View source for Taylors Falls Public Library

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Taylors Falls Public Library
| nrhp_type    = nrhp
| image        = Taylors Falls Public Library.jpg
| caption      = Taylors Falls Public Library from the south-southeast
| coordinates  = {{coord|45|24|14.3|N|92|39|10.4|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = Minnesota#USA
| location     = 473 Bench Street, [[Taylors Falls, Minnesota]]
| area         = {{convert|.25|acre|ha}}
| built        = 1854, remodeled 1887
| builder      = John Jacob Spengler, remodeled by Thomas Peck
| architecture = [[Carpenter Gothic]]/[[Stick style]]
| refnum       = 70000290<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2010a}}</ref>
| added        = October 15, 1970
}}

'''Taylors Falls Public Library''' is the [[public library]] of [[Taylors Falls, Minnesota]], United States, still operating in its original 19th-century building.  Originally constructed as a tailor shop in 1854, the building was remodeled and converted into a library in 1887.  Taylors Falls Public Library was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1970 for its local significance in the themes of architecture and education.<ref name=MNHS>{{cite web |title=Taylors Falls Public Library |url=http://nrhp.mnhs.org/NRDetails.cfm?NPSNum=70000290 |work=Minnesota National Register Properties Database |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |year=2009 |accessdate=2015-06-23}}</ref>  It was nominated for being an intact example of small-town libraries as they existed before [[Carnegie library|Carnegie libraries]] and [[bookmobile]]s and for its [[Carpenter Gothic]]/[[Stick style]] architecture.<ref name=Cavin>{{cite report |last=Brooks |first=Cavin |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Taylors Falls Public Library |url={{NRHP url|id=70000290}} |publisher=National Park Service |date=1970-04-13 |access-date=2022-06-22 |type=none}}</ref>

==Description==
Taylors Falls Public Library is a one-story, two-room building measuring {{convert|32|ft|m}} long and {{convert|14|ft|m}} wide.  It is of wood [[Framing (construction)|frame construction]] with [[clapboard (architecture)|clapboard]] siding on a [[sandstone]] foundation.  The front door is capped by a [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] canopy and flanked by Stick-style windows with [[Eastlake movement]] decorations.  Elaborately sawn and [[woodturning|turned]] ornaments adorn the [[bargeboard]]s and front façade.  A {{convert|14|by|7|ft|m|adj=on}} [[lean to]] abuts the rear.<ref name=Cavin />

Inside the front room features a plastered [[barrel vault]] ceiling, while the back room has a pressed [[tin ceiling]].<ref name=Cavin />

==History==
The building was originally constructed as a simple [[tailor]] shop in 1854 by John Jacob Spengler, who operated his business in the front and lived in the back room with his family.  Spengler sewed uniforms for [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] soldiers during the [[American Civil War]].  In 1887 the building was sold to the Taylors Falls Library Association for use as a library.  Thomas Peck converted the building to its new use and added ornamentation typical of the late 19th century.  The rear lean-to was added sometime later.<ref name=Cavin /><ref>{{cite web |title=1880s: Taylors Falls Public Library |work=Getaways through the Years |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |url=http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/nrhp/property_overview.cfm-propertyID=65.html |year=2007 |accessdate=2015-08-26}}</ref>

The library continues to operate in the building, with a collection of 10,000 items.<ref>{{cite web |title=Taylors Falls Public Library |url=http://www.ci.taylors-falls.mn.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={91979FAB-71B9-49B5-9BD9-B812C6D2EE65} |publisher=City of Taylors Falls |accessdate=2015-08-26}}</ref>

[[Image:Taylors Falls Public Library2.jpg|thumb|left|Taylors Falls Public Library in 1934]]

==See also==
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Chisago County, Minnesota]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Taylors Falls Public Library}}
* [http://www.taylorsfalls.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={91979FAB-71B9-49B5-9BD9-B812C6D2EE65} Taylor Falls Public Library]

{{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Taylors Falls, Minnesota]]
[[Category:1887 establishments in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Chisago County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Carpenter Gothic architecture in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1854]]
[[Category:Education in Chisago County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Library buildings completed in 1887]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Chisago County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Public libraries in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Shingle Style architecture in Minnesota]]