Constructed in 1885, this unassuming, yet graceful brick structure is part of the Minneapolis Historic Warehouse District, a designation bestowed by the National Register of Historic Places. Formally known as the Minneapolis Street Railway Company [Horsecar Barns and Shop] Building, the historic property now bears the name Colonial Warehouse. The mixed use building is located at 212 Third Avenue North in the Minneapolis Warehouse District.

In the late 1800s, the building housed the general offices and the paint and woodworking shops during the horse-drawn streetcar era. Streetcars were stored on the first floor, while the horses that pulled them were quartered on the second floor. Colonial Warehouse was intended to be the powerhouse for a cable car system that was never built, and instead became an electric car house and the first electric powerhouse for streetcar rails in 1890. It subsequently became the office, car barn, and maintenance shop of the Minneapolis Railway Company. Colonel William S. King, a New Yorker who moved to Minneapolis and founded the railway, hired attorney Thomas Lowry to run it. Thomas Lowry chose Colonial Warehouse as the firm's headquarters and it housed the main offices of the railway company until 1904. 

In 1908 the Minneapolis Railway Company sold Colonial Warehouse to a grocery wholesaler who added two floors that blend so well into the architecture that they are nearly indistinguishable from the original structure. In the 1990s, the building was sold again. Today, Colonial Warehouse retains it’s classic architecture and charm while having been transformed it into a vibrant retail and office building with modern amenities. Come take a tour of this fascinating building rich in history and located in the North Loop Warehouse District.