| Summary: | Small one story house with lap siding removed exposing log timbers. Three wooden posts are visible at angles supporting the walls of the house. A workman is visible in the lower left corner of the image. Gelatin silver prints; 12 x 17 cm. "Here is the first home in Fargo. It was built in 1870 by Harry Moore, a deputy sheriff, from logs and timbers cut from the original site, one which the house still is located. Moore sold the house to Charles E. Joslin, pioneer attorney, who on Nov. 30, 1892 sold it to Henry and Mary Hector, present owners who have resided in it since. The old logs which may be seen were exposed to the light for the first time in many years recently when a lean-to was removed in order to dig a new basement under the structure. Located on original site at 119 - Fourth Street S." - typed and handwritten on paper affixed to back of photograph. Title supplied by staff. Photographer unknown. A. H. (Harry) Moore, a native of Wisconsin, came to what is now the site of Fargo in 1869 to homestead. He built a log house (with the aid of carpenter George Mann) near what was the slough in present day Island Park. The house was later moved to higher ground at 119 4th Street S. At this site it served as a hotel and a jail. The building was later purchased by Henry Hector and it was home to his family until 1952. In 1939 the Pioneer Daughters of North Dakota formally recognized the structure as Fargo’s first wooden house and had a bronze plate affixed to a stone in the front yard. The house was moved in the late 1950s to make way for the new YMCA building. Its new location was 205 23rd Street S. In 1974, it was threatened with demolition, so the Fargo Board of Realtors and Max Moore, grandson of Harry Moore bought the house and donated it to Bonanzaville. It was restored to its original appearance in 1980 by Palmer Forness, and is preserved as Fargo's oldest existing wooden building.
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