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Preserving Rolette’s history

Submitted Photo Pictured is the Gurr building in Rolette which has been painted by the Rolette County Historical Society .

ROLETTE — The Rolette County Historical Society recently put a fresh coat of paint on a historic building in Rolette and are trying to raise money to reshingle its roof, said Becky Leonard, the president of the historical society.

Leonard said the Gurr Building is a historic property that helps tell the history of the railroad expansion in North Dakota. The building was originally located in McCumber, a town that was incorporated in 1906 and platted in Leonard Township by officials with the Great Northern Railroad. Many other early towns in North Dakota were started by railroads and prospered if they were located along the railway. Many businesses were started in McCumber, including a the Gurr building, which was once a grocery store in McCumber before it was moved to Rolette and became known as the Red Owl building, according to an article in the Rolette Centennial Book.

Leonard said the building was donated to the Rolette County Historical Society a number of years ago.

In the future, Leonard said the historical society would like to put an interpretive historical display in the window of the building. In past years, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the group used the Gurr Building in Rolette for haunted houses.

Finding funding to maintain the building and to do deferred maintenance has been a challenge in recent years. The most sizable funding for historic preservation projects comes from grants or donations, which are harder for non-profits to obtain. There is not much money to be had in trying to preserve a building, but Leonard perseveres because she believes it is so important to preserve the history of Rolette County and tell its story to future generations.

The Rolette County Historical Society also operates a museum in St. John that will need further funding to maintain.

Leonard has also been involved in restoration efforts for Coghlan Castle, the remains of a stone house that is located on private property between Rolla and St. John. Interpretive panels and a kiosk have been set up along the roadway to explain the history of the historic house. Leonard, who has worked with the nonprofit Save Coghlan Castle Inc., said there also used to be regular tours of the castle, but that has not been possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She reminds people that the castle is not open to the public and people are not allowed to go on private property or venture inside the home and they should not bother the landowner.

Donations to the historical society can be sent to Rolette County Historical Society, P.O. Box 274, Rolla, N.D. 58367.

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