So Minnesota: World's first circular concrete grain elevator in St. Louis Park

Feb 04, 2020 at 08:04 AM CST
For more than a century in big cities and small towns, grain elevators have stood tall as part of Minnesota's agricultural past. One such structure in St. Louis Park has a history that rises above them all. The world's first circular concrete grain elevator stands near the intersection of highways 7 and 100. The grain elevator was the idea of businessman Frank Peavy. After teaming up with an engineer, construction began and skeptics dubbed it "Peavey's folly," thinking it would never work. "Collapse, that was the main worry," said John Olson with St. Louis Park Historical Society. "They thought somehow it'd collapse, but it didn't." In the spring of 1900, a crowd gathered but kept their distance, as they emptied grain from the elevator for the first time. Instead of a catastrophe, there was a celebration. "Everybody was happy," Olson said. "They cheered. 'Hey great, this was all fine and dandy.'"

Feb 04, 2020 at 08:04 AM CST

For more than a century in big cities and small towns, grain elevators have stood tall as part of Minnesota's agricultural past. One such structure in St. Louis Park has a history that rises above them all. The world's first circular concrete grain elevator stands near the intersection of highways 7 and 100. The grain elevator was the idea of businessman Frank Peavy. After teaming up with an engineer, construction began and skeptics dubbed it "Peavey's folly," thinking it would never work. "Collapse, that was the main worry," said John Olson with St. Louis Park Historical Society. "They thought somehow it'd collapse, but it didn't." In the spring of 1900, a crowd gathered but kept their distance, as they emptied grain from the elevator for the first time. Instead of a catastrophe, there was a celebration. "Everybody was happy," Olson said. "They cheered. 'Hey great, this was all fine and dandy.'"