This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Clay County, Minnesota. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Clay County, Minnesota, United States. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in an online map.
There are 20 properties and districts listed on the National Register in the county.
Clay County's National Register properties reflect its significance as a transportation corridor and major agricultural region. The Red River of the North and the Red River Trails were important early routes, but Euro-American settlement was light. The Randolph M. Probstfield House, John Bergquist House, and Bernard Bernhardson House are the preserved homes of some of Clay County's earliest settlers. The construction of two major rail lines in the early 1870s fuelled a great increase in population and agriculture, and cemented the importance of Moorhead as a commercial hub. From the 1870s to the 1920s, large bonanza farms carved from railroad land grants gave way to diversified family outfits like the Wulf C. Krabbenhoft Farmstead. The John Olness House, Solomon Gilman Comstock House, and Burnham Building are associated with individuals who prospered in land speculation and other commercial activities.[2]
Six park facilities built 1937–1940, significant as examples of New Deal federal work relief, the early development of Minnesota's state parks, and split stone architecture.[8]
Only remaining example of the false-front buildings once common to downtown Moorhead; a commercial/residential property built circa 1880 for early businessman and land speculator Frank Burnham.[9]
One-room school in use 1892–1961; Clay County's first rural school district and last to consolidate into a larger district, attesting to residents' values on providing a basic, locally controlled education.[13]
1923 creamery instrumental in moving the Red River Valley away from monocultural cash crop farming into diversified agriculture. Also noted as an example of 1920s industrial architecture.[14]
1915 Neoclassical landmark in downtown Moorhead, also noted as a local example of a federal government building and for its adaptive reuse.[15] Now the Rourke Art Museum.
1922 trackside potato warehouse, a reminder of an important regional crop and its industrialization, and a rare vestige of Moorhead's former warehousing and manufacturing district.[19]
1902 house of a prosperous local merchant and land speculator; also noted for its Neoclassical façade and Queen Anne details.[20] Now an event venue called A Friend's House.[21]
Moorhead's oldest school building—constructed in 1900—and only surviving example of its small neighborhood schools in use before the Post–World War II baby boom.[22]
1869 house of one of Clay County's first settlers and a local leader in politics, education, and agricultural development from his arrival in 1859 to his death in 1911.[24]
1903 Neoclassical house designed by the Hancock Brothers for Barnesville founders and leading citizens Peter (1852–1905) and Hannah Thompson (1857–1920).[26]
^Numbers represent an alphabetical ordering by significant words. Various colorings, defined here, differentiate National Historic Landmarks and historic districts from other NRHP buildings, structures, sites or objects.
^The eight-digit number below each date is the number assigned to each location in the National Register Information System database, which can be viewed by clicking the number.
