Minnesota’s Hidden Gems – The Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station

Famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, designed over a dozen structures in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes; and while each of them is unique in its own way, Wright's only gas station remains one of his most famous buildings.

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Welcome to the Lindholm Oil Company Service Station

Located in Cloquet along State Highway 33 and State Highway 45 is the Lindholm Oil Company Service Station. Wright approached owner, Ray Lindolm in the 1950s with the idea to build the station and the rest is history.

The Service Station is still owned by the Lindholm family to this day and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Here's what the Frank Lloyd Wright Website has to say about the Lindholm Service Station:

The Lindholm Service Station turned out to be the only part of Wright’s visionary Broadacre City project that made it into the landscape of reality. Despite remaining largely un-implemented, Wright’s utopian plan for America foreshadowed post-war decentralization trends. The service station, in Wright’s words, would be “the future city in embryo,” which would “naturally grow into a neighborhood distribution center, meeting-place, restaurant … or whatever else is needed.” The gas pumps were originally designed to hang overhead, but were ultimately changed to meet safety regulations. Nevertheless, Wright’s unusual design for the station—with its cantilevered copper roof, upper-level glass observation lounge and sky-lit service bays—set a new pump record for the company.

-Frank Lloyd Wright Website

The Lindholm Service Station is one of over a dozen Frank Lloyd Wright buildings found in Minnesota. You can see a list of the rest of these unique structures and learn more about the architect, here.

And to learn more about the Lindholm Service Station of Cloquet, Minnesota, check out the YouTube video below.

Story Sources: Frank Lloyd Wright Website, R.W. Windolm Service Station Wikipedia Page, Frank Lloyd Wright Sights Website