early 1890's antique american richardsonian romanesque style interior office door monogrammed doorknob and matching backplate desinged and fabricated by the yale and towne mfg. co., stamford, ct. the custom-designed hardware was salvaged from minneapolis city hall building. minneapolis city hall and hennepin county courthouse (also known as the "municipal building"), was designed by long and kees in 1888. the building replaced an earlier city hall that existed from 1873 until 1912 near the old intersection between hennepin avenue and nicollet avenue. that structure eventually was razed to make way for gateway park, which continues to occupy part of the old city hall site. the building also replaced an earlier courthouse and also the earlier hennepin county jail, which was located where the hubert h. humphrey metrodome now stands. the building, located at 350 south fifth street, is an example of richardsonian romanesque architecture. the design is based upon henry hobson richardson's allegheny county courthouse in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. washington school, the first schoolhouse in minneapolis west of the mississippi river, was demolished to make way for the new building. groundbreaking took place in 1889, and the cornerstone was laid (a story off the ground) in 1891. construction did not officially end until 1909, although the structural exterior was essentially complete by the end of 1895. the county began moving in to its side (4th ave.) shortly after that, although the city (3rd ave.) side was not fully occupied until 1906. when constructed, the building claimed to have the world's largest clock. at 23 feet, 4 inches, the faces are four inches wider than those of the great clock in london (which houses the famous hour bell big ben). the tower housing the clock reaches 345 feet in height, and was the tallest structure in the city until the 1920's when the foshay tower was built. the building is built of ortonville granite, with many stones greater than 20 tons in weight. the granite was originally only going to be used for the foundation of the building, with brick used for the upper portion. however, the public appreciated the appearance of the foundation so much that they lobbied for the entire building to be made of granite.