511 Reeves - A Bed & Breakfast Grand Forks, North Dakota A 1901 Victorian offering Bed and Breakfast at its Best! Contact Info | Email this page to a Friend | Click to see a map  | Additional Pages... Introduction Guest Rooms/Rates Special Packages   Availability Search: See which rooms are available during your stay. Check in: Check out: Powered by Webervations Clear search results Rooms Available from  to  Learn more about these rooms These are our base rates - certain discounts and/or charges may apply

Les Grande Fourches - It was the fork of two rivers, the Red River of the North and the Red Lake River, a rendezvous point marked on the map by the French fur trappers as early as the 1740's. The Native Americans peddled their wares to the French, British, and the American fur tradders. The Hudson Bay Company of Montreal and John Jacob Astor's American Fur company were among the posts set up here. Trade goods passed through the Forks on ox carts en route to Fort Garry (Winnipeg) and Fort Abercrombie (Wahpeton). On June 15, 1870, the government established the first post office at this location and the French les Grande Fourches became the English Grand Forks.

The steamboats came around 1859 and replace the ox carts. They navigated the rivers in only three feet of water and were the transportation of cargo between St. Paul and Fort Garry. They carried passengers as well as goods. Alexander Griggs, an experienced Mississippi River steamboat captain, was forced to tie up at the fork when his crew became intoxicated drinking a keg of beer that had been lost earlier in an accident on the river. An early freeze made it impossible for them to continue on. It is said that, "Griggs reconnoitered the site along the rive and took possession of a quarter section of land which became the town site." Grand Forks was platted in 1875 and Alexander Griggs became known as the "Father" of Grand Forks.

Griggs teamed up with the railroad tycoon James J. Hill in 1872 and formed the Red River Transportation Line. The city began to grow with the coming of the railroad in 1880 and business began its boom. The railroad brought people to the city and the farmlands. Wheat farms were the basis or prosperity and in 1893 Thomas Amidon, chief miller at the Diamond Mill, invented Cream of Wheat. The city became part of the national breakfast legend.

By 1900, Grand Forks had a population of almost 10,000. The city's wealth came from the lumber, wheat, and railroad. the University of North Dakota formed in 1883 providing premium liberal arts education. Grand Forks grew as a regional trade center in the early 20th century. With the success of the railroad, the steamboat business eroded and by 1891 Captain Griggs had moved to the state of Washington.

In 1901, Lois "LuLu' Griggs Pringle, the daughter of Captain Griggs, and her husband William, a banker, built a 12-room home at 141 Reeves Ave. (later 511 Reeves Drives). "One of the finest modern residences in the city with brick basement, finished hardwoods and Georgia pine and heated by steam, with the latest modern improvements," it was reported by the Herald. It has arched gables and a wrap around porch and the plans are thought to be among those from Keith's Magazine on Home Building by Walter Jewett Keith, the Minneapolis architect. the Pringles and their family left the area in 1904, possibly going to Washington to run the steamboat business and "The William Pringle" that her father left behind after his death in 1903.

Bill and Wanda Graveline are the sixth family to reside here. In 1991 511 Reeves opened its doors and its history to guests.

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