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In 1879 a railroad heading west across southern Minnesota had reached Winnebago, a small town 35 miles south of Mankato. Travelers going on then would take a stagecoach 40 miles to Jackson, Minnesota, a town on the Des Moines River. In 1883 George Rode, a retired from Davenport, Iowa, came to Minnesota to purchase land as a place to hunt and fish. He bought a section of land and in 1884 built this house by lake McGowen. The house was built on the Winnebago - Jackson stage road. For the next nine years he entertained his friends to hunting and fishing, and staying at the house. The upstairs rooms were numbered 1-4. In 1889 a railroad (the M&St.L) was built. This railroad cut through the farm, only a short distance. It was used until 1979. The farm was bought and sold several times, sometimes owned by banks and insurance companies. Many renters farmed the land and lived in the house. In 1938, my dad, Gilbert Kittleson, bought this farm for $60 an acre. In 1947 I had just been discharged from the army. I came here in the fall of 1947 and plowed the ground. In the spring of 1948, I moved here, living in the kitchen and farming the land. In october 1948 we were married. Since then we have three children, continued to farm the land, operated a dairy, remodeled the house and in 1991 started Bed & Breakfast. Owned and Operated by Norman and Pennie Kittleson We are located between Fairmont and Jackson, Minnesota
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