Temple Court's architect, E. Townsend Mix, was born in New Haven, CT on May 13, 1831, of an old New England whaling family. He was educated in the schools of New Haven and first appears in architecture as a partner of W.W. Boyington in Chicago in 1852. Mix moved to Milwaukee in 1856 and maintained an office there until relocating to Minneapolis in 1888 for health reasons. He died in Minneapolis of consumption on September 2, 1890.
Mix designed several structures for Minneapolis and St. Paul, including the Globe Buildings (St. Paul, 1887) (Minneapolis, 1888-1889); the Northwestern Guaranty Life Building, better known as the Metropolitan Building, (Minneapolis, 1888-1890); and "Fairoaks", the residence of William Washburn (Minneapolis, 1883). None of these buildings are extant today. He also designed the Dodge County Court House, Mantorville, MN (1871), which is still standing.
Temple Court, which was erected in 1886 and razed in 1958, featured an interior light court that extended the full height of the building and was capped by a skylight. The building was 7 stories tall and its design undoubtedly served as a model for Mix's crowning achievement, the magnificent Metropolitan Building, in Minneapolis, built two years later. The Metropolitan was demolished in 1962.
From the guide to the Temple Court Office Building collection, 1907-1924, (University of Minnesota Libraries. Northwest Architectural Archives, Manuscripts Division [naa])
