653 5th St E
St Paul, MN 55106, USA

Adolph and Anna Muench House

Adolph and Anna Muench House by Steve Trimble

Germans were one of the earliest immigrant groups that came to Saint Paul. As many of them became prosperous, they moved into Dayton’s Bluff and built substantial homes for their families. Several, including the home of Adolph and Anna Muench, were set at the edge of the bluff to take advantage of the descending landscape that allowed for a view of Phalen Creek and the Mississippi River. The Munches began residing at this address in 1873, in an earlier house that burned down in 1884. The current structure was built the same year.

Adolph was a prominent member of the German American community. He was in the lumber business until becoming publisher of the Volkszeitung, a German-language daily newspaper. Anna passed away in 1896 and, when Adolph died in 1901, the house was offered for sale. After staying empty for two years, it was converted into a duplex and was rental property for several decades.

One descendant fondly remembered the traditional Fourth of July parties at the house. The lawn was dotted with Japanese lanterns and carriages were crowded in the turnaround. Every summer there were ice cream socials among the lilac bushes and oak trees.

Local architect Emi Ulrici designed the new house that was completed at 653 East Fifth Street. Ulrici, a German-American, was built almost exclusively for his prosperous fellow immigrants that were scattered throughout Saint Paul in the 1880s. This Queen Anne style with asymmetrical towers gables and balconies with a traditional tower is considered the finest of his surviving residential commissions. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and once again is owner-occupied.

National Register of Historic Places

Summary of Significance:
The Adolf Muench House was the home of one of Saint Paul's leading nineteenth century, German citizens and who was a member of a family which played a leading role in not only the development of the city but also the state from territorial days.

Adolf Muench came to Minnesota along with his three brothers, Emil, Gustav, and Herman, in the 1850s from Saxony, Prussia, Spending his early days in Taylors Falls, Minnesota, an important early lumbering center, he moved to Saint Paul in 1871 to form the Muench Bros, Lumber Company, This company was a business offshoot of an earlier lumbering enterprise begun with the Minneapolis milling giant, W. D. Washburn.

In Saint Paul Adolf Muench also became the president and publisher of the old "Volkszeitung" newspaper. This was a consolidation of two former Saint Paul German papers, founded during territorial days. Under Muench's leadership, it became the foremost voice of the German people in Saint Paul and a significant force in city and state politics.

The Adolf Muench House is a symbol of the Muench family which between the four brothers played a significant role in the political, economic, and social development of the city and state. The family provided a territorial representative, a state treasurer, a leading physician, and a business enterprise that helped to develop the state's embryonic lumbering industry. The house further is a well preserved and maintained example of towered Queen Anne architecture, constructed of excellent materials and reflecting the owner's occupation.

Architecture

Black and white photograph of the exterior of a home in Dayton`s Bluff area of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Blue ink inscription on back Daytons Bluff 653 E 5th St. (across from 652)/ built by Adolph Muench.