Ames-Florida House

The Ames - Florida House is a house on the Crow River in Rockford, Minnesota. It was built in 1856 by George F. Ames and his brother Joel Florida. Both were from New England and had come by steamboat from northern Illinois to Minnesota. On the way they met Guilford George, a carpenter and machinist. The three men formed a partnership and founded the village of Rockford, the clustered around a sawmill and a flour mill.

The house is one of the few houses in Minnesota, which was built as a half-timbered house, before these construction methods common in the Midwest. Windows and doors were manufactured at the site, as well as the paneling in the interior, which were cut from the felled trees on the property. Several pieces of furniture were also built with hand tools at this point. These are obtained and are shown in the house which is now a museum.

Ames lived until 1878 in the house. Then he withdrew from the business due to health problems and sold it back with its investments in Joel Florida, who is living with two of his three sisters, his mother and his aunt until he died in 1936. The couple Stork bought it after his death. They were interested in historical objects, recognized the historical significance of the house and tried to preserve. The house was donated to the city in 1986 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 1979.