Videos about Anoka County locations earn awards

By Rich Oxley

Anoka County Historical Society Board Member

Hennepin Technical College Video Production student Justin Ramey received a Crystal Pillar Award, which is part of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Upper Midwest Regional Emmys, for his production of “The Ticknor House Bed and Breakfast.”

“I would like to thank the Anoka County Historical Society and Deb Wallace for the opportunity to tell the story of this historic place” Ramey said.

The Anoka County Historical Society also received Crystal Pillar runner-up status for the “Carlos Avery Game Farm” video, produced by Hennepin Tech student, Charles Ellingson.

These video projects occurred as a result of a collaboration between the historical society and the college last fall that highlighted locations on the National Register of Historic Places in Anoka County. To watch all of videos produced through the collaboration, visit Vimeo.com and search “Anoka County Historical Society.”

Currently Anoka County boasts 18 National Register Properties, each having gone through an application process to receive the designation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 created the National Register of Historic Places as an addition to the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Congress ratified the act to protect the significant landmarks and properties of the nation’s past from the threat of rapid urban expansion:

By protecting historic properties from destructive urban developments, future generations of Americans can appreciate the cultural heritage and national history of the United States. Cultural heritage helps provide communities with a sense of place within their larger social environments. Community residents can nominate properties for either the federal or state register. The acceptance of the property to one list or the other depends upon the significance of the property in question to local versus national history.

Originally built in 1867, the Ticknor House at 1625 Third Avenue is one of the older remaining homes in the city of Anoka. Heman Ticknor, a successful businessman in Anoka, built it for his wife Anna (Sweeney) Greenwald, their daughter Zale, and her two sons from her previous marriage. The three children grew up in the house, and it was later passed down to Zale’s daughter. Each generation of the family made its own additions and changes to the house, some of them quite dramatic. The family sold the home to a non-relative in the 1970s, and it underwent further renovations and received a place on the National Register of Historic Places. After nearly two decades of serving as housing in the form of a duplex, the home was bought and turned into a bed and breakfast in 1996.

The Anoka County Historical Society maintains an exhibit space dedicated to the National Register properties, which currently features the Kline Sanitarium.