The Strunk–Nyssen House is a historic property in Jackson Township, Minnesota, United States, just outside the city of

Shakopee Shakopee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Minnesota, United States. It is located southwest of Minneapolis. Sited on the south bank bend of the Minnesota River, Shakopee and nearby suburbs comprise the southwest portion of ...

. The original wing of the house was built around 1856 for Herman H. Strunk, who established the area's first

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

on the site. The brewery went by several names over the course of its existence, but is commonly referred to as the Shakopee Brewery. The residence was enlarged around 1880 by Hubert and Mary Nyssen, who used the second floor as a boarding house. With The Nyssens continued operating the brewery until 1920. The property was 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 ...

in 1980 for its significance in the themes of architecture, commerce, exploration/settlement, and industry. It was nominated for its long association with the important brewing industry of early Scott County and as an example of 19th-century

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

Description

The Strunk–Nyssen House is located a short distance south of the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It ris ...

, in what is now an industrial area on the west edge of Shakopee. The house was built in two sections. The older west section is a simple two-story brick building. The larger east section is built of mortared

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

s with brick

quoin Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

s, with its main entrance facing north. The two-over-two windows are tall with shallow arches. The

gable roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...

has a brick chimney at either end. A

wall dormer A wall dormer is a dormer whose facial plane is integral with the facial plane of the wall that it is built into, breaking the line of the eaves of a building. Wall dormers are less commonly seen than typical “roof dormers”. They locate the w ...

with an

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

is centered on the east façade. This face originally had a porch and staircase providing exterior access to the second-story boarding house, which has four small rooms off a central hallway. That porch was replaced shortly before 1980 and a two-car garage was added to the west end of the house. The ruins of the brewery, separated from the house by railroad tracks, are still visible from the

Minnesota Valley State Trail Minnesota Valley State Trail is a 27-mile (43 km), multi-use trail in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area that runs parallel to the Minnesota River from the cities of Belle Plaine to Shakopee. A 10-mile (16 km) segment of the trail fr ...

. Also on the property are a wood-frame barn and a brick

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...

History

German immigrant Herman H. Strunk homesteaded the site in 1855. The following year he opened the first brewery in the Minnesota River Valley, adjacent to the original section of the house where he and his family lived. Strunk was soon operating a

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

, a hunting lodge, and a drug store, and sold off this property in 1860. Andrew and Mary Winkler took over the business in 1863. Andrew Winkler died in 1870 and Mary ran the brewery herself for five years before marrying Hubert Nyssen, an experienced German brewer. The Nyssens had the house enlarged around 1880. They lived on the first floor and used the second floor as a boarding house for the farmers and salesmen who came great distances to deliver

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

or brewing supplies. The Nyssens grew some of their own barley and kept livestock on an adjacent farm. On October 28, 1897, the brewery was badly damaged in a fire. A $3,925 insurance settlement funded enough repairs to stay in business. The Shakopee Brewery remained a prominent local business until the passage of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

in 1920 led to its closure. Hubert Nyssen continued to live in the house until his death in 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strunk Nyssen House 1856 establishments in Minnesota Territory German-American culture in Minnesota Houses completed in 1856 Houses completed in 1880 Houses in Scott County, Minnesota Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Scott County, Minnesota Vernacular architecture in Minnesota

Description

History

See also

References