Postcards: Architecture

The Winona National and Savings Bank, known as WNB Financial today. The grand building on Main Street was designed by George Maher and completed in 1916. 

Central Methodist Church on Broadway street in Winona. Today it is the Wesley United Methodist Church. 

The Winona County Court House was designed and built by Charles Maybury in 1889.

The First Baptist Church of Winona along Broadway street, built in 1893. 

Merchants Bank building on Third and Lafayette Streets in downtown Winona. It was built in 1912 by William Gray Purcell, George Feick Jr., and George Elmslie (who had worked with Louis Sullivan).

Lourdes Hall was built in the late 1920s. The College of St. Teresa closed in 1989 and the building was purchased by Winona State University for a dormitory. 

St. Mary's University of Minnesota started as a college in St. Mary's Hall in September of 1913. Connected to the left is Heffron Hall, named for its founder and second Bishop of Winona, Patrick R. Heffron. 

Now a Basilica, St. Stanislaus, was constructed by Charles Maybury and dedicated in 1891. The school building was built in 1905 after the student population grew to over 700. It was replaced with a modern school building in 1966.

The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart was constructed in 1952 on Main Street in Winona. It is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester. 

George Maher designed and built the Watkins Company Administration Building (1912) and factory (1914) on Liberty Street in Winona.  J.R. Watkins started the company in Plainview, Minnesota and moved to the booming city of Winona in 1885. Unfortunately J.R. did not live to see it completed. His initials are either carved or inlaid on nearly every architectural detail of the building which measures 300’ X 70’ at the cost of about $175,000 when built. Finishing touches included 24-carat gold leaf on the 70’ rotunda dome, blue Bedford stone facade, glass skylights and three large custom  stained glass windows by Louis Millet of Chicago. The Watkins company is still in operation today. 

Winona's High School building in the late 1800s. It was replaced by the WPA project buildings in the 1930s on Broadway and the current Winona Public High School was built along west Lake Winona in 1968. 

The Post Office and Federal building once stood at the corner of Main and 4th Streets. It was built in 1892 and raised in 1963. 

The Winona Public Library building is still used today. It was built in 1899. 

Somsen Hall was built in 1924 and was originally College Hall. It is part of the Winona State University main campus and replaced the "Old Main" building that burned a couple years prior.