Main Street History: The Pierre Bottineau House

MAPLE GROVE, MN — If you're an architecture or history buff living in the Twin Cities metro, then you have to check out the "Bottineau House." It's Maple Grove's oldest frame house that is still around and open to the public today.

You can find it in the Three Rivers Park District.

The home was built by Pierre Bottineau, a legendary Minnesotan known for his voyaging, trading, and interpretering. The structure was completed in 1854, four years before Minnesota officially became a state.

Pierre was the product of marriage between a European trader and a Native American from the Ojibwe. Such marriages were not uncommon and helped build alliances during the fur trade, according to historians.

Pierre's mom, Maji-ikwesen, was an Ojibwe woman. His father, Charles, was French. That made Pierre a "Métis."

The Minnesota Department of Transportation rediscovered the Bottineau House while conducting environmental studies for the Highway 610 expansion, according to the Three Rivers Park District.

To preserve it, the home had to be moved several times. But it found a permant near Elm Creek, where it has been restored.

"For most of its life, the house was used as a farm out-building, first as a granary and later for equipment storage," states the Three Rivers Park District website.

"Having been relocated to Elm Creek Park Reserve and restored to its original 1854 appearance, it is used today as an interpretive space to connect park visitors with the life of Pierre Bottineau."

If you can't get out to visit the home in person, you can take a virtual tour.

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