Dyckman Hotel, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1944 Print

Very nice image of The Dyckman Hotel at 27 South 6th Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1944.

The Hotel Dyckman was built in 1909 by businessman John Andrus. It opened its doors to the public on May 3, 1910. Located on 6th Street between Nicollet Ave. and Hennepin Ave., the Dyckman featured a luxurious Italianate lobby decorated with marble, gilded ceilings, rich walnut and mahogany wood and a mural by Chicago artist Edward Holslag entitled Roman Triumphal Procession. Such luxury also seemed to attract some vices: during Prohibition the hotel was accused of smuggling liquor for guests through a tunnel beneath 6th Street.

Later renovations removed some of the charm from the hotel: the hotel’s terra cotta exterior, for example, was later replaced with granite and stone. In the 1950s a new restaurant was opened in the hotel, the Chateau de Paris, which may have the honor of being the first French restaurant in Minneapolis. By the 1970s, though, the hotel was no longer competitive and was more valuable as a site for development.

The Dyckman was demolished on November 18th, 1979 — it enjoyed the odd honor of being the city’s first building to be demolished by implosion. Due to a slight mishap during the demolition some of the hotel’s exterior fell outward instead of inward, slightly damaging the Plymouth Building across 6th Street.

The site was later developed into the City Center which was completed in 1983.