# Lumber Exchange Building

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This article is about the building in Minneapolis. For other uses, see [Lumber Exchange Building (disambiguation)](/source/Lumber_Exchange_Building_(disambiguation)).

This article is missing information about Is it still active? Do people still trade lumber there? In fact, did people ever exchange securities there? There's no info at all about finance here. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (December 2018)

United States historic place

Lumber Exchange Building U.S. National Register of Historic Places Minneapolis Landmark The Lumber Exchange Building viewed from the west Location 423-25 Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Coordinates 44°58′47″N 93°16′18″W / 44.97972°N 93.27167°W / 44.97972; -93.27167 Built 1885 Architect Long and Kees Architectural style Romanesque NRHP reference No. 83000903 [1] Significant dates Added to NRHP May 19, 1983 Designated MPLSL 1983[2]

The **Lumber Exchange Building** was the first [skyscraper](/source/Skyscraper) built in [Minneapolis](/source/Minneapolis), [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota), United States, dating to 1885. It was designed in the [Richardsonian Romanesque](/source/Richardsonian_Romanesque) style by [Franklin B. Long and Frederick Kees](/source/Long_and_Kees) and was billed as one of the first [fireproof](/source/Passive_fire_protection) buildings in the country.[3] It is the oldest high-rise building standing in Minneapolis, and is the oldest building outside of [New York City](/source/New_York_City) with 12 or more floors.[4]

Franklin Long had formerly worked with [Charles F. Haglin](/source/Charles_F._Haglin), while Frederick Kees had worked with [Leroy Buffington](/source/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](/source/Hennepin_Center_for_the_Arts)), Flour Exchange (1893–1897), [Minneapolis City Hall](/source/Minneapolis_City_Hall) (1889), and the Kasota Block (1884).[5]

The building was built in multiple stages. Originally a tall, thin structure, an additional wing was added in 1890.[4] Later, two stories were added at the top of the building. [James Lileks](/source/James_Lileks), Minneapolis writer and architectural critic, says,

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."[6]

The building suffered a fire on February 26, 1891.[7]

The Lumber Exchange Building was listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) in 1983.

Lumber Exchange Building after the 1891 fire

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nris_1-0)** ["National Register Information System"](https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP). *[National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places)*. [National Park Service](/source/National_Park_Service). March 15, 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Minneapolis landmarks and districts map"](https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/property-housing/preservation/landmarks-districts/landmarks/map/). *City of Minneapolis*. February 13, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-archiseek_3-0)** ["1885 - Lumber Exchange Building, Minneapolis - Architecture of Minnesota"](http://archiseek.com/2009/1885-lumber-exchange-building-minneapolis/#.VLP1HPnF-So). Retrieved 2015-01-12.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-emporis_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-emporis_4-1) ["Lumber Exchange/Edison Building, Minneapolis"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070223141318/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=lumberexchangeedisonbuilding-minneapolis-mn-usa). Emporis Buildings. Archived from the original on February 23, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Long and Kees collection"](http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/xml/naa024.xml). Northwest Architectural Archives, Manuscripts Division, University of Minnesota Libraries. 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-lileks_6-0)** Lileks, James. ["LILEKS (James) Mpls: Lumber Exchange"](http://www.lileks.com/mpls/lumber/index.html). Retrieved 2007-05-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Wermiel, Sara E. (Fall 2014). ["The Minneapolis Lumber Exchange Fire of 1891 and Fire-Resisting Construction"](https://www.academia.edu/8849634/The_Minneapolis_Lumber_Exchange_Fire_of_1891_and_Fire_resisting_Construction). *[Minnesota History](/source/Minnesota_History_(journal))*. **64** (3). [Minnesota Historical Society Press](/source/Minnesota_Historical_Society). Retrieved 2025-03-23.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Lumber Exchange Building](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lumber_Exchange_Building).

- [Lumber Exchange Building](https://apps.hclib.org/collections/mplsphotos/results.cfm?subject=Lumber%20Exchange) at the [Hennepin County Library](/source/Hennepin_County_Library)

- [Lumber Exchange Building](http://greatriversnetwork.org/index.php?brand=cms&imagesonly=yes&q=Lumber%20Exchange%20&type=Photographs) at the [Minnesota Historical Society](/source/Minnesota_Historical_Society)

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Lists by county Aitkin Anoka Becker Beltrami Benton Big Stone Blue Earth Brown Carlton Carver Cass Chippewa Chisago Clay Clearwater Cook Cottonwood Crow Wing Dakota Dodge Douglas Faribault Fillmore Freeborn Goodhue Grant Hennepin Houston Hubbard Isanti Itasca Jackson Kanabec Kandiyohi Kittson Koochiching Lac qui Parle Lake Lake of the Woods Le Sueur Lincoln Lyon Mahnomen Marshall Martin McLeod Meeker Mille Lacs Morrison Mower Murray Nicollet Nobles Norman Olmsted Otter Tail Pennington Pine Pipestone Polk Pope Ramsey Red Lake Redwood Renville Rice Rock Roseau St. Louis Scott Sherburne Sibley Stearns Steele Stevens Swift Todd Traverse Wabasha Wadena Waseca Washington Watonwan Wilkin Winona Wright Yellow Medicine Other lists Bridges National Historic Landmarks Voyageurs National Park Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property

v t e Timeline of tallest buildings in Minneapolis Globe Building (48 m) (1882) Lumber Exchange Building (50 m) (1886) Industrial Exposition Building (73 m) (1887) Metropolitan Building (79 m) (1890) Minneapolis City Hall (104 m) (1895) Foshay Tower (137 m) (1929) IDS Tower (241 m) (1973)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lumber Exchange Building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumber_Exchange_Building) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumber_Exchange_Building?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.