Long and Kees

The Long and Kees collection contains records dating from 1882 to the mid-1960s from the firms of F.B. Long, and its successors: Long and Kees, Long and Long, Long, Lamoreaux and Long, and Long and Thorshov.

Franklin Long was born in Afton, NY, on March 3, 1842. He left New York in 1859 and lived and worked as a carpenter and builder in Chicago and Woodstock, IL, and as a draftsman for architect J.C. Cochrane. In Chicago (1867), he became a partner of Ackerman (first name unknown) for a time, and then moved to Minneapolis about 1868 for health reasons. He was in private practice until 1874 when he briefly associated with Robert Alden, one of the area's pioneer architects. Long then joined Charles F. Haglin in partnership in 1875. After the firm dissolved in 1876, Long partnered with Frederick Kees from 1884 to 1897, creating one of the most successful architectural firms in Minneapolis. Together, they designed and built many of the largest buildings in the city in the 1880s and 1890s, including the Public Library (1884), Masonic Temple (1888), Lumber Exchange (1888-1890), Flour Exchange (1893-1897), Kasota Block (1884), and many warehouses, churches, and private residences. After Kees left the partnership in 1897, Long joined his son Louis and Lowell Lamoreaux in a practice that lasted until Long's death on August 21, 1912, in Minneapolis.

Frederick Kees was born in Baltimore, MD, on April 9, 1852. He worked for architect E.C. Lind in that city from 1865-1871, and again from 1872 to 1878, with a brief hiatus in Chicago in 1871-1872. Kees moved to Minneapolis in 1878 and entered the office of Leroy Buffington. He then became a partner of B.W. Fisk from 1882 to 1884 and then joined Franklin Long in partnership. After the firm dissolved in 1897, Kees practiced on his own until 1899, when he formed a partnership with Serenus Colburn. Colburn died in 1925 and for almost two years afterward Kees was a partner of H.G. Bowstead. Kees died in Minneapolis on March 16, 1927.

Louis L. Long, son of Franklin Long, was born in Minneapolis about 1870. He was educated in the Minneapolis public schools and received a degree by examination at the University of Minnesota in 1894. He entered his father's firm around 1895 and became a partner in 1898. He practiced until his death on May 20, 1925, on a train near El Centro, CA.

Lowell A. Lamoreaux was born in Lansing, MN, on December 23, 1861. His family moved to Minneapolis in 1868, where he graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1887. He then worked for Cass Gilbert in St. Paul until becoming a partner of James McLeod in Minneapolis from 1897 to 1899. He joined Long & Long and became a full partner about 1900. Lamoreaux died in Minneapolis on February 1, 1922.

In 1920, Olaf Thorshov, a native of Norway who had migrated to the U.S. about 1901, became a partner in the firm of Long, Lamoreaux & Long and it was subsequently renamed Long & Thorshov following the deaths of Lowell Lamoreaux and Louis Long. Thorshov died in Minneapolis in 1928.

Olaf's son, Roy Norman Thorshov, was born in Minneapolis in 1905. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1928 with a bachelor's degree in architecture and joined his father's partnership just before the latter's death. Thorshov then became a full partner in Long & Thorshov and, in 1942, was joined by Robert Cerny. The firm then was renamed Thorshov & Cerny. When that partnership dissolved in 1960, Thorshov went into practice with Willard Thorsen. Thorshov died in Minneapolis on March 13, 1992.