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Brightwood Beach Cottage

1889 establishments in MinnesotaHouses in Meeker County, MinnesotaHouses on the National Register of Historic Places in MinnesotaNational Register of Historic Places in Meeker County, MinnesotaOctagonal buildings in the United States
Brightwood Beach Cottage
Brightwood Beach Cottage

Brightwood Beach Cottage is an historic octagonal building on the southern shore of Lake Ripley in Litchfield, Minnesota, United States, that once was a part of the Brightwood Beach Resort of the late nineteenth century. The resort opened in 1889, and it offered cultural amenities such as concerts, classes in fine arts, and other live entertainment. Other summer activities included dancing, ball games, and canoeing and steamboat excursions on Lake Ripley. The Minnesota Editorial Association, in a report at the time, called Brightwood "the most lovely spot in Minnesota" and a "gem of a lake with pebbly shores and blue as the vaults of heaven." Thousands of people visited the resort, many of them wealthy individuals pictured in suits and fancy dresses, but the resort was not financially successful. In 1893, the resort was forced to close, a victim of the Panic of 1893 and competition from resorts to the north that became accessible by railroad. On May 22, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Brightwood Beach Cottage (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Brightwood Beach Cottage
608th Avenue,

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 45.098427777778 ° E -94.538969444444 °
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Address

608th Avenue

608th Avenue
55355
Minnesota, United States
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Brightwood Beach Cottage
Brightwood Beach Cottage
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Litchfield Opera House
Litchfield Opera House

The Litchfield Opera House is a community building in Litchfield, Minnesota, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance to the community. A committee of businessmen organized in 1899 with the intention of providing a place to hold meetings and theatrical performances. The previous town hall, built in 1871, was obsolete. The government of Litchfield Township, Minnesota paid for construction of the building, which was designed by architect W.T. Towner and built by N.P. Franzen. The city bought the building from the township in 1911. The opera house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.The building is a well-preserved example of Renaissance Revival architecture, which is otherwise rare in Litchfield and Meeker County. Most of the facade is yellow clay brick, manufactured locally, and accented with red brick and red terra cotta patterns. The opera house opened on November 8, 1900, with the play "The Marble Heart" starring William Owen. Besides operas and performances, the auditorium housed town meetings, elections, military recruitment, and other government functions. Somewhere between 1930 and 1939, the interior was remodeled for use as city offices. In 1983, when the building was nominated to the National Register, it housed civic offices and organizations, and it was used as a meeting place for senior citizens, the Girl Scouts, and community education. Public officials and the Litchfield Police Department also used some of the rooms. In 2002, the city removed its offices from the building and moved its offices to trailers in the parking lot. This move was made because mold was found in the building. The city completed its new city hall in 2006, but the fate of the building had not been decided yet. In 2008, the city sold the building to the Greater Litchfield Opera House Association, Inc. for $100,000. The city accepted a 1900 silver dollar for payment and specified that the balance of the purchase price would be invested in the building to renovate it for the community.The building is available for rental for parties, weddings, dinners, funeral, bar mitzvahs, and other personal events.