At the time they were completed, in 1887, the Globe Elevators were the largest in the world.

As the world's first integrated elevator system that was able to convey grain between structures, it consisted of a head house (No. 1) and two storage buildings (No. 2 and No. 3).

This is the letterhead of The Duluth Elevator Company, which constructed and initially operated the elevators. This remarkable granary was designed by A.J. Sawyer, whose name appears on the letterhead as the company president.

Following the death of A.J. Sawyer in 1895, Frank H. Peavey (also named above) became the president of the successor Globe Elevator Company.

Grain from throughout the Midwest was brought to the Globe Elevators by rail, and then loaded onto cargo ships for transport through the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and beyond.

Elevator No. 1, standing nearly 150 feet high at the ridge, has a timber-framed ground level, a middle level of grain bins constructed of solid-stacked dimension lumber walls, and a timber-framed upper portion.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 workers were employed starting in 1885 to build the elevators.

The primary wood species used in construction was Eastern White Pine.  In fact, the Old Globe Elevators constitute the world's largest known supply of reclaimed virgin-forest, old-growth Eastern White Pine. 

Oak, Douglas Fir, and Southern Yellow Pine were also used in construction of the elevators.

The storage elevators, No. 2 and No. 3, are each over 465 feet long. Each of the three elevators contained over 2,000,000 Board Feet of antique, virgin-forest, old-growth wood.

The granary capacity was 5 million bushels.