Stop 9: Black Building – 114 Broadway (Pivotal)
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This is the tallest downtown building in the Historic District and is an outstanding example of the Art Moderne style. Faced with Indiana limestone, the Black Building has dark metal window spandrel panels between the windows forming recessed vertical bays. The Art Moderne interior lobby and elevator doors are worth seeing. The building was designed by the Minneapolis firm of Lang, Raugland, and Lewis, with Braseth and Houkom of Fargo as consulting architects. It was built in 1930.
George Black, son of an Irish immigrant, came to Fargo in 1912 to investigate the possibility of opening a dry goods store. Finding the city thriving, he and his father founded a store; Black stayed to run it, and the business grew. He had various attractions in the store, including sales where every garment buyer received a free dish of ice cream. The store also released live turkeys from its roof before Thanksgiving—an event that tied up traffic in the whole town.
In 1929, after the stock market crash, Black decided to build a new building for his store—the Black Building— and sell the business to Sears. Sears occupied the basement and first two floors, with George acting as manager. The remaining six floors were office space for tenants such as WDAY and numerous doctors, lawyers and dentists.