Death of the Empire Builder

• James J. Hill House
  240 Summit Ave, St Paul, MN 55102 | Get Directions
• Phone: 651-297-2555
• hillhouse@mnhs.org

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James J. Hill died in his Summit Avenue home on May 29, 1916, at age 77, leaving behind a personal fortune valued at $63 million. His death was front-page news across the country, including the New York Times. As one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures of America's Gilded Age, Hill embodied the era of manifest destiny through his network of rail lines and shipping lines on the Great Lakes and Pacific Ocean. Theme tours of the Hill House will emphasize the career of Hill and a display of photographs and newspaper articles will help give visitors a sense of the impact Hill had on the nation. A small selection of memorial volumes will be displayed, including one given to the family by the Great Northern Railway, created by Tiffany and Company with silver ornamentation and housed in a velvet-lined mahogany box. Guest organists will play music used at Hill funeral, held at the house in 1916. Sat: 10am-4pm, Sun: 1-4pm