Downsizing the Public Realm MNHist_Sum13-opt.indd 246 6/5/13 1:37 PM coworkers but also with strangers In 1891 Winona’s elite had de- Building from diverse backgrounds. The sired large, expensive, and ornate lobby was a busy social hub where public buildings meant to last Winonans bought stamps, deposited for centuries. In 1956 leaders felt and Razing mail, checked their brass mail boxes, strongly that their commercial suc- exchanged gossip, and launched busi- cess depended on tearing down those ness deals. The building also housed Victorian structures and replacing Winona’s a federal courtroom, representing the them with smaller, signifi cantly federal presence in the city. Its im- cheaper ones. By this time, the busi- Grand Post pressive tower dominated the skyline ness class nationwide had concluded and proclaimed that the community that economic growth required new was part of something larger than buildings in an architecturally mod- Offi ce itself: a nation that had survived the ernist style. But something more was Civil War and was becoming a world at stake. Winona’s business leaders power. During the New Deal, the fed- had also changed their attitude about Greg Gaut and Marsha Neff eral presence in Winona grew when the signifi cance of public space. the Public Works Administration Buildings ultimately represent the funded an addition to the post offi ce.2 values of their creators. Public build- n an October evening in 1891, Although Winona’s leading busi- ings, in particular, refl ect the political, OPostmaster Daniel Sinclair nessmen had taken great pride in the economic, and cultural priorities of hosted the dedication of a new post grandeur of their new post offi ce in the societies that construct them. The offi ce building in downtown Winona. 1891, business leaders in the 1950s fate of structures that outlive their As expected, the assembled members had very different attitudes about original owners indicates how atti- of the local elite gushed with enthu- public buildings. A fairly mundane tudes toward the built environment siasm for the massive Romanesque event brought their new viewpoints have changed. Frequently, historic stone structure. After all, they had to the surface. In 1956 the federal properties are torn down and re- campaigned for more than fi ve years government proposed a $100,000 placed with little fuss, but not always. to obtain a larger and grander build- upgrade to the historic post offi ce When the Chamber of Commerce un- ing than the one Washington had building. Surprisingly, the Chamber veiled its 1956 plan to demolish two originally offered. In his speech, the of Commerce, successor to the Board of Winona’s prominent public build- president of Winona’s Board of Trade of Trade, organized a powerful op- ings, a major controversy erupted. urged Winonans to “point to this position, demanding not only the artistic and beautiful building with demolition of the post offi ce but also satisfaction and pride.” 1 the county courthouse, a building of inona was born as a center For the next six decades this similar vintage. In the interests of ef- Wfor grain milling and ship- building played a key role in fulfi ll- fi ciency, the chamber wanted a single ping, but lumbering drove the city’s ing the mission of the Department modern structure to house all federal dynamic growth between 1870 and of the Post Offi ce: to “bind the Na- and county offi ces. Most provoca- 1900. Four companies dominated tion together” by providing universal tively, it sought to take over a city park the riverfront, and their combined service to every household and every to house the new facilities. Too much output made Winona a major lumber American. Like all post offi ces, Win- land, chamber leaders argued, was producer in the Upper Midwest. As ona’s was also a “paradigmatic site of tied up in public edifi ces and parks. the city’s population grew, successful public life,” in the words of one histo- rian, where citizens routinely rubbed shoulders not only with friends and Greg Gaut, a retired Saint Mary’s University history professor, is now a historic pres- ervation consultant. Marsha Neff is the grant management administrator for Trinity Health. They live and work in Winona. Their piece on saving the Winona County Facing: A Red Wing commercial Courthouse (Minnesota History, Winter 2005–06) won the 2008 David Stanley Geb- photographer’s view of Winona’s hard Prize for best article on Minnesota’s built environment. grand post offi ce, 1899 Summer 2013 247 MNHist_Sum13-opt.indd 247 6/5/13 1:37 PM entrepreneurs constructed elaborate Major investment in the public realm was common buildings for their businesses and in the rapidly growing towns and cities of the grand homes for themselves, but they also developed the public compo- midland prairie states in the 1880s. nents of the built environment, in- cluding a fi re department, water and sewage systems, a city hall, county that closely followed the lead of H. H. $103,000 for construction, exclusive courthouse, parks, schools, library, Richardson, whose unique American of land acquisition and architectural and hospital.3 style, now referred to as Richardso- fees. Historical monetary values are Major investment in the public nian Romanesque, dominated the diffi cult to translate into contem- realm was common in the rapidly look of courthouses, churches, com- porary terms, but the cost of such a growing towns and cities of the mercial buildings, and mansions project today would range between midland prairie states in the 1880s. in the 1880s and 1890s. Maybury’s $12.7 and $20.8 million.7 Settlers, whether established Ameri- courthouse showcases the elements At about the same time, Winona’s cans moving west or European im- that make up this style, including leaders also decided they needed a migrants, wanted their new cities to rock- faced masonry, arches over win- new post offi ce. The town’s postal equal if not surpass those of the East. dows and doors, elaborate carvings, service began in 1852, and the post They tended to share, as Judith Mar- asymmetrical towers (one square and offi ce occupied a number of tempo- tin noted, “urban expectations.” For one round), a hipped roof, and bands rary locations until 1872, when the the commercially minded men who of windows separated by pilasters. government leased the fi rst fl oor of formed Winona’s elite, creating the This massive and elaborate build- a new three- story building at the public institutions they associated ing was just what Winona’s leaders corner of Third and Center for it. with great cities was very important. wanted. They felt it proclaimed to In 1885 Minnesota politicians in They preferred structures made of the world that Winona was a grow- Congress succeeded in securing a brick and stone even though lumber ing city with a great future.6 $100,000 appropriation for a new was plentiful and cheap.4 Maybury could build an impres- federal building in Winona. At that In the 1880s Winona’s leaders sive building because the county time, the U.S. Department of Trea- devoted a great deal of time and po- leaders were willing to pay for it. sury owned only one other building litical capital to the construction of They wanted a courthouse at least in Minnesota, the Custom House in two massive government buildings the equal of those built by compa- St. Paul, although appropriations downtown. The fi rst was the county rable midwestern cities, and they had been approved for a Minneapo- courthouse, an imposing stone knew this required a substantial in- lis post offi ce, completed in 1889. structure completed in 1889. The vestment. County offi cials allocated Winona became the third Minnesota second was the U.S. Post Offi ce and Federal Building, similar in appear- ance, which opened two years later. Charles G. Maybury, a prolifi c and talented local architect, was central to both projects; he was the designer of the fi rst and building superinten- dent of the second.5 When the Winona County com- missioners asked Maybury to pro- pose a design for the new courthouse in 1887, he responded with a plan Rented building at Third and Center Streets, home to Winona’s post offi ce from 1873 to 1891 248 Minnesota History MNHist_Sum13-opt.indd 248 6/5/13 1:37 PM city to have a freestanding post of- fi ce, beating out Duluth (1894) and Mankato (1896).8 As soon as the money was appro- priated, the Department of Treasury appointed a local commission to assist in selecting a site. There was a minor controversy in early 1886 when Treasury chose the northwest corner of Fourth and Main, a block or so from the site recommended by the commission, apparently as a result of some back- door infl uence.9 The disagreement was quickly for- gotten; Winona’s leaders were much more interested in the size and qual- William Windom, about 1867 Architect and builder ity of the building than its location. Charles Maybury, 1902 They actively lobbied for the grand- est building possible, intervened to foot building to Winona. The press Sinclair, lumber baron A. B. You- enlarge the footprint of the design, reported that local citizens found the mans, and Jefferson Maybury, junior and carefully monitored construction plans to be “manifestly inadequate partner of Maybury and Son.12 details. They felt that it was crucial for the needs of Winona” and argued Winona’s leaders achieved their to anchor Winona’s downtown with that the project be delayed while the goals through the efforts of a group grand, long- lasting public buildings.