Butler Square has a simple design with In the era of Jones and Walker,
masonry load-bearing walls, recessed Butler Square was one of many
vertical windows and corbelled para- storehouse structures in its locale;
pets, which give the building an almost it became known as the Gateway
medieval appearance. Requiring 300 of the Warehouse District. A pri-
pounds per square foot of load capacity, vate rail line ran through the
the enormous building features heavy- basement of the building,
timber post-and-beam construction. allowing Butler Brothers to out-
The douglas-fi r timbers came from source its goods to customers and
Walker’s own tree farm and lumber mill a chain of department stores in the
in Aitkin, Minn. At ground level, the upper Midwest. But as highways and
timbers are 24 inches square, tapering trucks began replacing railcars for
to 9 inches at the top of the building. freight delivery, Butler Square’s 
RETROFIT MAGAZINE // FALL 2009 37
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