GRAIN ELEVATORS

At one time, the Minneapolis and St. Louis rail line was lined with mammoth grain elevators. This list of those structures may not necessarily be complete or accurate. As a point of reference, the first grain elevators in Minneapolis had been built above St. Anthony Falls in 1867.

Belco Elevators, 31st and Glenhurst, was built at least by 1914. It was owned by Hales Hunter, which, in 1928 had its headquarters at 204 Corn Exchange Bldg. in Minneapolis. Two of the elevators burned down in a spectacular inferno on May 6, 1977. See Fires and Firefighting.

Commander Larrabee Elevators, Milling and Storage, 5705 W. 35th, was built @1880. This wooden elevator stored grain hauled in from country elevators for the Minneapolis mills. When the structure, described as the P.V. #1, burned to the ground in 1910, its owner appeared before the Village Council asking for his taxes to be reduced. The elevator was replaced by a 10 story cement structure. Daniel K. Whalen, who lived next door, was the superintendent from 1909 to 1944. (Harold Whalen in 1952). It was known as the Burdick Grain Elevators in 1984. D.K. Whalen’s daughter remembered this about the structure:

When Dad started as the Supt. in 1909 there was only one building. It was just an oblong building. Later I remember them building another section of 9 silos, also a square building that held machinery and a cage elevator. The office was also in that building. In later years, 36 more silos were added. The grain was brought in by train and stored there until needed. During the Harvest Season the elevator was run 24 hours a day. I remember during the 1st World War that a group of soldiers were stationed there to patrol the area because they thought that the Germans might try to blow it up. They lived in tents but did all their cooking in our kitchen. Mr. Gibson worked in the office with Dad. My father, D.K. Whalen was Supt. From 1909 until he died in 1944.

A permit to build an addition was presented by Gust. A. Johnson and Son in late 1957.

On September 14, 1989, explosives brought down much of the St. Louis Park landmark, with wrecking balls downing the rest. In its place was built CityScape, an apartment complex with the address 5707 Highway 7. 

Exchange Elevator was built in 1908 near Bass Lake. It was owned by the H. Poehler Co., which also had an Exchange Elevator in Duluth.

Great Western Grain Company was built @ 1898,  In 1904 it suffered damage in an August tornado.  In 1913 it was owned by Hales Hunter and held barley.  In 1918 it was owned by Union Elevator Co.  In 1926 it was owned by Hales Hunter (Van McKusick).

Interior Elevators, 33rd and Salem, was built in 1893. This elevator was purchased by the McCarthys in 1923, and to International Milling Co. in 1947.  IM owned it until it was demolished. The elevator held 1.5 million bushels. Click here and here for other pictures.  Located west of Highway 100, this became the famous Robin Hood Flour elevator, which inspired the Robin Hood Days celebration.




The structure was closed on May 25, 1968 and demolished Sept-Oct, 1968. (The company deliberately waited until the end of the festival to tear it down.) In 1976, plans were proffered for a development that included a 338 unit suite-type condo-hotel, a 550 seat dinner theater, 2 bars, 2 restaurants, a sports and health club, and 32,000 sq.ft. of office space. Apartments were built instead. Some of the property was purchased by Nordic Ware.

 

Peavey-Hauglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator:  Grain merchant Frank Hutchinson Peavey was born in Maine in 1850, and headed west at the age of 15. After a stop in Chicago, he went into the grain business in Sioux City in 1874, and immediately saw the need to find a better way to store grain. He came to Minneapolis in 1884 and quickly began buying elevators all over the area. One was the McKenzie-Hague-Simons elevator, built in about 1890, with a capacity of 1.5 million bushels.  Partner Van Dusen Harrington owned the Cable Piano Company in Chicago, and dismantled the elevator planking and shipped it to the piano factory. 

Fire was a constant danger to the wooden terminals, and Peavey was determined to lower the skyrocketing insurance rates that resulted from these disasters. He commissioned Minneapolis architect/builder/contractor Charles F. Haglin (1849-1921) to build the Peavey-Hauglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator at the intersection of now-Highways 100 and 7. The structure was 122 ft. high, its walls are 12 inches thick, the inside diameter is about 20 ft.  

Its basic shape and lack of ornamentation was influenced by Architect Walter Gropius, founder of the new International Style. (It has also been described as based on a Romanian design). Whatever its inspiration, it was the first circular grain elevator built of poured concrete in the US and possibly the world.  The design became the industry standard, serving as the model for the Washburn Crosby grain storage complexes in Buffalo and Minneapolis.

 In May 1899, the new elevator was filled and the next year it was emptied.  Skeptics were sure that the structure would crack or explode, and dubbed it “Peavey’s folly.”  Hundreds of spectators who came to watch the expected explosion were cordoned off to safety in the event the predictions proved true. “Jeers turned to cheers” when the elevator held, and history was made. The experiment was so remarkable that it was reported in the New York Times. Nevertheless, after the excitement was over, the structure was never again used for grain storage. It was, however, sometimes referred to as the "Test Grain Tank."

Peavey died suddenly of pneumonia in 1901 at age 51. The company incorporated in 1906, was controlled by family members (including son-in-law Heffelfinger) for many years, and merged with Con-Agra in 1982.

In the 1950's, the property belonged to a lumber yard:  click here for a picture in 1953.

The structure became the property of Northland Aluminum (Nordic Ware). In about 1969, renovations were made as the structure was in grave danger of toppling over.  Timber pilings on the base of the elevator were replaced with steel reinforced concrete to prevent it from sinking.  At that time, Nordic Ware painted its famous ad on the building.  The renovation cost some $40,000.

It was placed on the list of Historic Places with the Department of Interior on December 19, 1978 with the number 78001549.

See also the article from the Re-Echo.

 

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.