Friday, May. 2, 2025
Are the clockfaces on Minneapolis City Hall larger than those on Big Ben?
The diameter of the clockfaces on Minneapolis City Hall is larger than the diameter of the clockfaces on Big Ben, the famous Elizabethan Tower in London.
Each clock has four faces, which are 24 feet, 4 inches in diameter at Minneapolis City Hall and just under 24 feet in diameter on Big Ben.
Soon, all city staffers and City Council members will fully return to the historic Minneapolis City Hall following the completion of a two-year, multimillion dollar renovation.
Designed by local architects Frank Long and Frederick Kees, the building at 350 S. 5th St. in Minneapolis was built between 1889 and 1906. The clock tower was built a decade later. The 345-foot-tall clock tower was the city’s tallest structure until the Foshay Tower was built in the 1920s.
Big Ben is one of London’s most famous attractions, but local tours of Minneapolis City Hall are also offered by the city’s Municipal Building Commission.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Municipal Building Commission Building History
- UK Parliament Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower
- Westminster and Changing of the Guard Tour The Secrets of Big Ben
- The Minnesota Star Tribune The Face of Minneapolis
- City of Minneapolis City Hall Renovations Nearing Completion
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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