About this property
Pill Hill is a National Register of Historic Places district in Rochester, Minnesota. The residential neighborhood encompasses almost 130 houses built on a limestone bluff, predominantly for staff of the nearby Mayo Clinic. "Pill Hill" was initially an irreverent term coined by early local residents which was eventually embraced by the community. Its period of significance is approximately 1885-1937, with the vast majority of the homes being constructed in an approximately 30-year span in the first third of the 1900s. The neighborhood contains houses that showcase a diverse spectrum of Western architectural tradition, with numerous examples of Colonial revival, Tudor revival, Craftsman style, Prairie school, and Spanish revival homes, and also including fewer examples of Elizabethan revival, French eclectic, Neoclassical, Queen Anne, and Storybook, among others. Notable Minnesotan architects have works represented in the neighborhood, including Harold Crawford (36 houses, including 5 remodels), Ellerbe and Associates (approximately 30 houses), and Edwin Lundie (three houses). The original owners of the homes and past residents also contribute to the neighborhood's historic significance, including Nobel prizewinners Edward Calvin Kendall and Luis Walter Alvarez, as well as numerous pioneers and leaders in medicine who worked at the adjacent Mayo Clinic including William J. Mayo, John W. Kirklin, Fredrick A. Willius, Louis B. Wilson, and Alfred W. Adson, among many others. In 1990, Pill Hill was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Homeowners in the neighborhood started a grassroots campaign in 2023 and were successful in achieving a local historic landmark district designation for Pill Hill from the City of Rochester in 2025.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Pill Hill Residential Historic District
This page lists Pill Hill Residential Historic District. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
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Questions about this property
When was Pill Hill Residential Historic District listed on the National Register?
Pill Hill Residential Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1990.
What type of historic resource is Pill Hill Residential Historic District?
Pill Hill Residential Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Pill Hill Residential Historic District?
The period of significance for Pill Hill Residential Historic District is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1885.
Can I research the history near Pill Hill Residential Historic District?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Pill Hill Residential Historic District will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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