Key Number:	HS 38810
Site Name:	Andreas Michelsen Farmhouse
Other Names:
Site Type:	0501 - Farming and Ranching: Farm or Ranch House

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			6	19	4

Address:	533 - 2 Avenue
Number:	33
Street:	5
Avenue:	2
Other:
Town:	Stirling
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Square
Storeys:	Storeys: 2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Truncated, any roof type
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Dormer Type: Gable Window - Special Types: Diamond Main Porch - Type: Open Verandah
Exterior:	Double cross gable dormers, partial open veranda on east and south side with half hip roof, two diamond windows, small addition on back with half hip roof.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Landscaped.
Condition:	Structure: Good. Repair: Good. 26 MAR 1981.
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Constructed	1912/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Residence	1912/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
The Village of Stirling

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Andrews Michelsen moved into Stirling in 1900. Was in charge of building the canal for irrigation and worked on the railway between Lethbridge and Coutts. He built the present house in 1912 and his son still lives in it. * * * RESOURCE Andreas Michelsen Farmstead ADDRESS 533 – 2 Avenue, Stirling BUILT 1912 DESIGNATION STATUS Provincial Historic Resource HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE In 1887, Charles Ora Card led a group of Mormon settlers from Utah into the southern foothills of the District of Alberta and proceeded to found the community of Cardston on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The years that followed saw many other Mormons settle in the region until, shortly after the turn of the century, the population south and west of Lethbridge was composed primarily of people of this religious faith. They undertook the first irrigation projects in the region and established the beginnings of the sugar beet industry. Among the outlying communities formed by the Mormons was that of Stirling, twelve miles southeast of Lethbridge. Among the first residents here was Andreas and Kristen Michelsen and their eight children. The Michelsens and their eldest daughter, Lena, had been born in Denmark and had migrated to Monroe, Utah in 1882. In 1900, Andreas scouted lands east of Cardston and decided that the region was well suited to the needs of his expanding family. Consequently, he brought his family to a place between Magrath and Cardston known as Pot Hole Coulee. For a time, the family lived in a tent, while Andreas undertook employment in railway and canal construction. Soon, however, the family moved to the outskirts of Stirling, which had just been incorporated as a village. Andreas and his elder sons then began to file for homesteads on lands south as well as north of the community. They undertook their farming collectively, utilizing their own threshing machine in the fall. The Michelsens also became active in the social and religious affairs in Stirling, undertaking extensive work for their church. Andreas served on village council in 1909 and during 1913 and 1914. In 1902, the Michelsens constructed a dwelling, which would become the first of some eight buildings to constitute the Michelsen Farmstead which remains today. The dwelling, expanded in1912, provided a home for Andreas and Kirsten as well as those of their children who remained at home before homesteading or finding work elsewhere, or getting married. Today, the buildings constitute part of a number of vintage structures in Stirling, which was recognized in 1989 by Heritage Canada as being the best preserved example of a Mormon agricultural village in southern Alberta. To ensure that no further alteration is made to them, they have been purchased by the Village of Stirling. The historical significance of the Michelsen Farmstead lies in its structural representation of an early Mormon settlement in southern Alberta. The buildings are also an important example of an evidence of the Michelsen family which remains a prominent element in the Stirling district and elsewhere in southwestern Alberta. Established in 1902, the Michelsen Farmstead is a typical Mormon farmstead and represents the larger Mormon Settlement pattern found in Stirling, Southern Alberta and parts of the American West. The farmstead constitutes part of a number of vintage structures in Stirling, and was recognized in 1989 by Heritage Canada as being the best preserved surviving example of the distinctive settlement pattern associated with Mormon settlement areas in the dry-land farming district of Southern Alberta and was granted recognition as a National Historic Site. It also provides structural evidence of the Michelsen family which remains a prominent element in the Stirling district and elsewhere in South-western Alberta. * * * Designation covers "The Andreas Michelsen Farmstead comprised of the Farmhouse, Coal Shed, Barn, Granary, Calving Shed, Machine Shed, Corrals and Pens, Dugout, Storage Cellar, Landscape Elements (gardens and trees), Cistern and Filter, and Outhouse, together with the land".

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	2001/11/15

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: