| Great Northern Elevator | |
| Former Names: | Mutual Elevator, Pillsbury Elevator |
| Location: | 250 Ganson Street, Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Coordinates: | 42.8667°N -78.8722°W |
| Status: | Demolished |
| Building Type: | Steel grain elevator |
| Architectural Style: | Vernacular |
| Start Date: | March 31, 1897 |
| Completion Date: | September 29, 1897 |
| Demolition Date: | September 2022 - May 2023 |
| Roof: | 187feet |
| Structural Engineer: | Max Toltz, D. A. Robinson |
| Main Contractor: | James J. Hall, Riter-Conley |
| Developer: | Great Northern Railway |
| Management: | ADM Milling |
The Great Northern Elevator was a grain storage facility at 250 Ganson Street in Buffalo, New York. The elevator was located on the City Ship Canal and at the time of its completion in 1897, the elevator was the world's largest.[1] The elevator was the first to employ cylindrical steel bins for grain storage, and also one of the first to run on electricity.[2] The brick curtain wall did not support the bins or the working house and was designed as weatherproofing only.
The Great Northern Elevator was built by noted Chicago elevator builder D. A. Robinson. Max Toltz, a bridge engineer with the Great Northern Railroad was the consulting engineer for the building and responsible for much of the building design. At the time of demolition, the building was the last of the "brick box" type working house grain elevators still standing in North America.[3]
The Great Northern Elevator offered a total holding capacity of 2.52e6usbu3e6usbu in 48 large steel bins. Thirty of the bins are in diameter and 18 of the bins are in diameter. The elevator's brick exterior serves as a weather barrier and does not help to carry the weight of the cupola or the grain bins. The building's structure is supported by a web of steel I-beams.[4] The building was originally equipped with three corrugated-iron nine-story-high iron legs designed to move along tracks. These were destroyed during a storm in 1922 and replaced by two new 145feet marine leg towers built by the Monarch Engineering Co.[3] A concrete framed flour mill addition was erected in 1924.
In the late 1980s, then-owner Pillsbury requested a permit to raze the structure. This was opposed, and culminated in the Great Northern's designation as a city of Buffalo landmark. In 1996 and 2003 demolition of the building complex was again requested by subsequent and current owner Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Both times it was denied.[5] Until its demolition, the building remained one of the earliest surviving elevators in the Buffalo River District.
On December 11, 2021, during a wind storm in Buffalo, the north-facing wall of the building partially collapsed, exposing some of the innovative cylindrical grain bins inside.[6] On December 17, the City of Buffalo ordered the emergency demolition of the historic elevator.[7] The Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture sued the city and owner ADM in State Supreme Court to block the demolition. The court found for the City and owner, whereupon the Campaign appealed to the fourth District Appellate Court. New York State appellate justice Tracey Bannister[8] granted a temporary restraining order against demolition.[9] Demolition began in September 2022, and was completed by May 2023.[10]