Colonial Warehouse is a building in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. It was built 1885–1909 as a series of buildings with a common façade. It is part of Minneapolis's historic

Warehouse District This is a list of notable warehouse districts. A warehouse district or warehouse row is an area found in many urban setting known for being the current or former location of numerous warehouses. Logistically, warehouses are often located in indus ...

and a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

to the Minneapolis Warehouse Historic District.

History

Formally known as the Minneapolis Street Railway Company Building, the property now bears the name Colonial Warehouse. The warehouse was intended to be the powerhouse for a cable car system that was never built. Instead it became an electric carhouse, and the first electric powerhouse for streetcars in 1890. The building housed the general offices and the paint and woodworking shops during the horse-drawn streetcar era.

Thomas Lowry Thomas Lowry (February 27, 1843 – February 4, 1909) was an American lawyer, real-estate magnate, and businessman who oversaw much of the early growth of the streetcar lines in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Twin Cities area of Minneapolis, St. Pau ...

, the head of the Minneapolis Street Railway Company, chose this site as the firm's headquarters. It became the main offices of the Minneapolis Street Railway Company until 1904.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Minneapolis Historic district contributing properties in Minnesota Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Railway buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota