• Construction finish: 1929
• Designed by: Migney and Tusler
• Cost: $3,700,000.00
• Renovated: 2007-2008 for $75,000,000
• Type: Skyscraper
• Stories: 32
• Maximum Height: 447 feet / 136 meters

• Hotel rooms: 229

• 1977: Foshay Tower is added to the National Register of Historic Places.
• August 13, 2008: The "W Minneapolis - The Foshay" hotel opens inside the Foshay tower.

• Security guards report seeing an apparition in the form of a man's shadow that darts around corners. It is unknown if this is the ghost of Wilbur Foshay.
• Sometimes the elevator that goes to the 30th floor will stop on its own. People joke that it is the ghost of Wilbur Foshay getting on.

• The base of the Foshay tower is 6,600 square feet, and the tower narrows to just 3,300 square feet by the time it reaches the observation deck.

• Wilbur Foshay's office and boardroom are now the hotel's 27th floor bar.
• There is a museum about the building on the 30th floor.

There are nine comments.

  Growing up in St Cloud I always waned to visit the foshay Now that ie is a hotel I plan to stay there this spring

William Rudy - Sunday, November 9th, 2008 @ 5:15pm  

  Would like to contact anyone who knew my g'father R.Joel Andrus-Offices on the 4th floor of the Tower. His Co. Citizens Utilities, I believe. Many Thanks!

John Andrus Brady - Monday, October 6th, 2008 @ 1:46pm  

  I grew up in the Twin Cities, and I recall our annual Cub Scouts trip to the observation deck of the Foshay. This was long b4 the IDS Center, and the view was great. I have a question: A frined once told me there is another bldg somewhere in the US with the same design. He didn't know the location. Has anyone else heard this?

Greg Smith - Monday, October 9th, 2006 @ 12:35pm  

  I worked in the Foshay for several years. I often visited the museum at the top, as well as the storage area at the very peak, which was not accessible by elevator! It's true that empty elevators would often open up on your floor, with no one inside. One other interesting fact is that the bathrooms were located in the stairwells. The men's and women's were on alternate floors, so you had to walk up or down the stairs or take the elevator to use them.

Bill Upham - Thursday, September 8th, 2005 @ 1:25pm  

  Interesting! I collect clocks as a hobby,and a few years ago bought a small wind up clock .It is an advertising clock and has a picture of this tower along with the name of the company...here is what it says on the face of the clock.....'WB FOSHAY CO....INCORPORATED AUG 31-1917'...Now that i have found this page about it,it is much more interesting! Thank you,David

David Mullins - Friday, June 3rd, 2005 @ 12:32pm  

  Wilbur Foshay's marketing brochure also asserted that potentially "Aeroplanes" could taxi up to the two storey portion of the building to drop off or pick up passengers who were tenants at the building. Stating that the building could with stand winds up to 400 miles per hours was another strained marketing idea. Even though the building may represent the financial woes of the late 20's & early 30's, architectually it still has a loveable characteristic about it.

Chas. Knapton - Friday, March 18th, 2005 @ 12:42pm  

  The best, in my mind, as I grew up in Mpls when the Foshay Tower was the tallest bldg in Mpls.I now live in Madison, WI and we cannot have any bldgs in the down-town area larger than the capitol.

Joyce E Nolte (Gelschus) - Tuesday, June 15th, 2004 @ 1:01pm