Taylors Falls Public Library, 473 Bench Street, Taylors Falls, Minnesota

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Taylors Falls Public Library
1925
2000
Address:	473 Bench Street
City/locality- State/province	Taylors Falls, Minnesota
County- State/province:	Chisago County, Minnesota
State/province:	Minnesota
Country:	United States
Year built:	1854
Primary Style:	Eastlake/Stick Style
Historic Function:	House/single dwelling or duplex
Current Function:	Library
Architect or source of design:	John Jacob Spengler
Builder:	John Jacob Spengler, Thomas Peck
Material of Exterior Wall Covering:	Weatherboard

Taylors Falls Chisago County

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Taylors Falls Public Library, 473 Bench Street, Taylors Falls, Minnesota
(45.405302,-92.652732)

National Register of Historic Places Information
Reference Number:	70000290
Reference URL:	[Reference]
Certification date:	December 31, 1969
Primary Style:	Eastlake

For early Minnesota residents, public libraries often provided a getaway – a place to turn armchair traveler or lose oneself in a good book. Built originally as a residence and tailor shop for John Jacob Spengler, the house was sold in 1887 to the Taylors Falls Library Association for use as the town library.

The single-story, wood-frame building was built in 1854 in the Eastlake style. The front room with its barrel-vault ceiling served as Spengler’s tailor shop, which made uniforms for Taylors Falls soldiers during the Civil War. Spengler and his family lived in the back room, decorated with oak-grained pine woodwork and a pressed tin ceiling.

Few changes were made to the building when it was converted to a library in 1887. There the Taylors Falls Library Association housed its collection, catalogued in order of acquisition beginning with a Bible. The library, filled with travel diaries, children’s stories, tales of adventure, mysteries and novels, proved popular with townspeople and summer visitors alike.

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This place is part of Minnesota Pioneer House Project

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