{{About|the building in Minneapolis|other uses|Lumber Exchange Building (disambiguation)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Missing information|2=Is it still active? Do people still trade lumber there? In fact, did people <em>ever</em> exchange securities there? There's no info at all about finance here|article|date=December 2018}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Lumber Exchange Building | nrhp_type = | image = Lumber Exchange Bldg.jpg | caption = The Lumber Exchange Building viewed from the west | location = 423-25 [[Hennepin Avenue]]<br>[[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]], United States | coordinates = {{coord|44|58|47|N|93|16|18|W|display=inline,title}} | area = | built = 1885 | architect = [[Long and Kees]] | architecture = Romanesque | added = May 19, 1983 | refnum = 83000903 <ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2006a}}</ref> | designated_other1 = Minneapolis Landmark | designated_other1_date = 1983<ref>{{cite web | title=Minneapolis landmarks and districts map | website=City of Minneapolis | date=February 13, 2025 | url=https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/property-housing/preservation/landmarks-districts/landmarks/map/ | access-date=March 18, 2026}}</ref> }}
The '''Lumber Exchange Building''' was the first [[skyscraper]] built in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]], United States, dating to 1885. It was designed in the [[Richardsonian Romanesque]] style by [[Long and Kees|Franklin B. Long and Frederick Kees]] and was billed as one of the first [[passive fire protection|fireproof]] buildings in the country.<ref name="archiseek">{{cite web|url=http://archiseek.com/2009/1885-lumber-exchange-building-minneapolis/#.VLP1HPnF-So|title=1885 - Lumber Exchange Building, Minneapolis - Architecture of Minnesota|accessdate=2015-01-12}}</ref> It is the oldest high-rise building standing in Minneapolis, and is the oldest building outside of [[New York City]] with 12 or more floors.<ref name="emporis">{{cite web | url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=lumberexchangeedisonbuilding-minneapolis-mn-usa | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223141318/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=lumberexchangeedisonbuilding-minneapolis-mn-usa | url-status=usurped | archive-date=February 23, 2007 | title=Lumber Exchange/Edison Building, Minneapolis | publisher=Emporis Buildings | accessdate=2007-05-10}}</ref>
Franklin Long had formerly worked with [[Charles F. Haglin]], while Frederick Kees had worked with [[Leroy Buffington]] for about four years. The partnership of Long and Kees, lasting from 1884 to 1897, was particularly successful and led to the construction of many of the largest buildings in the city in the 1880s and 1890s. Other buildings by these partners included the Public Library (1884), Masonic Temple (1888) (now the [[Hennepin Center for the Arts]]), Flour Exchange (1893–1897), [[Minneapolis City Hall]] (1889), and the Kasota Block (1884).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/xml/naa024.xml|title=Long and Kees collection|publisher=Northwest Architectural Archives, Manuscripts Division, University of Minnesota Libraries|year=2004| accessdate=2007-05-10}}</ref>
The building was built in multiple stages. Originally a tall, thin structure, an additional wing was added in 1890.<ref name="emporis"/> Later, two stories were added at the top of the building. [[James Lileks]], Minneapolis writer and architectural critic, says, {{cquote|It's one of the few survivors from the early skyscraper era – and perhaps the ugliest. Of all the buildings on Hennepin, it's the least significant; across the street, the Masonic Temple – a near contemporary – is far more intriguing. The Lumber Exchange survived, though; perhaps it was just too big to knock down. It survived a fire, disrepair, neglect … it just won't go away."<ref name="lileks">{{cite web | url = http://www.lileks.com/mpls/lumber/index.html | title=LILEKS (James) Mpls: Lumber Exchange | last=Lileks | first=James | accessdate=2007-05-10}}</ref>}}The building suffered a fire on February 26, 1891.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wermiel |first=Sara E. |date=Fall 2014 |title=The Minneapolis Lumber Exchange Fire of 1891 and Fire-Resisting Construction |url=https://www.academia.edu/8849634/The_Minneapolis_Lumber_Exchange_Fire_of_1891_and_Fire_resisting_Construction |journal=[[Minnesota History (journal)|Minnesota History]] |publisher=[[Minnesota Historical Society|Minnesota Historical Society Press]] |volume=64 |issue=3 |access-date=2025-03-23}}</ref>
The Lumber Exchange Building was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1983. [[File:Lumber Exchange Building After It Burned - DPLA - 7369440aef8caa14346588ae7d567deb.jpg|left|thumb|348x348px|Lumber Exchange Building after the 1891 fire]]
==References== <!-- --------------------------------------------------------------- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for a discussion of different citation methods and how to generate footnotes using the <ref> & </ref> tags and the {{Reflist}} template -------------------------------------------------------------------- --> {{Reflist|33em}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Lumber Exchange Building}} *[https://apps.hclib.org/collections/mplsphotos/results.cfm?subject=Lumber%20Exchange Lumber Exchange Building] at the [[Hennepin County Library]] *[http://greatriversnetwork.org/index.php?brand=cms&imagesonly=yes&q=Lumber%20Exchange%20&type=Photographs Lumber Exchange Building] at the [[Minnesota Historical Society]]
{{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota}} {{Buildings in Minneapolis timeline}}
[[Category:Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota]] [[Category:Commodity exchanges in the United States]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Minneapolis]] [[Category:Office buildings completed in 1885]] [[Category:Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Minnesota]] [[Category:Skyscraper office buildings in Minneapolis]]