Views From The Top

This past weekend we made a trip to the Cities - CJ stayed with my parents and Joel & I stayed overnight downtown. We had a great mix of sightseeing around the city, eating at interesting restaurants, and relaxing at the hotel.

Saturday after lunch Joel & I went to the top of the Foshay Tower. There is a museum there (more interesting facts about Wilbur Foshay later) and also an open air deck. On a clear day, you can see for miles and there are terrific views of nearby buildings downtown. Being a city girl at heart, I just had to take lots of pictures!

Street view of the Foshay Tower (our tour pamphlet says each letter carved into the building is 10 feet high)

You can see the reflection of the Foshay Tower in this building across the street

The church seen here is Central Lutheran, where my Dad's Uncle & Aunt were members for many years

We thought this was a neat idea - a rooftop garden/park area

Wells Fargo Center

IDS Tower & Wells Fargo Center

Capella Tower (round design at top)

Target Center & the new Twins field

A long way down to the street!

There are several interesting stories relating to Mr. Foshay and the Foshay Tower (information sources - tour pamphlet & online):

Wilbur Foshay was a Minnesota entepreneur/businessman and made his money by buying up utility companies around the U.S. and Latin America.

In 1927 Foshay had enough money for a new headquarters building and spent $3.75 million on the Foshay Tower (it was modeled after the Washington Monument as a tribute to our first President). The Foshay Tower became the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi and was the tallest building in Minneapolis for over 40 years (until the IDS Tower was built in the early 1970s).

The Tower's grand opening was in August 1929. Foshay had a 3-day celebration to mark the opening of his tower (dedication celebration cost over $116,000). Dignitaries from around the U.S. and the world came for this, including the secretary of war. John Philip Sousa was commissioned to write & conduct music for the event. Sousa wrote a march titled "Foshay Tower - Washington Memorial March." Foshay presented Sousa with a check for $20,000 as payment for the composition and concerts. The march was only played once during Foshay's lifetime. Six weeks after the building's opening, Foshay's company was thrown into receivership as the Great Depression began. Foshay's check to Sousa bounced, and in retaliation, Sousa prohibited the playing of the march so long as Foshay's debt to him remained outstanding. In 1988, a group of Minnesota investors repaid Foshay's estate so the march could be played again.

Foshay was involved in some shady dealings and was convicted of mail fraud. He only served 3 years of his sentence - FDR commuted his sentence and President Truman later granted him an unconditional pardon.

Our tour was quite informational and interesting, in addition to getting the chance to see great views of the area. We highly recommend it to anyone!

Here is some more reading about Foshay for those that are interested in more MN history...

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200001/31_buzenbergb_foshay/

http://www.time.com/magazine/article/0,9171,737995,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Foshay