Gilded Age Mansion of RR tycoon James J. Hill

in May 2024 Sarah and I had several days to explore the Twin Cities of Minnesota and at every turn there were some fantastic buildings on this day however we specifically wanted to check out the mission built for and occupied by railro Titan James J Hill and his family turning on to Summit Way in St Paul we were first distracted by the grand Cathedral of St Paul located across the street we'll be checking out that colossal structure later in this video Hill's 36,000 ft guilded age Mansion was once the largest and most expensive home in Minnesota it features 13 bathrooms 22 fireplaces 16 cut glass chandeliers a reception hall 88 ft long sophisticated Technical Systems and a two-story skylet Art Gallery the five-story Mansion was a symbol of success and recalls the powerful era of the Northwest Empire Builder the Boston firm of P Sterns and Ferber known for its impressive mansions in Newport Rhode Island designed the massive Richard sonian Romanesque style mansion that was fashionable at the time at the time it was completed in 1891 Hill had invested over $931,000 on its construction furnishings and landscaping for the 3 Acre estate today the same amount of money would probably buy a decent sized home in California but the expenditure then was the equivalent of $32 million today [Music] in the large reception hall we were amazed at the elaborately carved Oak and mahogany [Music] woodwork Master Carver John kirm a Bavarian immigrant was paid $1 per hour for his intricate carving of the grand staircase at the time it was the highest wage paid to [Music] workers is it like a fairy like the um oh The Lion and the moro no I was thinking of like the makeup maybe of is it the lion and Wizard of Oz or I think there's something else that has that yeah the guy the guy of the king of like of the munchkins he does look like the munchkins or Oz it's all wood carved handcarved wood in 1867 James Hill married Mary mahagan the daughter of Irish immigrants they were married for 49 years and had 10 children Mary Hill kept a watchful eye over the household including the domestic staff of 10 to 12 servants she hired the maids and Cooks inspected the kitchens and served as hostess at countless dinners and receptions in 1899 she helped to host President William mckenley at the home James Hill seen here in a portrait which he commissioned but didn't like died in this mansion on May 29th 1916 at the age of 77 Mrs Hill lived in and maintained the house after his death until her own death 5 years later staircase unbelievable let's go to this over here okay this two story Skylight room served as Hills art gallery of mostly mid 19th century Landscapes look at the organ and the pipes up there oh wow jeez imagine being rich enough to have your own pipe organ the three-story pipe organ was created by renal Boston Oregan maker George Hutchings [Music] when the house was completed in 1891 it was equipped with the latest Technologies of the day built during the transition between gas and electric lighting the house was designed to include both that's real fire it's gas I [Music] guess can you imagine being rich enough to Fort something like this that's incredible and I notice he's up here too he's got a statue one cannot fully comprehend the mansion without understanding the success of James Hill he was born in Southern Ontario Canada on September 16th 1838 to Irish immigrant parents who were not well off his father died when he was 14 forcing Jim to go to work as a clerk he began his career in transportation in 1856 as a 17-year-old clerk on the St Paul Levy after 20 years of working in the shipping business on the Mississippi and red rivers he'll observe the increasing demand for ship goods and how laborious and expensive Steamboat travel was he sensed that railroads were a path to wealth so in 1878 he and several others purchased the nearly bankrupt St Paul and Pacific Railroad over the next two decades he worked relentlessly to push the Line North to Canada and west across the Rocky Mountains out to the Pacific Ocean and 1890 it was renamed the Great Northern Railway a depression struck America in 1893 which collapsed many businesses and also hurt the railroads Hill was criticized for making drastic cost-saving measures to keep his railroad operating slashing wages which prompted a strip at the end of arbitration heill accepted most of the workers demands it was a noble victory for the young labor organizer Eugene Debs and marked a significant change in workers rights with the return of prosperity in the late 1890s Hill bought smaller Rail lines and his wealth and power expanded greatly early in 1901 he joined with JP Morgan to control the Northern Pacific railroad he also dominated the coal Market which powered his locomotives the Mansion served as a center for the public and private lives of the Hill family for the next 30 Years children grew up in the house and four daughters had their weddings in the large drawing room newly Woods often lived in the enormous house until their own homes were completed five of which were close by on Summit Avenue in later years the house came alive with [Music] grandchildren bookcase full of [Music] books study over here sit and right your letters [Music] this is a photo of Mary with her six granddaughters Ruth Gertrude Charlotte Mary Rachel and Clara the hills also had three sons who survived to adulthood [Music] [Music] as you can tell we're in the library that's pretty cool need a step ladder to get up there huge ladder to get up there of course you have to have a fireplace to stay warm by and it's safe to keep all your valuables in The Hill Family normally ate meals in this room which is called the breakfast room the table wear that you see here is similar to that used by the family and here's the butler's pantry now we watched a couple of TV shows recently where the Butlers were called by bells and right now I can't tell you what the name of those shows were but they were great shows [Applause] [Music] the hills rarely ate in the formal dining room which was less homey and reserved for formal dinners and entertaining guests it is the most elaborate room in the house and includes a sample of the formal place settings partition walls hid the servants as they waited to be summoned by Hills buzzer system this space Also hit a door used to bring food to and from the kitchen via a dumb waiter in the basement below I go up the stairs can you imagine having enough money to afford this this is crazy what is that ring the trunk on the right is designed by Louis Vuitton the second floor contained the bedrooms for Mr Mrs Hill and their five daughters and two guest rooms the third floor contained the bedrooms for Sons James W and Lewis Lewis being the son who later succeeded his father as president of the Great Northern Railway it also had a room that served as a gymnasium and school room for the children as well as quarters for the servants now this is looking through the screen back window of the house overlooking the Mississippi River down there it's kind of hard to see with all the buildings that are in place including the children's hospital and Bun of other building buildings this bedroom was once occupied by the hills youngest son Walter Jerome Hill who lived from 1885 to 1944 the town of Wal Hill Nebraska was named for Walter [Music] Hill this of course is the bathroom the shower stall in a very fancy toilet in a tub I mean look at the designs on that toilet get to go in style and right out the window here is this beautiful [Music] structure next door to the Hill Mansion is the home of Hill son Lewis built as a gift from his father in 1903 the house was designed by famous local architect Clarence Johnston in the Georgian Revival style at the end of his life hill was asked by a newspaper reporter to reveal the secret of his success Hill responded with characteristic bluntness work hard work intelligent work and then more work James and Mary Hill are at rest in modest Graves within the Resurrection Cemetery in nearby Mota Heights which is a suburb of St Paul buried near them are seven of their children after their mother passed away four of the daughters purchased the house in 1925 from the estate and donated it to the Roman Catholic church the church used it for the next 53 years for offices residences and a women's Teachers College in 1961 the house was designated a National Historic Landmark and in 1978 the Minnesota historical Society acquired the house and opened it for tours across the street is the impressive Cathedral of St Paul which opened in 1915 it is the third largest Catholic Cathedral and the sixth largest church in the United States it was built on the side of the kisen Mansion which was demolished to make way for the massive Cathedral Norman kison was a f trador who went on to become a steamboat line operator and raway entrepreneur and would partner with the likes of James J Hill his mention was finished in 1884 and considered to be one of the finest houses in the state of Minnesota it only stood for 20 years because after ksan died 4 years after the house was built the arch dicese of St Paul purchased it for $52,000 in 1904 and raised it to make way for the cathedral they sure don't M the churches like they used to do they can you imagine the craftsmanship and the amount of money and effort and stone cutting had to go into this building right here the Cornerstone was laid on June 2nd 1907 in a grand celebration ATT attended by more than 60,000 people from across the state the cathedral's exterior was completed in late 1914 and work began in interest on the interior the first mass was held on Easter Sunday in 1915 the Dome of the cathedral is 186 ft tall and measures 76 ft in diameter warm colored pain and gold relief were added during a major renovation of the dome in the 1950s the exterior walls of the cathedral are made of Rockville Granite query in St Cloud while the interior walls are American travertin from Mano Minnesota the interior columns are made of several types of marble the interior is illuminated by 24 stained glass windows featuring Angelic choirs there is also a rose window in the tresp designed by Charles conik electric lighting was installed in 1940 [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's going to wrap up this episode of History Hunters as we leave the area we thought you might want to get an eye full of the neighborhood homes we would be honored if you left us a comment and give us a thumbs up if we did a good job here thank you now on to our next adventure [Music]

Channel: History Hunters

Views: 13,326

Keywords: James J. Hill Mansion, St. Paul Minnesota, History Hunters, Gilded age, Wealthy men, Railroad tycoon, Great Northern Railway, Minnesota history, jbenziggy

Id: GS7cQwBEi2U

Length: 16min 11sec (971 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 09 2024