Address: 2611 1st Avenue South

Neighborhood: Whittier

Construction Date: 1929

Contractor: Neumeir Johnson

Architect: Louis Boynton Bersback

Architectural Style: Moorish Revival

Historic Use: Commercial

Current Use: Commercial

Date of Local Designation: 1984

Date of National Register Designation: N/A

Area of Significance: Architecture

Period of Significance: 1900-

Historic Profile: The Despatch Laundry Building is architecturally significant as a representative of the resurgence of exotic stylistic forms in the early twentieth century. In 1929, Despatch Laundry commissioned Minneapolis architect Louis Boynton Bersback to design a building to house the company’s office and rug cleaning facilities. The uses of exotic forms such as a bay window and the copper clad Moorish dome on a building of such utilitarian function as well as its setting within a primarily nineteenth century residential neighborhood have made it a unique contribution to the community.

Photo Credits:

Circa 1980, Unknown

2006 photo, Minneapolis CPED

Works Cited:

City of Minneapolis, "Local Heritage Preservation Designation Study," January 1982