The 157 foot Globe Building at 4th Street South was the tallest building in the city from 1882–1886. Fire Insurance maps indicate this building was 124 feet to the top of a rear penthouse, but the turret at the southeast corner rose higher than this.Originally built as an office building it had become a parking facility by 1951. It was demolished shortly thereafter for a new Minneapolis Public Library. There was another Globe Building in neighboring St. Paul, built and torn down at approximately the same time.
Lumber Exchange Building at 10 5th Street South took the title from 1886–1887. At 165 feet, The Lumber Exchange Building was the first real skyscratcher built in Minneapolis, Designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Franklin B. Long and Frederick Kees the Lumber Exchange was billed as one of the first fireproof buildings in the country. It is the oldest high-rise standing in Minneapolis, and the oldest building outside of New York City with 12 or more floors.
The 240 foot tower on the Industrial Exposition Building on Central Avenue Southeast and Main Street Southeast was the tallest building in Minneapolis from 1887–1890. The Exposition Hall stood above the east bank of the Mississippi from 1887 to 1940. It was the site of the 1892 Republican National Convention, the only major party convention to be held in Minnesota until the 2008 Republican National Convention. It was also the site for the “Festival of Fire and Victory Jubilee” on September 5-10, 1898. The structure was built on the site of the Winslow House Hotel. It was bounded by Bank Street SE, Central Avenue SE, Main Street SE, and Ortman Street SE, in the Old St. Anthony part of the city. The Exposition Building was torn down in 1940 for the construction of a Coca-Cola bottling plant. The bottling plant was torn down in the early 1980s. The area was later a parking lot and is currently built up with townhouse condominiums.
The beautiful old Metropolitan Building 308 2nd Avenue South was the tallest from 1890–1895 standing 258 feet. Small observation towers poked up above the corners, and the rooftop had a popular garden. It was built of green New Hampshire granite and red Lake Superior sandstone, the insides were dressed in antique oak. A large skylight allowed the interior to be safely lit in a time when the electric light was rare and the floors of walkways circling the center court were translucent to allow more light to filter through. Architect E. Townsend Mix designed the building, and it is considered to be his most notable achievement. Many of the city’s most prestigious companies had offices in the Metropolitan. Originally known as the Northwestern Guaranty Loan Building, the building was demolished in 1961.
In 1895 the Minneapolis City Hall 350 5th Street South was the tallest building in town. The clock tower climbs 341 feet into the cold blue sky. Built of Ortonville granite, with many stones greater than 20 tons in weight our handsome city hall is a mighty fortress. The granite was originally going to be used for the foundation. Plans called for a brick cladding on the upper portions, but the public appreciated the foundations appearance and many lobbied for the entire building to be covered in granite.
Completed in 1929, The Foshay Tower at 821 Marquette Avenue held the title for decades standing 448 feet tall. The building has been credited as “the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi”. The Foshay was designed to echo the Washington Monument and the sides of the building slope slightly inward. Each floor is slightly smaller than the one below. The tower is set back from the street, with a two-story structure surrounding it on the Marquette Avenue and 9th Street sides. The other two sides of the building, facing 8th Street and 2nd Avenue, are now surrounded by the TCF Tower, which rises to seventeen stories on the 2nd Avenue side and entirely obscures the views from the windows of the first seven stories of the Foshay Tower on the 2nd Avenue and 8th Street sides. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Opened in 1974, The 792 foot IDS Centre has been the highest point downtown for over forty years. The tower is also the tallest building in the state of Minnesota. Overall, the structure rises to 910 feet when the communications spires on the roof are included. Because of the IDS building’s peculiar stepback design, termed “zogs” by architect, Philip Johnson, each floor has 32 corner offices. Mechanical floors are present 121 feet above street level and at the very top of the building, these can be easily told from the inhabited floors by their darker facing. Below ground the IDS Centre contains three additional floors and a parking ramp.