Minneapolis City Hall

The Minneapolis City Hall and Hennepin County Courthouse dominates its block with a massive, rust-colored exterior of Ortonville granite. This Richardsonian Romanesque structure holds both city and county government offices, a rare dual purpose for a building of its scale. When it opened in nineteen oh six, its soaring central rotunda served as a grand indoor public plaza. Shortly after completion, the city council famously fought over the location of the main entrance, leaving the building with two competing grand staircases.