Augustus Gauger emigrated from Brandenburg, Germany to the United
States in 1862 when he was ten years old. He began his
architectural career with Edward Bassford, architect, in St.
Paul, MN in 1875 and designed school buildings for the St.
Paul School District from 1881-1887. Gauger began his own
firm in 1878 with a commission to design the Bank of
Farmington, MN. He designed businesses, churches, public
buildings, homes and schools in California, Illinois, Iowa,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North and South
Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin,
and ranks as one of Minnesota’s great architects.
The library
is of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. As interpreted by
H.H. Richardson in the 1870s and 1880s, the Romanesque became
a different, and uniquely American, style. It is
characterized by masonry construction and the general use of
the semi-circular arch for all wall openings and decoration.
Belt courses, or decorative stone courses that run horizontal
across the entire building or major portions of it, are also
prevalent. The following can be said to characterize the
style:
-
Massive stone walls
-
Dramatic semicircular arches
-
Unusual sculptured shapes in stone
-
Heaviness is emphasized by stone
construction, deep windows, cavernous recessed door opening
and bands of windows.
-
Contrasting color or texture of stone
-
Short robust columns
The following pictures were taken by Phil Schlarb
and captioned by Dave Davis. We are grateful for their help
with this project.
|
