360 Bench Street
Taylors Falls, MN, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Munch-Roos House( Roos House )

Statement of Significance:

The Munch-Roos house was built in 1853 by the Munch_Brothers Emil, Adolph and Paulj who immigrated to this country from Prussia in 1849 and to Taylors Falls in 1852. The brothers lived in the house and operated a carpentry s ho immediately north of it until about 1857. Paul and Emil became Union Office in the Civil War. Emil also fought against the Minnesota Sioux in their uprising of 1863 and later served as Minnesota State Treasurer from 1868 to the house is most closely associated with the Roos Family which occupied the building for almost 100 years to 1965. Oscar Roos together with two friends arrived in Minnesota in 1850 as stated on a stone monument near Scandia, Minnesota. These men are said by some sources to be the first permanent Swedish settlers in the state. As a banker, real estate man, and federal, town and state official, Mr. Roos had a prominent role in the early development of the region. Its historic significance as the home of one of Minnesota's earliest Swedish settlers has been recognized by the American Institute of Swedish Arts, literature and Sciences and this organization as well as the Minnesota Historical Society have sponsored tours of the building.

Architecturally the building is an excellent example of a classicized house of the Greek Revival era, particularly as it appeared in more modest homes of the northern tier of American States from the 1820's to the 1850's.

While many of this type of house were built in territorial Minnesota, few remain, and fewer still are in such relatively unaltered state.