On this date in 1909, Wahpeton newspapers congratulated Eugene Schuler on his federal post office and Catholic church construction at Kearney, Nebraska. His firm soon secured federal contracts across the western U.S., including the Wahpeton post office in 1915. Schuler’s Northwestern Construction Company built public buildings, Catholic churches, schools, private residences, and commercial and industrial facilities in at least 12 states. Many of his works, including the Wahpeton post office and Wahpeton Hospital on Dakota Avenue, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Schuler also built the residence of Dr. O’Brien, founder of Wahpeton Hospital.
Notable Schuler buildings include the post office and cathedral in Reno, Nevada; post offices in Billings, Montana, and Fremont, Nebraska; the Santa Barbara and Pasadena post offices; and the Oakland Tribune building in California, where Schuler died in 1955. In 2024, the homes Schuler designed for his brother Gustav and himself in Wahpeton were still standing on 6th Street, built in 1891-92. A local news editor once wondered why Gustav, a lawyer, built such a fine house. Gustav was gaining on-the-job training and would later become an architect, while Eugene became a lawyer.
Eugene came to Wahpeton in 1882 from Milwaukee, where he had worked for an architectural firm. The Dakota boom hadn’t yet reached Wahpeton, but the Schuler Brothers Farm Implement Company was thriving. Gustav had come to visit, thinking Dakota Territory was too cold and remote to prosper, but he soon changed his mind. In 1897, the brothers built the Schuler Block (later home to J.C. Penney) on Dakota Avenue, where they managed various enterprises, including Schuler & Schuler Law Firm, Northwestern Construction, and more. As construction boomed regionally and nationally, the brothers dissolved their partnership in 1912, with Gustav focusing on law and Eugene on construction.
In Wahpeton, Schuler's notable buildings include the Old Main and gymnasium at ND State College, St. John’s Catholic Church, the old public school, Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, City Hall (now a brew pub), and the National Bank, which became the local newspaper office. In Breckenridge, Minnesota, he built the Wilkin Hotel, public school, Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, and several large homes.
By 2024, several Schuler-designed residences remained in Wahpeton, including homes on 7th and 8th Streets, belonging to notable local figures such as state senators, judges, bankers, and philanthropists.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- Wahpeton, ND. The Globe Gazette, 12/9/1909, Page 6
- Wahpeton, ND. Richland County Farmer Globe, 3/31/1966 "The Skyride - Fun, Facts, Features" Editor's column by Eldon Lum, Page 24
- Steve C. Martens and Ronald H. L. M. Ramsay. Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia. St. Johns' Catholic Church, c. 1900, Eugene Schuler; 2000–2002 restoration, Rafferty, Rafferty, Tollefson. 115 2nd St. N.
- https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/ND-01-RI4
- The Nevada Way.
- Reno, NV. Thomas M. Tubman, Factor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. The Monitor, Volume 43, Number 35, 28 December 1907, Page 2
- Montana. Engineering and Contracting, Volume 38, July 17, 1912, Page 60
- McGraw Publishing Co., New York. NY. Engineering Record, Current News Section: Santa Barbara, CA. June 28, 1913, Volume 67, Page 53
- Contracts Awarded - Post Office. The American Contractor, Volume 35, May 30, 1914, Page 20
- National Park Service Gallery Digital Asset Management System. United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Certification November 1, 1989. Wahpeton Post Office.
- https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/89001759
- National Park Service Gallery Digital Asset Management System. United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Certification September 24, 1983. Wahpeton Hospital
- https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/89001759
- St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral listed in National Register of Historic Places. Nevada Department of Conservation & Natural Resources June 14, 1922 https://dcnr.nv.gov/news/st-thomas-aquinas-cathedral-listed-in-national-register-of-historic-places
- E. Schuler Dies March 8 In Oakland. The Richland County Farmer Globe, March 18, 1955, Page 5
