In Ramsey, the final steps are underway to preserve a 133-year-old schoolhouse and former town hall located along Highway 47, after the city obtained a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage grant.
Built in 1892 during Anoka County’s second major period of public building construction, according to Ramsey Community Development Director Stephanie Hanson, the building served as District 28’s public schoolhouse before later becoming a town hall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
“It’s one of the best preserved 19th-century rural public buildings in Anoka County,” Hanson said. “That makes it really historically significant for the state.”
Hanson said the building also stands out architecturally because it is one of only a handful of brick buildings constructed in the county. Its bricks were sourced entirely from the nearby Kelsey brickyard in Andover, which manufactured bricks from 1880 to 1897.
“Frankly, there’s not many of them around,” Hanson said.
The recently awarded grant totals $39,500 and will be used to complete construction documents. Hanson said the company the city is consulting with specializes in historic buildings.
Once the construction documents are finished, the city will again seek bids to complete the project. Hanson said Ramsey will also apply for grants due in the summer of 2027, with staff waiting on construction document approval and completion.
Remaining goals for the project include an accessible ramp and bathroom, as well as interior heating and air conditioning, Hanson said.
Ramsey first received grant funding to preserve the building in 1996 from the Minnesota Historical Society, and since then the city and council have continued to chip away at renovations. The city used its funds in 2018 to replace the roof and repair the eves.
And in 2024, Ramsey once again used its own funds to repair damage caused to the eves by pests, as well as the soffits. The city also repaired a broken window and replaced the front door.
“It finally came to a point where it’s almost like we kept putting Band-Aids on it, and it just came to a point where our City Council just gave staff direction that said, ‘hey, let’s try to go after some grants and just finish the project,’” Hanson said.
According to the city of Ramsey website, the building taught reading, writing and arithmetic to students of all ages while it served as a school until enrollment became too low to continue.
When it was converted into a town hall, it also served as a polling place until 1974, when Ramsey’s City Hall was completed.
The Anoka County Historical Society says the building was constructed along Highway 47 in place of an older structure and reflected the “sturdy craftsmanship of the end of the nineteenth century.”
According to the historical society, the schoolhouse included an entrance, two cloakrooms for boys and girls, and a classroom.
Its interior originally featured a pressed-metal ceiling, plaster walls lined with beaded wood wainscoting, kerosene lamps and a wood-fired stove in the center of the classroom for winter heat.
By World War I, the stove had been replaced with a gravity furnace and floor registers to circulate warm air. The kerosene lamps also were replaced with opalescent glass lighting, and one cloakroom was converted into a kitchen as water heater and plumbing upgrades were added.
As Anoka County’s population grew in the mid-1900s, students were consolidated into larger facilities and the building was repurposed as a town hall, according to the historical society.
Former City Administrator Kurt Ulrich, who served Ramsey from 2007 to 2022, recalled working with the University of Minnesota on a feasibility study about the building’s future. At the time, he said, the goal was to consider how it could serve as a community asset, whether as a bookstore, coffee shop or another space the city could lease.
During Ulrich’s time with the city, Ramsey also studied moving the building near the transit center to serve as a historic focal point.
“Maybe it would have restaurants,” Ulrich said. “Maybe it has some interpretive information about the history of Ramsey. That type of thing.”
But moving the building by jacking it up and transporting it by truck proved too expensive, Ulrich said, and Ramsey never moved beyond the feasibility study. Moving it to another site also would have removed it from the National Register of Historic Places.
With the project nearing completion, Ulrich said the building’s preservation will help retain one of Ramsey’s historic landmarks.
“It will continue to be an asset for the community,” Ulrich said. “It’s one of the few remaining historic buildings in the city of Ramsey. It’s got a lot of unique character. It’s been a unique landmark of the city for years. And for a developing community like Ramsey, it’s nice to have a little bit of history preserved, and that building is probably the essence of history for the city.”
Council Member Bucher expresses support
Ramsey City Council Member Kirsten Bucher, who was behind the addition of the building renovations to the agenda in 2025, said that the building was one of the few remaining structures that told the story of how the city began.
“As our city continues to grow, it becomes even more important to intentionally preserve spaces that connect us to that history,” Bucher wrote to ABC Newspapers. “The Council saw this not just as an opportunity to maintain a building, but to invest in something that reflects Ramsey’s identity and roots.”
To Bucher, preserving the building allowed the city to honor their past while creating a space that served the community currently in Ramsey, and also sent a broader message that they valued “thoughtful growth” where they didn’t lose what made Ramsey unique while they developed further.
“As conversations progressed, it became clear that there are funding opportunities available specifically for historic preservation projects like this,” Bucher wrote on the decision to pursue grant money. “Pursuing grant funding allows us to reduce the financial burden on taxpayers while still moving forward with a meaningful project. It also reflects a responsible approach, seeking outside resources before committing local dollars.”
Bucher added that the building’s historical significance stood out, reflecting a time when Ramsey was much smaller and more rural.
“That sense of place is something you can’t recreate, and it’s part of what makes the building so special compared to newer development,” Bucher said.