CategoriesHistory Journal

Did a King Really Walk the Staircase Inside the Pillsbury Mansion?

The carved oak staircase inside Minneapolis's Pillsbury Mansion came from Rotherwas Court in England —…

CategoriesHistory Journal

Where Did the Other Rooms of Rotherwas Court End Up?

Thirteen paneled rooms left Rotherwas Court in 1913. Several live on at the Pillsbury Club;…

CategoriesHistory Journal

Who Was Alfred Pillsbury, the Other Collector on East 22nd Street?

One block from the Pillsbury Mansion lived another Pillsbury collector — Alfred, whose jade and…

CategoriesHistory JournalThe front elevation of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis, showing the carved stone portico, parapet friezes and armorial crest of Edwin Hewitt’s 1916 Tudor-Gothic design.

Charles Pillsbury Had a Twin Brother — So Why Does Only One of Their Mansions Survive?

Charles S. Pillsbury and his twin John built rival mansions and rescued the family flour…

CategoriesHistory Journal

What Happened to Rotherwas Court After Its Rooms Came to Minneapolis?

The Pillsbury Mansion's oak rooms came from Rotherwas Court in 1913. What became of the…

CategoriesHistory Journal

Why Did Pillsbury Invent the Bake-Off — and Was It Aimed at Betty Crocker?

In 1949 Pillsbury filled the Waldorf-Astoria with 100 ovens and crowned the first Bake-Off champion…

CategoriesHistory Journal

What Was the Great Mill Disaster of 1878 — and How Did It Shape the Pillsbury Fortune?

On the evening of May 2, 1878, flour dust leveled the Washburn A Mill and…

CategoriesHistory Journal

Who Was John S. Pillsbury, the ‘Father of the University of Minnesota’?

The hardware merchant turned Minnesota governor who bankrolled the Pillsbury flour empire — and earned…

CategoriesHistory JournalThe Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion on East 22nd Street in Minneapolis photographed around 1990, its Gothic entry porch framed by old trees, during the decades it served as an institution rather than a home

Why Did a Training Center for the Blind Call the Pillsbury Mansion Home?

For three decades the Pillsbury Mansion was home to BLIND, Inc.—a training center where a…

CategoriesHistory JournalThe Pillsbury Mansion exterior with its carved stone lion and Gothic gables against a clouded sky.

What Happened When an Advertising Agency Moved Into the Pillsbury Mansion?

After the Pillsburys, the Minneapolis agency Carmichael Lynch restored the mansion and built Harley-Davidson's legend…

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