The Pence Automobile Company Building is a building in downtown
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, United States, listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. It was designed in the
Classical Revival style by the Minneapolis architectural practice of
Long and Long and built in 1909. The building housed sales showrooms and offices, automobile repair and service, and storage for parts, accessories, and finished vehicles. It was listed on the National Register as a commemoration of the extraordinary growth of the auto industry during the early 20th century.
History
The building resembles the work of
Louis Sullivan and
George Grant Elmslie and other skyscraper pioneers. It has a common arrangement of a base, shaft, and column, with a rather plain shaft but a good assortment of detail around the base. The applied ornamentation around the base has classical sculptural details, but also has
terra cotta ornamentation more in line with Louis Sullivan's work.
Harry E. Pence
The owner of the company, Harry E. Pence (1868–1933), was born in
Springboro, Ohio. He moved to Minneapolis at age 18 to join his uncle, John Wesley Pence, who had various business interests in the area. In June 1902, Harry Pence attended an auto race between Minneapolis and Lake Minneapolis (''
sic'') and decided to go into business selling automobiles. He decided on selling the
Cadillac
The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
based on his perceptions of its good service and reliability. His dealership was the second auto dealership in Minneapolis, and in 1903 he sold 83 cars. Pence eventually decided that automobiles should have larger engines than one cylinder, but Cadillac turned his idea down.
Buick
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
agreed to make a larger engine, so Pence switched to selling Buicks. Pence's dealership grew to sell, at one time, 29 percent of all Buicks that were being manufactured.
in 1918 Harry Pence Won the Minneapolis St. Paul Rochester & Dubuque Electric Traction Company better known as The Dan Patch Electric Lines after the death of its previous owner Marion Willis Savage he soon reorganized it into the Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern Railway.
See also
*
Pence Automobile Company Warehouse
The Pence Automobile Company Warehouse, also known as Richtman's Printing, is a historic commercial building located on Northern Pacific Avenue in Fargo, North Dakota. It was designed in 1918 by Minneapolis architects Long, Lamoreaux & Long Long, ...
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
National Register of Historic Places in Minneapolis
Buick
Auto dealerships on the National Register of Historic Places
Motor vehicle buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places
Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
Skyscrapers in Minneapolis