Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Art installation highlights Northfield authors, screens vacant lot March 3, 2026

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College students walk past a public mural fronting a vacant lot in downtown Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

BETWEEN DIVISION STREET and the Cannon River in downtown Northfield across from the public library, an art installment stretches, hiding a fenced, vacant spot of land.

Barricades block entry to the historic Archer House, damaged by a 2020 fire and later demolished. The public art installation covers the length of the hotel. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2020)

Here the historic Archer House River Inn once stood, a sprawling complex of hotel and businesses until a November 2020 fire severely damaged the building. It was later demolished, leaving a gaping hole in the heart of this thriving southern Minnesota college town.

The back view behind the panels shows the foundation of the Archer House. The Northfield Public Library sits in the background across Division Street. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

Flash forward years later and a 170-foot long length of 17 individual mesh fabric murals now hang on fencing surrounding foundation remnants and earth. Until the land is developed, this public art installation hides an eyesore and stands as a tribute to the creatives in the Northfield community.

Northfield library staffers compiled a list of books by Northfielders, past and present, to incorporate into the panels. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

As a lover of both art and books, I appreciate this unique community endeavor to create something artistically beautiful and informative.

College students pass by the mural panels while I photograph the installation. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

The Northfield Public Library worked with local Latino artist Rocky Casillas Aguirre on the project, which features more than 100 books by Northfield authors showcased on bookshelves printed on fabric. Walking along the mural scanning the titles is almost like walking into the library across the street up the hill and searching for a book.

One of Aguirre’s characters reads “Giants in the Earth.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

As I followed the installation, photographing and reading book titles, I found books familiar and unfamiliar. Some are widely-known, like Giants in the Earth, a story about Norwegian immigrants homesteading in Dakota Territory during the 19th Century, by Ole E. Rolvaag. Or Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone’s The Conscience of a Liberal—Reclaiming the Compassionate Agendas. He died in a 2002 plane crash.

Characters created by Rocky Casillas Aguirre mix with books by Northfielders. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

Then there are poetry collections by Northfield poets—Bridge and Division, We Look West… This is a community rich in poets, a city where poems imprint upon concrete in a Sidewalk Poetry project.

Some of the books by Northfield authors are specifically themed to Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

Other titles also drew my eye like A Field Guide to Northfield by Nancy Soth, Peace for Ukraine Coloring Book, Northfield Cocina: Local Latino Recipes and many more.

Lots of the artist’s cartoon characters are busy reading books. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

Beyond those 100 plus books featured in the art installation are the colorful characters Aguirre creates for his books, cartoons and stand alone art. They are interspersed among the titles—reading, interacting, resting, adding elements of color and interest.

Twitch, a magical campfire created by the artist for his own art, is incorporated into the murals. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

Aguirre, who has dealt with anxiety and depression, focuses his art on raising awareness about mental health, especially among youth. Twitch, a magical campfire, is among the characters he’s created and which can be spotted on the downtown mural.

Another view of the panels, looking south on Division St. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted

This artist, born in Mexico but raised in Northfield and a resident for more than 20 years, also worked with the local Latino community on another city-supported art project, “Dear Northfield.” He interviewed 100 local Latinos, among the 2,000 who live in the city, to get their insights on topics like housing, food, transportation and more. The result is a series of bi-lingual posters that inform, raise awareness and connect. “Dear Northfield” is currently displayed at the Northfield library.

Even the library has its own history book. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

I learned a lot by simply walking along the mural panels attached to fencing at the site of the demolished Archer House. I learned that Northfield has far more authors than I ever imagined. Authors who write in all genres.

Looking at the mural north along Division Street. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2026)

And then, because I was curious, I poked around online and learned that Rocky Casillas Aguirre’s art will be featured soon in my city. His ”Celebrate Life” art will be shown in an April 13-June 13 gallery exhibit at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault.

An overview of the art installation photographed through a second floor library window looking down on the Division Street scene. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo February 2026)

I’m excited to see more and learn more. The visual arts are such a gift, whether hung on a fence screening a vacant lot or hung in a gallery inside an arts center. Art holds the power to move us, inform us, enlighten us and, sometimes, even to change us.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The Archer House, once brick strong April 29, 2022

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The Archer House River Inn in Northfield, following a devastating November 2020 fire. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2020)

ONCE UPON A TIME, three little pigs built three houses from assorted materials in an effort to keep the Big Bad Wolf from gaining entry. They soon discovered that houses constructed of straw and of sticks were easily blown over by a huffing, puffing, determined wolf. But, oh, the last house—the one built of bricks—stood strong. When the wolf attempted to gain entry through the chimney, he fell into a kettle of boiling water and that was the end of him. The pigs had anticipated his plan when they started a roaring fire in the hearth.

The fire began here, in the Smoqe House. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2020)
Shortly after the fire, the front entry to the historic Archer House River Inn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2020)
The fenced lot where the Archer House River Inn once stood in downtown Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo February 2022)

In real life, stories involving fire typically don’t end fabulously either. Such is the story of the historic 1877 Archer House River Inn. Today only a fenced, vacant lot marks the location of this iconic downtown Northfield landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. A November 2020 fire, which started in a commercial smoker inside Smoqehouse (a BBQ restaurant), resulted in the eventual total loss of the brick building. Water and weather, along with the original fire, took their toll. Portions of the structure eventually collapsed as time lapsed.

Much of the sprawling building complex remained following the initial fire. But, in the end, it couldn’t be saved. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2020)

For the community of Northfield, losing the Archer House was about more than losing a building which housed a riverside inn, restaurants and shops. It was about losing a lovely sprawling space that anchored the downtown along Division Street. The Archer House was the place of stories, of history, of memories. And so much more.

Debris from the Archer House inside the fenced lot. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo February 2022)

Now bricks salvaged from the Archer House will be sold to benefit the Northfield Historical Society. The Archer House Brick Sale happens from 9 am – 4 pm Saturday, April 30, at the NHS Museum Store. That’s located just across from Bridge Square, a community gathering spot downtown by the Cannon River, and just blocks from the fenced Archer House lot.

A side view of the former Archer House site. (Minnesota Prairie Roots photo February 2022)

Since this is a fundraiser that also allows access to a bit of history, the bricks are priced accordingly. Half a brick will cost $10. A complete brick, $20. Discounts are offered with three bricks for $50 and seven bricks for $100. A trailer load of bricks will be sold, the size of that trailer not noted.

The exterior of the Northfield Historical Society, 408 Division Street, Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2012)

In the end, there’s a bit of good in such immense community loss. Monies from the brick sale will go toward preservation of the Scriver Building, which houses the historical society. It was formerly the First National Bank, where the James-Younger Gang failed in an attempted bank robbery in September 1876.

Photographed from the library across the street shortly after the fire. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2020)

There’s a sequel to this tragic fire tale. Rebound Partners, the Northfield firm which owned the Archer House, plans to rebuild. Rebound promises to honor the history and riverside location in a mixed use building. It will never be the same as the historic Archer House. But Rebound’s past projects show their respect for history and for community. And that says a lot. The Big Bad Wolf, as in the story of The Three Little Pigs, cannot destroy a building built of bricks, at least not in memory and in history.

© Copyright 2022 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

From Northfield: When fire damages an historic river inn November 17, 2020

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In the center of this photo, you can see the burned back section of the Archer House, west side. Photo take on Sunday afternoon, November 15.

I STOOD NEXT TO THE RIVER, camera aimed across the dark waters of the Cannon River to the historic building on the east bank. To the building with the gaping hole on the top floor. I struggled to hold my zoom lens still in the fierce wind of the bitterly cold Sunday afternoon. Viewing the devastating scene before me, I felt a deep sense of loss. No image I framed can fully capture the depths of loss for this southeastern Minnesota community. Material. Financial. Historic. Emotional.

The section of the sprawling building where the fire began in a smoker, then raced up walls from the lower level restaurant.

Last Thursday, November 12, at around 3:30 pm, fire broke out in a restaurant’s meat smoker inside the historic Archer House in downtown Northfield and quickly spread. The 1877 sprawling inn anchors the historic downtown on the north end. It’s perhaps the most recognizable of this community’s landmarks and much-loved.

Sunday afternoon, barricades blocked access to the burned Archer House River Inn and tenant businesses.

Today, the future of the aged building, which housed three restaurants—including Smoqe House, where the fire began, the 40-room inn and a gift shop—remains uncertain.

The welcoming front entry to the historic Archer House River Inn.

But of one thing I’m certain, if this historic river inn can be saved, it will be.

This is a beautifully-detailed building.

When I photographed the fire, water and smoke-damaged structure days after the fire, many others were doing the same. After viewing the inn from the west side of the Cannon, I moved to the east side, along Division Street, to get a full front view. This “landmark for hospitality and elegance” built in the French Second Empire Style stood tall and stately still, yet marred now by shattered windows, missing roof, fallen brick, and other debris.

From atop the library hill, I photographed the Archer House.

First I photographed from across the street, atop the hill by the Northfield Public Library, stepping across a dormant flowerbed next to a wrought iron railing. Later I descended to street level to also include the street barriers and yellow tape that keep onlookers away from the scene.

The Archer House sits across Division Street from the Northfield Public Library.

No matter the photographic perspective, the view looked the same. Devastating.

The highest window with the construction year noted, 1877 (part of the number is missing).

But as the good people of Northfield do—just as they did in 1876 to defeat the James-Younger Gang during a raid at the First National Bank—they’ve rallied. The Northfield Downtown Development Corporation has established an Archer House Relief Fund to assist and provide economic relief for the river inn and its tenants. The goal is $25,000. If you are able and inclined to contribute, please do so by clicking here.

The Archer House truly anchors downtown Northfield.

I don’t need to tell you these are challenging days in general. But then, to throw a fire into the mix of difficult times, well, it can all feel overwhelming.

© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling