Business and Industry | Page 111

Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse Station. Photographed by Dennis Adams of the Federal Highway Administration c.2000.

Split Rock Lighthouse opened in the summer of 1910 to guide bulk ore ships sailing near Lake Superior's rocky coast. By 1940, its picturesque North Shore setting had made it one of the most visited lighthouses in the United States.

Black and white photograph of Foshay and Henry H. Henley in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, 1934.

Wilbur Foshay and Henry H. Henley

Foshay with his associate Henry H. Henley at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary following their conviction on mail fraud, 1934.

Black and white photograph of Foshay and Henry H. Henley facing charges of mail fraud, 1931.

Wilbur B. Foshay (right) and Henry H. Henley, facing arraignment on charges of mail fraud

Foshay (right) and Henry H. Henley face arraignment on charges of mail fraud, 1931. Photographed by the Minneapolis Star Journal.

Black-and-white photograph of Wilbur Foshay and his wife Leota.

Portrait of Wilbur B. Foshay and his wife Leota

Wilbur Foshay and wife Leota pose for a photograph.

Wilbur B. Foshay

Wilbur Burton Foshay, 1929.

Foshay, Wilbur (1881–1957)

In 1932, singer Bing Crosby had a major hit with his recording of E. Y. Harburg and Jay Gorney's song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" Its lyrics could have been the story of Wilbur B. Foshay: "Once I built a tower up to the sun/ brick and rivet and lime/ Once I built a tower, now it's done/ Brother, can you spare a dime?" Foshay built a fortune, built a tower in Minneapolis—and then lost it all in the stock market crash of 1929.