Plummer Building

Possibly the most elegant building still standing in Rochester, the Plummer was built in 1927 to replace Mayo Clinic's original 1914 building as their main medical building. In fact, until today's Mayo Building was erected in the early 1950s, Plummer was known simply as "The New Clinic". It is named after Dr. Henry Plummer, one of the most influential partners in Mayo's group practice. Dr Will Mayo called hiring Dr Plummer the best day's work he ever did for the clinic. A genius by some accounts and an eccentric by others, Dr Plummer had an instrumental hand in the new clinic building's design. It was installed wtih a pneumatic tube transport system for paperwork and a paging system, the first of its kind in any hospital. Among the many friezes which decorate the lower exterior, Dr. Plummer's contributions can be found memorialized in a frieze depicting the doctor poring over the building's blueprints. The 23-bell carillion (later expanded to 56) which tops the tower was a last-minute addition, after Charlie Mayo heard one play while traveling in Europe. The occasional early postcard can be found which depicts a flat-topped Plummer without the carillon. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1969.