How Architecture Has Shaped the State

Three Thousand Years of Building in Minnesota

Expert Essay: Architectural historian Larry Millett, author of Lost Twin Cities and numerous other books, offers a colorful tour of notable Minnesota buildings and building styles, from American Indian burial mounds to Beaux Arts monuments and suburban big boxes.

Lake Owasso Children’s Home (Children’s Preventorium)

Lake Owasso Children’s Home (Children’s Preventorium)

Lake Owasso Children’s Home (Children’s Preventorium of Ramsey County) in Shoreview. Photograph by Northwestern Photographic Studio, ca. 1940.

Motel on Highway 61

Motel on Highway 61

A motel on Highway 61 in Minnesota, ca. 2010s. From Highway 61, by Jessica Lange (powerHouse Books, 2019). Used with the permission of powerHouse Books.

Aerial view of the Swift & Company plant in Worthington

Aerial view of the Swift & Company plant in Worthington

Aerial view of the Swift Company plant in Worthington, 1982. Forms part of the Mart aerial photography collection (I.303).

Woolworth Building

Woolworth Building

The Woolworth Building (designed by Cass Gilbert) in New York City, ca. 1913. Public domain.

Students and staff of Pipestone Indian Training School

Students and staff of Pipestone Indian Training School

Students and staff of Pipestone Indian Training School, undated but ca. 1930s.

Pipestone Indian Training School buildings

Pipestone Indian Training School buildings

The boys' dormitory (right) and dining hall (left) of the Pipestone Indian Training School, undated.

St. Cloud's commercial district

St. Cloud's commercial district

St. Cloud's commercial district. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, Ocober 10, 2023. Public domain.

Downtown St. Paul

Downtown St. Paul

Downtown St. Paul. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user John Polo, November 26, 2005. GNU Free Documentation License 1.2

Downtown Minneapolis skyline

Downtown Minneapolis skyline

Interstate 35W approaching downtown Minneapolis, looking north from the 24th Street pedestrian bridge. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user AlexiusHoratius, May 9, 2010. CC BY-SA 3.0

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