When you imagine a homesteader’s house on the frontier, what is it that you picture? It’s probably pretty similar to the Kollman House in front of you - made of wood, one room, no running water or electricity. The Kollman House ticks all of the boxes! Do you think you could handle living like Richard and Elma Kollman did on the Northern Plains in the first half of the 20th century? Let’s find out!

The house was built in 1912 for a George Coleman, coincidentally pronounced the same way, but spelled differently! After not really being inhabited for a few years, Richard Kollman came along and worked out a lease-to-own deal in 1915, and in 1916 when they moved in, the house finally became a home. It probably wasn’t always pleasant for Richard and his wife, Elma, though! As previously stated, there was no running water, which meant water had to be hauled from a well. No electricity meant it got dark quickly and there would be no convenience of appliances like washing machines, vacuum cleaners, or radios, which did exist at this point in time, but were probably too expensive anyway! We all know that the weather around here can be pretty vicious throughout the year, but the Kollman house only had one heat source - a coal powered cook stove. You can probably imagine how well that worked to heat the whole house, having no insulation in the walls and only papered on the inside with heavy cardboard. To create a little bit of division and privacy in the house, two hooks were placed on opposite walls and a cloth hung up between them - and voilà! You have a bedroom and a kitchen!

After Richard’s passing in 1954, Elma continued to live in the house for four more years until a newer, modern house was moved onto their property for her to live in. At this point, the old house in front of you was used for storage. Elma herself passed away in 1977, and by the next year, the historic home was purchased by Claryce and Darwin Johnson for only one-hundred-and-fifty dollars and then donated and moved to the Heritage Park. Despite what we might view as shortcomings in relation to living standards, the Kollman’s were able to lead a fulfilling life in their house on the Northern Plains. Elma even developed quite a knack for art and hand-painting china dishes in her free time! So what do you think - would you like to live like a homesteader?