Commissioned by Edward J. Ryan (1842–1900), an Irish American merchant, the three-story, Richardsonian Romanesque Ryan Block is solidly and substantially built of top-grade red Portage Entry sandstone. It has a galvanized metal cornice and projecting bay with pedimented false front, the latter ornamented with short fluted pilasters and a decorative pediment. Two large stores occupy the first floor, and flats, the upper floors. Shand (d. 1945) was a Scottish-born architect who worked in the Copper Country for ten years before moving to the Mesabi Iron Range.