Downtown Minneapolis is full of large office buildings, many of them new and glass-faced, but the one that really got my attention is the one that’s like no other there: Foshay Tower, seen above, and reflected in its neighbors.
The 32-story tower, modeled in part on the Washington Monument, was built by Wilbur Foshay, who built an empire in utility companies and lost it all in the October 1929 stock market crash, just months after his building was finished. His fortune was gone, but his name still stands out on all sides of the tower
For nearly 50 years it was Minneapolis’ tallest building, and in 1978 was added to the National Register of Historic Places. For the past 10 years or so, it has housed a W Hotel, with a sky bar in the 27th floor space that was meant to be Foshay’s board room.
