Lumber Exchange Building

Constructed in 1887 to house the offices of lumber distributors during the expansion of the lumber industry, the Lumber Exchange Building was originally completed as a ten-story building, a height considered excessive when built. Its building-face along South Fifth Street is original, though it was later extended by three additional window bays, and several years afterward it was expanded again to twelve floors. In 1891, a fire broke out and burned the lower ten floors, after which terra cotta sheathing was placed over the wood and iron skeleton. Its main entrance on Hennepin Avenue includes a brass revolving door that once connected Grand Central Station in New York to the adjacent Commodore Hotel. In 1983, it was designated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, and today it is the oldest 12 story-plus building outside New York City.

Minneapolis, Minnesota · United States