C.P. Holcombe Home (1894)

Stillwater’s South Hill Takes Shape: The C. P. Holcombe Home, 1894

This wintertime photograph captures the C.P. Holcombe family on the front porch of their home at 822 S. 2nd Street in 1894. Five adults stand bundled against the cold while a child poses proudly on a sled in the yard. It captures a quiet, everyday moment from Stillwater’s past.

At the time, the South Hill neighborhood was still a newer part of town. Open lots stretch to the right and into the background, with only a few houses visible in the distance, reminding us that this now-established neighborhood was once still taking shape.

The home belonged to Charles P. Holcombe, a prominent Washington County public servant. Born in Sweden in 1848, Holcombe immigrated to Minnesota as a child and spent nearly his entire life in Washington County. He served as deputy sheriff from 1874 to 1880, then sheriff from 1881 to 1890, earning a reputation as a fearless and effective officer. The new, at the time, Washington County Courthouse, where the sheriff and jail were housed, was just 5 blocks from his house. Holcombe also served as Clerk of the Supreme Court from 1891 to 1895.

Charles P. Holcombe was also the father of Frederick Holcombe, born in 1872, a banker and amateur award-winning photographer who captured life in Stillwater, MN, starting in the 1880s during an important period in Minnesota history. That connection adds another layer of meaning to this image; it’s both a family portrait and part of a legacy of local history-making.

This photograph is part of Stillwater Public Library’s Holcombe Historical Collection. You can view it, along with thousands of other historic images of Stillwater and the surrounding area, in the St. Croix Collection Room during library hours, or online through the Minnesota Digital Library.