Scraping Minneapolis' Skyline

A modern use of an
early poster in display.
2/28/18  dwm photo

The Foshay Tower is the original Twin Cities skyscraper.

My trouble was I couldn't see it from our hotel room.  After consulting a map I realized Minneapolis' one-time tallest building was hidden by a much larger structure.

Just months before the Stock Market Crash, it opened in 1929 a Minnesota triumph before the depths of the Great Depression.

The builder, Wilbur B. Foshay put his name on it.  Foshay built his wealth through three utility companies - building one then selling it for the next.

The Foshay reflected in the
TCF Tower from 30th
floor observation deck.
2/28/18 dwm photo

Foshay liked it so much he paid band leader John Phillip Sousa to compose a march for him.

Wilbur Foshay only heard it once as his life hit bottom during the depression. He paid Sousa $20,000 for the music in 1929, but when his check bounced, Sousa said it wouldn't play again until he was paid.

In 1932, Foshay was convicted and sent to Federal Prison for running a Pyramid scheme.  The scheme used money from new buyers to pay those who got in early.  He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

That tidbit makes me wonder if he had second thoughts about the pyramid on top of the building.  His first time in court ended in a mistrial when the only female juror voted not guilty.  She was convicted later too because she didn't tell the court her husband did business with Foshay.

Art on the ornate
elevator doors in the
Foshay lobby.
2/28/18  (dwm)

Are you as surprised as I am that a movie hasn't been made about this?  The highs and lows in a millionaires life was a spectacle then, I bet it would make a good story now.

The art deco style building is an echo of the Washington monument with the tower tapering from the second floor.  The Foshay name surrounds the top, in laid with flashing lights.

It is still a showplace.  Today it is home to the W Minneapolis Hotel which replaced the offices with 230 rooms.  It kept the Observation deck ($10 to see it) and retained the area Foshay wanted as his personal home.  It's now home to a spectacular 27th floor bar.

Looking north on
the Observation deck.
2/28/18  (dwm)

Before this visit, I never heard of the Foshay.

Now it is part of the skywalk system which connects much of downtown Minneapolis with indoor walks on the second floor.  It's a Minnesota answer to winter.

It worked.  Even the coldest days seem OK when you park inside and go for blocks without a coat during the coldest winter months.

Looking at the Foshay
from 8th & Marquette.
2/28/18  (dwm)

The hotel is beautiful.  I walked through the doors opened by the doormen and down the opulent hall to the registration desk in the heart of the tower.

A very long time ago, when I was going into second grade, my family went to New York City where Dad spoke at an International Conference of Engineers in the Waldorf Astoria.

The current Walforf was completed in 1931.  Those are the memories the Foshay invoked.

A photo of the Foshay
on display showing the
structure's history.

At the top, history hangs on the walls using old newspaper headlines, photos, and artifacts.

At the top, the elevator doors are engraved mirrors with images of the Foshay.

Observation deck
elevator door with
artist rendering of tower.
2/28/18  (dwm)

Mr. Foshay had his 15 year prison sentence commuted by President Franklin Roosevelt to 10.  He was released after three for his good behavior.

In 1947, President Truman gave him a full pardon.  Foshay died 10 years later. He didn't scale any heights again.

The building was Minneapolis' tallest until 1972.  In 1988, Minnesota investors paid Sousa's estate to cover Foshay's bounced check allowing it to be played again.

Even before his conviction, Foshay's fortunes tumbled when his company ran into trouble after the dawn of the depression.  But his legacy lives on in a crowded Minneapolis skyline.