John W. Ross (1848–1914) was the first licensed architect in

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

Biography

He was born in Germany in 1848, was brought to America by his parents as a young child, and grew up in

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

. He studied architecture under Charles Ross, a leading architect in La Crosse. Ross moved to Grand Forks in the late 1800s. John W. Ross died in Grand Forks in 1914. Ross designed many buildings in eastern North Dakota, including the 1901

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Marilyn J. Chiat, ''America's Religious Architecture: Sacred Places for Every Community'' (

John Wiley and Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

, 1997), , pp.201ff.
Excerpt available
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. and the Larimore City Hall, which was built in 1890. and

Works

Ross designed numerous buildings that are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and are preserved. His works include: * Larimore City Hall, Block 64, bounded by Towner, 3rd, Terry and Main, Larimore, ND (Ross, J.W.) *

Goose River Bank The Goose River Bank in Mayville, North Dakota was designed by John W. Ross and was built in 1898. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal gove ...

, 45 Main St. E, Mayville, ND (Ross, John W.) *St. Stanislaus Church (dedicated 1901), in the NRHP-listed

St. Stanislaus Church Historic District The St. Stanislaus Church Historic District is a Polish American historic district (United States), historic district in Warsaw, North Dakota, United States, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The St. Stanisl ...

, off I-29, Warsaw, ND (Ross, John W.) * Wells County Courthouse, Railway St. N, Fessenden, ND (Ross, John W.) *

Grand Forks City Hall Grand Forks City Hall is a building in Grand Forks, North Dakota that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was built in 1911. and It was designed by Grand Forks architect John W. Ross (North Dakota architect), John ...

, 404 N. 2nd Ave., Grand Forks, ND (Ross, John W.) This building "is pure Beaux Arts. Rather small in scale and only two storys over a raised basement, the City Hall is faced with ashlar and was similar in mass, style, and materials to the recently razed Carnegie Library which was located nearby." *

Grand Forks Woolen Mills Grand Forks Woolen Mills is a building located on the corner of Third Avenue North and North Third Street in Grand Forks, North Dakota, designed by architect John W. Ross. A three-story construction approximately by in size, it is recorded as b ...

, 301 N. 3rd St., Grand Forks, ND (Ross, John W.) * Amos and Lillie Plummer House, 306 W. Caledonia Ave., Hillsboro, ND (Ross, John W.) *

Rudolf Hotel The Rudolf Hotel in Valley City, North Dakota is a three-story hotel building that was built in 1907. It was designed by John W. Ross in Classical Revival style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Regi ...

, Central Ave. and 2nd St.,

Valley City, ND Valley City is a city in Barnes County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Barnes County. The population was 6,575 during the 2020 census, making it the 12th largest city in North Dakota. Valley City was founded in 1874. Val ...

(Ross, John W.) *

Pisek School The Pisek School in Pisek, North Dakota is a Classical Revival building. Pisek School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. and Pisek School was built in 1913. It was designed by John W. Ross (1848-1914). Born in Ge ...

, E end of Main St. at Lovick Ave.,

Pisek, ND Pisek ( ) is a city in Walsh County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 89 at the 2020 census. History Pisek was founded in 1882 by Bohemian settlers who had come from the town of Pisek in the modern Czech Republic. Additionally ...

(Ross, John) *Renovation of second floor of

Finks and Gokey Block Finks and Gokey Block, built in 1881, is "one of the earliest brick commercial buildings" in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Unite ...

, Grand Forks, ND and *Attributed as probable architect of Grand Forks Mercantile Building, Grand Forks, ND, 1898, Early Commercial and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, John W. (North Dakota architect) Architects from North Dakota 1848 births 1914 deaths German emigrants to the United States People from La Crosse, Wisconsin