The old Great Northern Hotel in Devils Lake, North Dakota, is a classic "flatiron" building. The name is taken from its triangular shape, akin to early hand irons used to press clothes. The triangular formation is dictated by the angular orientation of the streets on three sides of such a building. Built-in 1911, the building was one of many hotels owned by the railroads that spread west across the American prairie at the height of railroad travel. After it closed as a hotel in the 1970s, it was renovated into an apartment building. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2021.