On January 27th, Rebekah Schields, an Architectural Historian at Metcalf Archaeology™, presented a draft of a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination to the North Dakota State Review Board. The nomination examines the DeRoche Block, a late nineteenth century, Mission/ Spanish-Revival style apartment building constructed in a working-class neighborhood in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Laying the Tracks to the DeRoche Block
Railroads began crossing the North Dakota prairie as early as the 1870s. Railroad companies advertised and sent recruiters to other states and countries to encourage settlers to move to the frontier. Settlers would claim homesteads and raise crops, and ship the crops by train to markets in Minneapolis and Chicago. The advertising campaign was incredibly successful: between 1878 and 1890, North Dakota’s population increased by over 1,000%! These immigrants made up a significant portion of North Dakota’s population for decades. This wave of immigrants was called the Great Dakota Boom.
In response to the Great Dakota Boom, immigrants built the DeRoche Block. The building, now known as Hampton Apartments, was built sometime between 1892-1897 and was home to many people. Immigrants from all over the world lived there. First- and second- generation immigrants came from places such as Norway, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Russia, and other parts of the US.
DeRoche Block Today
The nomination for the building argues that the DeRoche Block is significant in American history for its association with the Great Dakota Boom and the working class of Grand Forks. Residents of the DeRoche Block were laborers, stenographers, servers, plumbers, and railroad workers. While very little historical details are known about their lives, their labor was important to the economic success of the city. “Nominations to the National Register are often associated with wealthy or well-known individuals,” Schields, wrote, discussing the building in a previous Metcalf blog post, A Window Into Architectural History, “so this nomination is exciting because it will highlight the working-class individuals of Grand Forks whose labor was essential to the city’s prosperity.” This nomination seeks to recognize the importance of the working class and their contributions to Grand Forks and North Dakota History.
While there are many unique features about the DeRoche Block, it is also an excellent example of the Mission/ Spanish Revival architectural style. 
This type of style is unusual for North Dakota. There are only seven recorded examples of this style in Grand Forks County! The DeRoche Block is one of the earliest apartment buildings in the city and is the oldest standing structure with Mission/ Spanish-Revival style details in Grand Forks. The style originated in the American southwest in the late nineteenth century and combines elements of both Old World and New World Spanish Architecture. Common details include stucco exterior, parapets, and the use of clay tile.
The State Review Board voted unanimously to send the nomination on to the Keeper of the National Register in January. The Keeper of the National Register will make the final decision to list the DeRoche Block on the National Register of Historic Places.
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“The DeRoche Block NRHP Nomination” was written in collaboration with Rebekah Schields, Architectual Historian at Metcalf Archaeological Consultants.
