twenty-seven against. Annual town meeting called at the school-house in South Still¬ water, March 9th, 1875. Voted to authorize the treasurer to transfer the bounty money in hand, to the road fund; voted a tax of one mill for cur¬ rent expenses; voted two mills for road purposes: elected J. Whalen, A. Secrest and Joseph Perro, supervisors; David Cover, clerk. Annual town meeting was called at the school house, in South Stillwater, Murch 14th, 1876, O. R. Buckman in the chair. Voted a tax of one mill for current expenses, and one and a quarter mills for road purposes; elected J. Whalen, A. Forbes and Joseph Perro, supervisors. Annual town meet¬ ing was called at the old school-house, in South Stillwater, March 13th, 1877, A. W. Smith in the chair. Voted a tax of one and a half mills for current expenses, and two mills for roads; elected J. Whalen, Frederick Albrecht and William Pea¬ body, supervisors. Annual town meeting was called at the old school-house, in South Still¬ water, March 12th, 1878, A. Secrest in the chair. Voted a tax of two mills for roads and one and a half for current expenses; elected A. Secrest, J. Whalen and F. Albrecht, supervisors; 104 votes against license and forty-two for it. Annual town meeting was called at the old school-house, in South Stillwater, March 11th, 1879, Edward Mackey in the chair. Voted a tax of two mills for roads and one and a half for current expenses; elected A. Secrest, F. Albrecht and J. Whalen, supervisors. A vote of sixty-six against license and thirty-two for it. Annual town meeting was called at the old school-house, in South Still¬ water, March 9th, 1880, T. B. Ilopkins in the chair. Voted a tax of two and a quarter mills for roads and one and a quarter for current ex¬ penses; sixty-four votes against license and thirty

Passage source: History of Washington County and the St. Croix Valley Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Stillwater City - 37,980 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

9 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Ivory McKusick House between 2000 and 2020, burning about 31 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 burning4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Recreation and ceremony1
Arson/incendiarism1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
18 September 2000Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSaint Croix National Scenic RiverHECKOFADAY
8 May 2017Recreation and ceremony6.5 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources46
30 April 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
28 April 2003Railroad operations and maintenance2.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 March 2015Debris and open burning14 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 October 2020Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources20337
22 October 2011Debris and open burning3.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Washington County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 22 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 22 workings within 5 miles of Ivory McKusick House: 12 occurrences, 5 producers, 5 past producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Moelter QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Moelter Quarry and MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Houlton Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Houlton Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
North Hudson Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
North Hudson Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Pete Miller Pit No 2Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pete Miller Pit and Mill No 1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pete Miller's Highway 94 PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
St. Croix River Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence

Every working recorded in Washington County

Storms near this property

35 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Stillwater, the town this property stands in, in 35 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 16 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 3 lightning, 2 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2009LightningStillwater1 killedA 14 year old girl was struck by lightning as she played under a tree during a thunderstorm. She later died at a hospital from her injuries.
April 1994Tornado (F2)Stillwater1 hurt, $5,000,000Strong thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and damaged a home in Maplewood. Several trees were blown down in the Lake Elmo area. A tornado touched down west of Stillwater and caused an estimated $3 million damage to 17 homes. Ten of the homes were severely damaged and a 3-year-boy was injured by flying debris.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindStillwater1 hurtMany trees, a light pole, and 6 power lines were downed. A woman riding her bike at Lowell Park along the St. Croix River just south of the historic Stillwater Lift Bridge sustained a serious arm injury when a tree crashed down and pinned her to the ground. Several outdoor event tents nearby were blown into the St. Croix River.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindStillwater$1,000,000Marina damaged. Pier broke lose from shore with 25 boats, some still occupied. Two other piers heavily damaged. Wind damage also reported in Oak Park Heights, Lake Elmo and Oakdale. Large tree limbs and power lines down.
July 2005LightningStillwater$250,000A home on Penfield Avenue North in Stillwater Township was struck by lightning and caught fire. The blaze caused $250,000 damage to the structure. Another home on Ozark Avenue North in May Township was damaged by a lightning strike. The time was estimated.
August 1999LightningStillwater$20,000Lightning strike fried radio, phone, and computer systems at City Hall.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindStillwater$5,000Several trees and power lines were blown down in the area.
June 2016Heavy RainStillwater-A rainfall report of 2.89 inches occurred southeast of Stillwater in less than 6 hours.
June 2016Heavy RainStillwater-A rainfall report of 3.44 inches occurred east of Stillwater in less than 6 hours.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindStillwater-A few trees and power lines were blown down in Stillwater.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindStillwater-Several six inch diameter trees were blown down north of Stillwater, Minnesota.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindStillwater-Trees and power lines downed.
August 2007HailStillwater-Estimated wind speeds of 50 mph at 845pm LST. No damage reported.
October 2006HailStillwater-Hail occurred near Big Carnelian Lake.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindStillwater-At least 12 trees up to 50 feet tall and 20 inches in diameter were downed in the Norcrest Avenue area.
September 2005Thunderstorm WindStillwater-Numerous trees were downed.
September 2004Thunderstorm WindStillwater-A power line was downed along Highway 96 at Norrel Ave.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindStillwater-Trees and power lines toppled.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindStillwater-Trees down. Estimated windspeed.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindStillwater-Power lines and large branches down. Estimated windspeed.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindStillwater-Large tree limbs down.
May 1994Thunderstorm WindStillwater-A large tree was blown down by strong thunderstorm winds. Hennepin County Brooklyn Park,30,1610CST,,,0,0,?,0,Thunderstorm Winds Several satellite dishes were reported to be blown over.
April 2025HailStillwater-no account filed
May 2022HailStillwater-no account filed
June 2012HailStillwater-no account filed
June 2012HailStillwater-no account filed
October 2006HailStillwater-no account filed
June 2001HailStillwater-no account filed
July 1999HailStillwater-no account filed
June 1999Funnel CloudStillwater-no account filed
March 1998HailStillwater-no account filed
May 1996HailStillwater-no account filed
May 1996HailStillwater-no account filed
August 1996Thunderstorm WindStillwater-no account filed
July 1994Thunderstorm WindStillwater-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washington 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.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 82003077 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Washington CountyAll 42 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.