Founded in 1887, the Minneapolis Club moved into their present building in 1912. James J. Hill, the president and founder of the Great Northern Railway, was one of the founders of the club. Though he never saw this clubhouse (the fourth in a rapid succession of buildings), he would likely have approved of its style. Over the years, the club has played host to a variety of visiting dignitaries. William Howard Taft stayed, and dined, at the club in 1909. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt visited the club in 1901. The US Commissioner of Labor, Carroll D. Wright, presented comments on the Coal Strike of 1902 at the club and in 1909, the Minneapolis banking establishment used the building to host Senator Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island for a day-long financial issues forum. Built in an assertive Jacobean style, its vine covered walls offer a bit of history in a city which has been intent upon destroying its architectural past.
