“Within the four walls of this new building,
business will be transacted which will affect
the breadstuffs of the world.”
—George A. Pillsbury
President, Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce
Founded as the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce in 1881, The Minneapolis Grain Exchange was at one time the country’s biggest wheat, barley, rye, and flax market. Designed by the architectural firm of Kees and Colburn and completed in 1902, the ten story Chamber of Commerce Building was the first steel-frame building in the city. Better known as the The Grain Exchange, this handsome structure features some of the most extensive terra-cotta ornamentation in Minneapolis. Shafts of wheat grace the exterior. Inside visitors are greeted by the lobby’s Italian floors, fine wainscoting and hand-pressed tin ceilings. For much of the last century, the corner of Fourth Avenue and Third Street was ruled by commodity exchanges.The Flour Exchange and Corn Exchange Buildings sat on two of the other three corners. A fire destroyed The Corn Exchange in 1965. The Flour Exchange is still used as an office building. The Minneapolis Grain Exchange has been a principal market for Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) for over 130 years. On December 19, 2008, the exchange ended open outcry trading on the fourth floor, but the institution continues daily operations as an electronic trading platform. Futures and options trade side by side. The Grain Exchange Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
