Sioux Falls Home Renovation Reveals 1888 Masquerade Invitation

A Sioux Falls man stumbled across a piece of South Dakota history while remodeling a home recently.

His name is Lance Rensch, and as Dakota News Now reports, his recent remodel job revealed a piece of South Dakota history that dates back to 1888, before South Dakota was even a state.

Rensch, earns a living by restoring and selling homes. One of his recent remodel jobs happened inside a home located near 26th Street and Duluth Avenue. As he soon found out, this particular home appears to have quite a storied past.

During the time the home was originally constructed in 1880, it was not part of what would eventually become the city of Sioux Falls.

According to Dakota News Now, the home was located quite a distance away from any population center, and certainly far away from any kind of law enforcement presence at that time.

Because the home was located in such a remote area, the owners were forced to guard their house with a shotgun by sitting on the top of the roof to keep it safe from those who posed any potential danger back in those days.

Rensch learned all that by doing a little homework on the history of the Duluth Avenue dwelling.

During his recent remodel project, Rensch was in the process of tearing down some plaster from the ceiling when a postcard fell out of the ceiling area he was working on.

As Dakota News Now reports, the postcard actually ended up being an invitation to an upcoming masquerade ball that was being held in the region.

The postcard referenced a masquerade event to be held on the evening of Monday, February 13th, 1888, in the Spencer Dakota Territories, which is now known as Spencer, SD, about 45 minutes from Sioux Falls.

On the card were the initials and name JW Leonard, Sioux Falls. Come to find out, the Leonard family is well documented throughout the history of Sioux Falls. So whoever was living in the Duluth Ave home at the time must have been rather important themselves to receive such an invitation.

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During the home’s remodel project, Rensch has unearthed several other little factoids regarding the construction of the home throughout the years, like the various layers of different types of flooring ranging from the 1880s all the way up to the 1970s.

A number of people have also taken time to share their memories of the home with Rensch, one person even recalled how they were born in the house he is restoring.

A new chapter in the home’s history is about to begin.

Dakota News Now reports that next month, Rensch intends to sell the remodeled home to a new family. Meaning the next chapter in the home’s storied history is about to get underway.

A fresh new set of stories is about to be written.

Source: Dakota News Now