This page was created by Marissa Senstad. The last update was by Joy K. Lintelman.
by Concordia College students in History 112HU, Fall 2016
Comstock House: Changed Yet Remains
While Moorhead Minnesota’s 8th Street may no longer be the “grand old street of Moorhead,” as resident Mrs. Jean McDonald Dustrud described it, there is one house in particular that has a deep-rooted history in Moorhead.(1) Completed in 1883, the house built by Soloman Comstock, is a symbol of Moorhead’s history and now is a historic site in Minnesota called the Comstock House. Solomon, lived there for fifty-one years with his wife Sarah as they raised their three children: Ada, Jessie, and George. The house was donated in 1965 to the Clay County Historical Society, and was later restored to its current state.(2) This house has been loved and treated with respect for many years, yet it has also been around for over a century, so change is evident. While the structure of the Comstock House has remained unchanged, the physical and natural landscape has grown and developed along with the city.
When looking at the Comstock House itself, there are few changes that jump out right away. The largest change is the removal of a building in the back left of the original image, but this was a barn for their horses and carriages, and can be excluded when focusing on the house itself. Other than this difference, the similarities in pictures of the Comstock House itself are abundant. First, the Comstock house has clearly been well kept over all of its years, and that shows in how pristine it still looks. The house itself has the same ornamental trimmings and big windows that it did in 1885. The materials were the same “‘first quality,’ ‘very best,’ ‘fine oak,’ ‘stained glass,’ ‘ground glass,’ and ‘good hard burned brick’” that architects were instructed by Solomon to use on the house. In fact, the house was designed with great attention to detail, and Solomon Comstock himself purchased some of the finest materials for his house in order for it to be the best version possible.(3) The outside is not the only part of the house that was elaborately decorated and designed. While not the focus of this paper, the inside of the Comstock house has been completely restored to its earlier state, which was done by a group of local advocates using many various sources including oral histories and primary sources.(4) In summary, the Comstock House itself both inside and out has remained relatively the same since 1885 when it was first photographed.
While the house itself has remained unaltered, the physical surroundings of the house have not. Solomon Comstock was a pioneer in Moorhead, so it makes sense that he was one of the first to move to this area - this now very populated area. As can be seen in the rephotographed photo, the Comstock’s neighborhood grew greatly after their move. As Moorhead grew as a city, so did its suburban and urban neighborhoods that were developing quickly. In fact, by 1920, more than half of Americans were living in urban areas.(5) Another change between the two images is the development of a road. In the first image a horse and carriage is pictured next to the family themselves. Nowadays, cars roam the roads and horses are no longer necessary. This is one of the most significant changes from the 1880s evident in the image (though no car is present). As roads developed and more people moved into the suburbs, another aspect must be looked at - the lawns.
In addition to the physical changes around the Comstock House, the natural landscape changes are also drastic. The original image shows a barren lawn, and a few sprouting shrubs and trees. With the rephotographed image, there are trees taller than the house and rich green grass, gardens, and shrubs cover the ground. Evidence about the landscape of the Comstock House is included in oral history interviews conducted with former employees and neighbors. Moorhead community member Mr. Andrew Munn said that the house had “lots of shrubbery” in its former state, and Mrs. Jean McDonald Dustrud of Moorhead said that the Comstock House had “more shrubbery than now” and had “many lovely trees and shrubs”.(6) These statements (and others) supported that the Comstock House had green surrounding it for the majority of its days. These days encompassed the time of suburban love by Americans, and the fences surrounding the house support the idea brought up by Andrew Jackson Downing who when writing on lawns said that, “separateness … had become essential to the character of the suburb.”(7) However, separateness was not the only characteristic of the growing Comstock lawn and other lawns at this time (1880s-1900). Lawns were expected to be pristine and look great. As written in The American Lawn, “rooms of which may be filled with elegant furniture, but with rough uncarpeted floors, are no more incongruous … than the shrub and tree flower-sprinkled years of most home-grounds, where shrubs and flowers mingle in confusion with tall grass … Neatness and order are essential to the pleasing effect of ground furniture as of house furniture.”(8) It is known that the Comstock House had an elaborately designed and decorated house, so it is also likely that their lawn received as much as attention as possible. Following this suburban ideal, their lawn is very well trimmed and has many shrubs and gardens surrounding it, that are very well kept and are not unruly in any way. This change is considerable when looking at the original photo of the house with bare surroundings. This idea of suburban influence affecting the lawn of a home can translate to not only the Comstock house’s changes, but to changes in houses all over the United States. Lawns were expected to be well cared for and show off the house they hold, and after growing time, the Comstock’s lawn did (and still does) do that.
An obvious observation of the Comstock House and its surroundings is that it is well cared for. I know this to be true, because in August of 2016, I spent time gardening and helping care for the Comstock House and its lawn with a group of twenty eight other people. In an effort to care for Moorhead, we benefited one of Moorhead’s historic sites. Many hands have cared for this house since 1883, and many physical and natural landscape changes have occurred over time as well. Yet the Comstock House remains to be viewed and shows a remaining sliver of the “grand old street of Moorhead.”
Footnotes:
(1) Jean McDonald Dustrud, interview, November 11, 1981, S5055 Dustrud, Northwest Minnesota Historical
Center, Moorhead, Minnesota.
(2) Minnesota Historical Society, “History,” Comstock House, accessed November 28, 2016, http://sites.mnhs.org/historic-sites/comstock-house/history.
(3) Kendra Dillard, "Moorhead's Comstock House: A Story of Restoration," Minnesota History 56, no. 1 (1998): 23.
(4) Minnesota Historical Society, “History,” Comstock House, http://sites.mnhs.org/historic-sites/comstock-house/history.
(5) Joseph Locke, et.al, “Life in Industrial America,” American Yawp [online textbook], accessed November 29, 2016, http://www.americanyawp.com/.
(6) Andre Munn, interview by R.J. Loeffler, February 28, 1978, S5055 Munn, Northwest Minnesota Historical Center, Moorhead, Minnesota; Jean McDonald Dustrud, interview.
(7) Herbert F. Bormann, Diana Balmori, and Gordon T. Geballe, Redesigning the American Lawn: A Search for Environmental Harmony, ed. Lisa Vernegaard (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1993), 25.
(8) Alessandra Ponte, “Professional Pastoral: The Writing on the Lawn, 1850-1950,” the american lawn, ed. George Teyssot (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999), 95.
Photo Credits:
Historic image- Minnesota Historical Society, Comstock House, Moorhead, circa 1885, Moorhead, Minnesota, accessed September 19, 2016, http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display.phpirn=10690641&return=count%3D25%26q%3Dcomstock%2520house%26tab%3 Dresearch_items.
Contemporary Image by Author.
Author: Marissa Senstad