Great Northern Elevator

Last updated
Great Northern Elevator
Great Northern Elevator.jpg
Great Northern Elevator before the brickwork collapsed.
Great Northern Elevator
Former namesMutual Elevator, Pillsbury Elevator
General information
StatusDemolished
TypeSteel grain elevator
Architectural styleVernacular
Location250 Ganson Street, Buffalo, New York, United States
Coordinates 42°52′00″N78°52′20″W / 42.866725°N 78.87221°W / 42.866725; -78.87221
Construction startedMarch 31, 1897
CompletedSeptember 29, 1897
DemolishedSeptember 2022 - May 2023
ManagementADM Milling
Height
Roof187 feet (57.0 m)
Design and construction
DeveloperGreat Northern Railway
Structural engineerMax Toltz, D. A. Robinson
Main contractorJames J. Hall, Riter-Conley

The Great Northern Elevator was a grain storage facility at 250 Ganson Street in Buffalo, New York. The elevator was located on the City Ship Canal and at the time of its completion in 1897, the elevator was the world's largest. [1] The elevator was the first to employ cylindrical steel bins for grain storage, and also one of the first to run on electricity. [2] The brick curtain wall did not support the bins or the working house and was designed as weatherproofing only.

Contents

History

The Great Northern Elevator was built by noted Chicago elevator builder D. A. Robinson. Max Toltz, a bridge engineer with the Great Northern Railroad was the consulting engineer for the building and responsible for much of the building design. At the time of demolition, the building was the last of the "brick box" type working house grain elevators still standing in North America. [3]

Ownership

Storage

The Great Northern Elevator offered a total holding capacity of 2.52 to 3 million US bushels (89,000 to 106,000 m3) in 48 large steel bins. Thirty of the bins are 38 feet (12 m) in diameter and 18 of the bins are 15.5 feet (4.7 m) in diameter. The elevator's brick exterior serves as a weather barrier and does not help to carry the weight of the cupola or the grain bins. The building's structure is supported by a web of steel I-beams. [4] The building was originally equipped with three corrugated-iron nine-story-high iron legs designed to move along tracks. These were destroyed during a storm in 1922 and replaced by two new 145-foot (44 m) marine leg towers built by the Monarch Engineering Co. [3] A concrete framed flour mill addition was erected in 1924.

ADM sign painted on the adjoining building Great Northern Elevator rt.JPG
ADM sign painted on the adjoining building

Final years

In the late 1980s, then-owner Pillsbury requested a permit to raze the structure. This was opposed, and culminated in the Great Northern's designation as a city of Buffalo landmark. In 1996 and 2003 demolition of the building complex was again requested by subsequent and current owner Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Both times it was denied. [5] Until its demolition, the building remained one of the earliest surviving elevators in the Buffalo River District.

On December 11, 2021, during a wind storm in Buffalo, the north-facing wall of the building partially collapsed, exposing some of the innovative cylindrical grain bins inside. [6] On December 17, the City of Buffalo ordered the emergency demolition of the historic elevator. [7] The Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture sued the city and owner ADM in State Supreme Court to block the demolition. The court found for the City and owner, whereupon the Campaign appealed to the fourth District Appellate Court. New York State appellate justice Tracey Bannister [8] granted a temporary restraining order against demolition. [9] Demolition began in September 2022, and was completed by May 2023. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grain elevator</span> Grain storage building

A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits it in a silo or other storage facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prospect Park, Minneapolis</span> Neighborhood in Hennepin, Minnesota, United States

Prospect Park is a historic neighborhood within the University community of the U.S. city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The area is bounded by the Mississippi River to the south, the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota to the east, the Burlington Northern railroad yard to the north, and the Stadium Village commercial district of the University of Minnesota to the west. The neighborhood is composed of several districts which include the East River Road area. The 1913 Prospect Park Water Tower is a landmark and neighborhood icon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carew Tower</span> 49-story Art Deco building in Cincinnati, US

Carew Tower is a 49-story, 574-foot (175 m) Art Deco building completed in 1931 in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, overlooking the Ohio River waterfront. The structure is the second-tallest building in the city, and it was added to the register of National Historic Landmarks on April 19, 1994. The tower is named after Joseph T. Carew, proprietor of the Mabley & Carew department store chain, which had previously operated in a building on the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larkin Administration Building</span> Building by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Buffalo, New York

The Larkin Building was an office building in Buffalo, New York, noted for innovations that included central air conditioning, built-in desk furniture, and suspended toilet partitions and bowls. Located at 680 Seneca Street, it was demolished in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellicott Square Building</span> Office in NY, United States

The Ellicott Square Building is a historic office complex, completed in 1896, located in Buffalo, New York. It is found within the Joseph Ellicott Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rookery Building</span> Building in Chicago

The Rookery Building is a historic office building located at 209 South LaSalle Street in the Chicago Loop. Completed by architects Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiece buildings, and was once the location of their offices. The building is 181 feet (55 m) in height, twelve stories tall, and is considered the oldest standing high-rise in Chicago. It has a unique construction style featuring exterior load-bearing walls and an interior steel frame, providing a transition between accepted and new building techniques. The lobby was remodeled in 1905 by Frank Lloyd Wright. From 1989 to 1992, the lobby was restored to Wright's design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo–Exchange Street station</span> Amtrak train station in Buffalo, New York, US

Buffalo–Exchange Street station is an Amtrak station in Buffalo, New York. The station serves six Amtrak trains daily: two daily Empire Service round trips between Niagara Falls and New York City and one Maple Leaf round trip between Toronto and New York City. There is also daily Amtrak Thruway bus service at the station, operating between the Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center and Jamestown station in Jamestown, New York, via Dunkirk and Fredonia, and serving the communities along the southeast shore of Lake Erie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceresota Building</span> United States historic place

Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company Elevator A also known as the Ceresota Elevator and "The Million Bushel Elevator" was a receiving and public grain elevator built by the Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company in 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. The elevator may have been the largest brick elevator ever constructed and ran on electricity. The elevator was the source for the Crown Roller Mill and Standard Mill. Those mills closed in the 1950s but the elevator continued in use for grain storage until the mid 1980s. The building is a contributing property of the St. Anthony Falls Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. For this article north is toward the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Lines Railway</span>

Northern Lines Railway is a shortline railroad operating 17 miles (27 km) of track in and near St. Cloud in central Minnesota. The railroad was formed in 2004 to operate Burlington Northern Santa Fe trackage in and near the St. Cloud area and started operations in 2005. Interchange is made with BNSF in east St. Cloud or at the rail yard in central St. Cloud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silo Point Condominium</span> Residential condominiums in Baltimore, Maryland

Silo Point, formerly known as the Baltimore and Ohio Locust Point Grain Terminal Elevator, is a residential complex converted from a high-rise grain elevator on the edge of the Locust Point neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland. When the original grain elevator was opened in September 1924, it was the largest and fastest in the world. The condominium now rises to 300 feet. The original 206 foot tall grain elevator was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1923–1924, with a capacity of 3.8 million bushels. Between 2004 and 2009 the structure was converted from a grain elevator to a condominium tower containing 24 floors and 228 condominiums by Turner Development Group and architect Parameter, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concrete-Central Elevator</span> United States historic place

Concrete-Central Elevator is a historic grain elevator located on the Buffalo River at 175 Buffalo River Buffalo in Erie County, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mill City Museum</span> American History Museum in Minnesota, USA

Mill City Museum is located in the ruins of the Washburn "A" Mill next to Mill Ruins Park on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. The museum, an entity of the Minnesota Historical Society that opened in 2003, focuses on the founding and growth of Minneapolis, especially flour milling and the other industries that used hydropower from Saint Anthony Falls. The mill complex that the museum is within, dates from the 1870s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also part of the St. Anthony Falls Historic District and within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cargill Pool Elevator</span> Silo in New York, United States

The Cargill Pool Elevator is a grain storage facility in Buffalo harbor built in the 1920s and previously named the Saskatchewan Cooperative Elevator. The elevator is the only grain elevator in Buffalo that is located directly adjacent to Lake Erie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Dunbar</span> Scottish mechanical engineer (1812 – 1890)

Robert Dunbar was a Scottish mechanical engineer. He designed the first steam-powered grain elevator in the world and the majority of the first grain elevators in Buffalo, New York City, and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erie Basin Marina</span> Municipal inland harbor in Buffalo, NY

The Erie Basin Marina is a municipal inland harbor in Buffalo, New York. The marina is primarily for residential usage, containing a large array of boat docks, gardens, and a public observatory overlooking the city and waterfront. The marina's harbor discharges into the Niagara River and Lake Erie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowling Green Offices Building</span> Office building in Manhattan, New York

The Bowling Green Offices Building is an office building located at 11 Broadway, across from Bowling Green park in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The 21-story building, erected between 1895 and 1898, is 272.5 feet (83.1 m) tall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Railroad and Bank Building</span> Historic building in Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.

The Railroad and Bank Building at 176 E. 5th Street in St. Paul, Minnesota, renamed Great Northern Building in 2019, was the largest office building in the Upper Midwest from its completion in 1914 until 1973. For most of its existence, it was the headquarters of the business empire created by 19th century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill. The building is the work of architect Charles Sumner Frost and is a contributing property of the St. Paul's Lowertown Historic District. After the decline of the railroads in the United States, the building has been used as leased office space with some retail operations on the lower floors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Ely Elevator</span> United States historic place

The Historic Ely Elevator, also known as the Woitishek-King-Krob Elevator and Feed Mill, is an "iron-clad" wood-cribbed grain elevator, located in Ely, Iowa. The Historic Ely Elevator was built in 1900 along the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway. It is a contributing property of the Dows Street Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

  1. "12-A Great Northern Elevator (1990)". City of Buffalo. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  2. "Great Northern Grain Elevator". LaChiusa, Chuck. Buffalo as History. 2002. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Leary, Thomas E.; Healey, John R.; Sholes, Elizabeth C. (1991). "Great Northern Elevator" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 3, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  4. "Grain Elevators - How to see them (part 2)". Buffalo History Works. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  5. Licata, Elizabeth (April 2011). "Preservation-ready: The Great Northern grain elevator". Buffalo Spree. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  6. Reporter, Mark Sommer News Staff. "Great Northern grain elevator damaged by Buffalo windstorm". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  7. Sommer, Mark (17 December 2021). "City orders emergency demolition of Great Northern grain elevator damaged in windstorm". The Buffalo News. Lee Enterprises. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  8. Sommer, Mark (January 14, 2022). "Appellate Court Temporarily Stays Demolition of Great Northern". Buffalo News. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  9. McKinley, Jesse (January 23, 2022). "Fighting to Preserve Towering Testament to Buffalo's History". New York Times. Vol. 171, no. 59312. p. A21. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  10. Carr, James (September 21, 2022). "Another Voice: Though Great Northern May Be Gon, It's Still Possible to Save Dart's Marine Legs". The Buffalo News . Retrieved September 23, 2022.