Submitted Photo Interpretive panels have been installed along Highway 30 near Rolla to tell the story of Coghlan Castle.

ROLLA – For decades, people in the Rolla area have admired their very own fairy tale castle.

Now an interpretive panel has been installed along Highway 30, three miles northeast of Rolla, to tell the story of Coghlan Castle.

“It is at the pull-off from Highway 30,” said Becky Leonard, vice president of Save Coghlan Castle, Inc. “You can view the castle from there and read about the history of the Coghlan family and the building.”

She said Pat O’Malley of the Sign Shack in Rolla is responsible for the printing and installation of the sign content.

According to the interpretive panel, Coghlan Castle – actually a family home that was built from granite fieldstones hauled from farm fields in the area – was built in 1909. Maurice Coghlan, an immigrant from Ireland, arranged for fieldstone to be hauled beginning in 1906. Mason Thomas Bowyer, from Manitoba, worked on the house, and Coghlan’s brother John Coghlan completed the carpentry work. The house was a 40-foot by 50-foot, two story dwelling, complete with a turret like a castle. “Coghlan Castle” also had other features that made it a particularly grand house in the Rolla area at the time. The house had “stained glass parlor windows, hot running water in the bathroom and hand-carved metal gutters. It also had a corner stone fireplace with a decorative mantelpiece and tile work, a decorative open staircase to the open staircase to the second floor in the entrance hall, diamond motif oak flooring, and a built in china cabinet,” according to the interpretive panel.

Maurice Coghlan and his wife, Ellen, moved to the St. John area in 1883 and had seven children. They farmed near St. John and Maxbass. Two of Coghlans’ sons served as judges in Ward County. Members of the family owned the Coghlan Construction Company which helped build the Alcan Highway between Alaska and Canada. Frank DeMers, an extended family member, purchased the property in 1950. However, the castle fell into disrepair over the years until efforts began to restore it.

The castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Today, the castle remains on private land owned by Tim DeMers and is not open to the public. Leonard said Save Coghlan Castle has gone to some trouble to stabilize the exterior of the stone building in the past few years and there are ongoing restoration efforts. It is not safe for people to go inside.

People with a serious interest can contact Leonard and arrange for a tour, but she strongly discourages people from ignoring the rules and going up to the building on their own. The interpretive panel is intended to provide information about the history of the building for the casual traveler who wants to know more about its story.

“Everything is geared towards everybody’s safety,” she said.

The nonprofit organization Save Coghlan Castle received an $8,000 grant from the North Dakota Historical Society to help complete the interpretive panel, which was finally installed late last year. The nonprofit organization also received other matching funds.

The panel will add to the site’s value as a tourist attraction for Rolette County. Coghlan Castle is advertised as one of the spots to stop along the Scenic Byway in the area.