October 2, 2019
This old house
Preserving the Pflipsen farm
BY DIANE NEWBERRY
103 years ago, a simple farmhouse was ordered from the Sears Roebuck catalog, shipped by train from St. Paul to Minot and hauled by wagon to its current spot just outside of Max. The house was built by Math and Christina Pflipsen, a pioneering couple who had been living in a sod house as they farmed the land with Math’s brother, Peter.
The homestead has remained largely the same since 1916, and the house is now owned by Dwight Pflipsen, Math and Christina’s grandson. The Great Depression hit the family farm hard and all of Math and Christina’s children left for opportunity elsewhere, except for Dwight’s father Hubert, who was “known for his honesty and integrity, along with his farming and welding skills that he helped his neighbors with.”
Dwight grew up on the farm and graduated from Max School. The youngest son, he has been the caretaker for the property since before his mother Agnes’s death in 2007. Though Dwight and his family live in Kansas City, they visit the home often and one of his high school friends, Tom Krebsbach, farms the land.
Dwight believes the home is the oldest in the area, and he is currently going through the process to get it registered on the National Register of Historic Places. Besides being an extremely well-preserved early century farmhouse, Dwight said the property is also historically notable as one of the last reminders of Endres, N.D.
The homestead has remained largely the same since 1916, and the house is now owned by Dwight Pflipsen, Math and Christina’s grandson. The Great Depression hit the family farm hard and all of Math and Christina’s children left for opportunity elsewhere, except for Dwight’s father Hubert, who was “known for his honesty and integrity, along with his farming and welding skills that he helped his neighbors with.”
Dwight grew up on the farm and graduated from Max School. The youngest son, he has been the caretaker for the property since before his mother Agnes’s death in 2007. Though Dwight and his family live in Kansas City, they visit the home often and one of his high school friends, Tom Krebsbach, farms the land.
Dwight believes the home is the oldest in the area, and he is currently going through the process to get it registered on the National Register of Historic Places. Besides being an extremely well-preserved early century farmhouse, Dwight said the property is also historically notable as one of the last reminders of Endres, N.D.
