Commerce Building (Saint Paul, Minnesota) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Commerce Building
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The Commerce Building from the northeast
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 Location in Minnesota
Location in the United States
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| Location | 10 East 4th Street, Saint Paul, Minnesota |
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| Area | Less than one acre |
| Built | 1912 |
| Built by | Hermann Kretz |
| Architectural style | Early Commercial |
| NRHP reference No. | 07000645 |
| Designated | July 3, 2007 |
The Commerce Building is a 12-story office building in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was built in 1912. For a while, it was the main office for two important business groups. These groups were called the Commercial Club of St. Paul and the St. Paul Association of Commerce.
Today, the building has a mix of businesses, offices, and homes. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. This means it's an important historical site. It's special because it shows how business groups helped Saint Paul grow a lot in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Contents
History of the Commerce Building
Why Was the Building Built?
The Commerce Building was first made to be the home of the Commercial Club of St. Paul. It also housed the offices of the St. Paul Association of Commerce. This building shows how strong and important Saint Paul's business groups were in the early 1900s. It's a good example of buildings made for business and community groups, as well as for other companies.
What Are Business Organizations?
By the 1880s, most big cities in America had at least one business group. You might have heard names like "Board of Trade" or "Chamber of Commerce." These groups worked to make their cities stronger, both in business and in community life. They supported new ideas to improve the city and sometimes spoke out against taxes.
They also helped local shops, brought new companies to the city, and tried to fix transportation problems. When they could, they told people that their city was a great place for big meetings. Saint Paul was a leader in Minnesota for starting these kinds of business groups.
The St. Paul Commercial Club
The St. Paul Commercial Club officially started in 1891. It first opened its offices in another building. The Club quickly became very successful. It played a big part in Saint Paul's business world.
In 1909, members of the Commercial Club decided they wanted a new main building. They chose Hermann Kretz, who was an architect and a club member, to design it. They wanted one central building for many groups. Many local business groups had similar goals. So, in 1911, the Commercial Club and several other groups joined together. They formed the St. Paul Association of Commerce. Even after this, the Commercial Club still worked as its own group.
Building the new headquarters began in April 1911. At first, it was called the Commercial Building. Later, it became known as the Commerce Building. Between 1880 and 1920, many new types of buildings appeared in downtown Saint Paul. The most important were tall office buildings. These were built with strong steel or concrete frames. Office buildings showed that office work was becoming separate from making things. Companies needed more office space. They also wanted buildings that looked strong and successful.
How Was It Built?
The Commerce Building was designed like a modern office building or a skyscraper. It used special concrete building methods called the Ransome slab and Turner mushroom systems. These methods might have helped the building get finished very quickly. By October 1911, it was ready for the inside work to begin.
The inside of the building had offices and clubrooms on the top two floors. The floors throughout the building were made of Terrazzo, which is a type of mosaic floor. There were also concrete mushroom-shaped columns. The building cost about $250,000 to build.
A Grand Opening Celebration
The grand opening of the Commercial Club in its new building was on September 9, 1912. The celebration started with a band leading 200 members from their old building to the new one. Saint Paul's Mayor Herbert P. Keller and Bishop John Jeremiah Lawler spoke at the opening dinner. After this, there was a week of parties and events around the new building.
What Happened Next?
The St. Paul Association of Commerce grew over the years. It became very important to business in Minnesota. As groups of workers (called labor unions) became stronger, business leaders wanted to get support from more people. So, in the 1920s, Saint Paul's business groups started to get involved in more areas. This included working with labor, women's groups, and charities.
However, there were tough economic times in the 1920s and 1930s. These "depressions" made businesses struggle and many offices became empty across the country. The Commerce Building also lost tenants during these years. This showed how the national economy was having problems. In 1921, the St. Paul Association of Commerce's ten-year lease ended. They moved to a different building, and the Commercial Club closed down. Another company then moved into the space the Commercial Club used to have.
Building slowed down in downtown Saint Paul in the 1930s and 1940s. This was because of the Great Depression and World War II. Many older buildings from the 1800s were torn down or left empty. Between 1930 and 1945, Saint Paul lost many important landmarks. But the Commerce Building survived. It also avoided the big city improvement projects in the 1950s that destroyed many other downtown office buildings in Saint Paul. In 2008, the Commerce Building was changed into apartment homes.
The Commerce Building is a symbol of how successful Saint Paul's business and community groups were in the early 1900s. The St. Paul Commercial Club and St. Paul Association of Commerce were among the first groups in the country to bring their organizations together in one building. These groups helped the city's economy in many ways. They also helped with city planning and starting charities.
