City: Minneapolis, MN

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (612) 359-3030

Address: 821 Marquette Ave. South

Description: It is difficult to imagine that this obelisk once stood as the tallest skyscraper west of Chicago. The 448-foot building dominated the Minneapolis skyline and was the tallest building in the Twin Cities until the completion of the 792-foot IDS Center in 1973. Today the Foshay Tower is surrounded by modern glass-and-steel giants, which dwarf what is now the sixteenth-tallest building in the city.The Foshay Tower draws its name from the financier behind its construction, Wilbur H. Foshay. A utilities magnate. Foshay became wealthy enough during the boom of the Roaring Twenties to construct a building modeled on the Washington Monument. The 32-story obelisk was topped with 10-foot-high letters that spelled out Foshay. The Foshay’s dedication in 1929 was one of the most lavish in the city’s history. The festivities included fireworks and a 75-piece brass band conducted by John Philip Sousa, which included his composition “Foshay Tower–Washington Memorial March.” Unfortunately for Foshay, the good times were not to last. Shortly after the dedication the stock market crashed. Foshay’s finances were decimated; in addition, he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 15 years at Fort Leavenworth. Even the $20,000 check to Sousa bounced, and Sousa forbade the march to be played again until the debt was paid. (A group of Minneapolitans finally paid Foshay’s debt in 1999, so Sousa’s march can once again be heard.) President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pardoned Foshay after he had served three years.Today the Foshay is one of the Twin Cities’ memorable sights, with its lights illuminating the Minneapolis sky. And it does this despite its relatively diminutive stature alongside the many larger skyscrapers built in the wake of the ’80s and ’90s. The open-air observatory, the only outdoor observation deck in Minneapolis, offers a spectacular panoramic view of Minneapolis.In 2008 the Foshay became the W Hotel, featuring luxury accommodations and decadent comestibles at venues including the Prohibition Bar built in Wilbur Foshay’s former boardroom on the 27th floor.