Minneapolis

13 min readOct 15, 2022

If you ever wondered what it is that put Minneapolis on the map, look no further than the St Anthony Falls. It was the power of the falls harnessed that brought about the lumber and flour milling industries for which the city is most known for. The first European to discover the falls was Father Louis Hennepin in 1680. Hennepin was a Catholic friar of Belgian birth and named the falls after his patron saint, Anthony of Padua.

Looking from the Eastern bank of the Mississippi river you will spot the Pillsbury “A” Mill once the largest flour mill in the world.

A closeup of it here:

The mill closed in 2003 and today has been renovated into artists’ residences and studios.

On the western bank you’ll see the sign for North Star Blankets.

It was originally a textile mill for the North Star Woolen Company. High quality wool blankets, scarves, flannels, and yarns were manufactured at the facility and it became the nation’s largest manufacturer of wool blankets by 1925.

In 1949 the North Star Woolen Company moved its operations to Lima, Ohio. The building sat empty for almost fifty years until it was re-developed in 1998–99 into lofts

Another prominent sign you see on the west bank is the Gold Medal Flour sign. It sits atop the Washburn Crosby Milling Complex “A” Mill Complex. You may ask where did the name come from? It was honors awarded for their flour at an international exhibit in Cincinnati.

Washburn Crosby would go on to go public in 1928 and rename to General Mills while also consolidating with many other flour milling companies of the Midwest. Wouldn’t you know it that in 2001 it acquired its long time competitor from across the river, Pillsbury. This mill pictured above was shut down in 1965. It was taken over by the Minnesota Historical Society and opened up as the Mill City Museum in 2003.

Next door is the Washburn Lofts and if you look closely you’ll observe 3 figures on top the building representing the mill workers, a closeup of them here, here and here

On the other end you have the Guthrie Theater. It was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and its rounded shape echoes the rounded shape of the silos belonging to the mills.

Another exquisite feature of it is the endless bridge a cantilevered steel-truss structure extending 178 feet from the building toward the Mississippi River:

Looking across the river again you have the Stone Arch Bridge. It was built in the 1880s by famous railroad tycoon James J. Hill. The bridge was meant to bring goods and passengers into downtown Minneapolis from key rail tracks from the east side of the river. Due to environmental concerns it had to be built below the falls crossing at six-degree diagonal at one end. It started out with 23 arches but was reduced to 21. If you look closely, you will see a steel struss to span the gap where arches used to be, it was for purpose of opening the lock and dam.

Whichever direction you look you will find former mill businesses. Below is Crown Roller Mill which started out in 1880. It was slated for demolition in the 1980s but preservationists prevailed, it is now used as office space.

A structure standing out due to its ghost sign is the Ceresota Building. It was built in 1908 and designed for the cleaning and storage of grain supplied to neighboring mills — Crown Roller Mill and Standard Mill. If you are wondering where the name comes from? its from imagined history. Ceres was the name of the Greek goddess of grain and agriculture and Ota, the Greek word for son, thus Ceresota is son of Ceres. The Mill was initially converted into multi-tenant offices but today it is senior living space.

Speaking of train stations here we have the Milwaukee Road Depot which opened in 1899 to handle passenger trains from the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad Company. While the last train left the depot in 1971, it has been restored now into a Renaissance Hotel and Residence Inn by Marriott

Adjacent to the Milwaukee Road Depot is the freight house built in 1879 to handle the incoming and outgoing cargo from trains arriving and departing at the adjacent depot. Today it is occupied by the Dunn Bros coffee chain.

Our second exhibit of modern architecture is the Northwestern National Life Insurance Company building by Minoru Yamasaki. Yama, as the architect was often called is most known for his design of the original World Trade Center towers in New York City. Northwestern National Life Insurance Company was the largest life-insurance company in Minnesota, it was presided by a member of the Pillsbury family. Following 15 successful years in their Minneapolis headquarters, Northwestern National Life hired Yama again to build a new campus for their growing company at 100 Washington Square, the high-rise office building you see in the background.

From this vantage point of the Mississippi river from above the falls you can see the Hennepin Ave bridge. It is believed to be the first permanent bridge over the Mississippi River in 1855. Though the current model built in 1990 is actually the fourth renovation of it.

I want to zoom in to a striking addition to the river landscape: the iconic Grain Belt beer bottle cap sign. Its been put there, a small plot of land on Nicollet Island facing downtown since 1950. Its dimensions of 50 feet wide and 40 feet tall make it one of the largest freestanding neon signs in the region. The Grain Belt brand was owned by Minneapolis Brewing Company which had its ups and downs, shuttering during the Prohibition and many occasions afterwards. Ultimately since 2002 rights to the brand are owned by August Schell Brewing Co. It is not near here but still located within Minnesota but lays claim as the second-oldest family-owned brewery in the United States.

Heading back into downtown, you have City Hall a showcase piece of the Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. It was built between 1888 and 1909, granite for the building was hauled by cart and horse from Ortonville, MN, over 160 miles away. The clock tower was the tallest structure in the city until the Foshay Tower was completed in 1929

This brings us to the Foshay Tower. The man behind it is WB Foshay who ran a public utilities holding company. It was a boom time for public utilities as factory use was increasing to keep up with public demand and streets lights were being installed in downtowns for the first time. His company soon grew to include utilities from thirty states and five countries. At this point he needed to brandish his success by erecting a tower with his name emblazoned on every side in ten-foot tall letters. It was modeled after the Washington Monument and came to be not only the city’s tallest building but also the tallest between Chicago and the West Coast.

It was quite unfortunate that the stock market crash happened in October 1929 right after the tower was completed. WB Foshay’s spending was already catching up to him and got himself involved in ponzi scheme and mail fraud. For that he lost everything and was indicted and imprisoned for 15 years. After serving 4 years he was freed by President FDR and then pardoned by President Harry Truman. The building today houses the W Hotel and offers an observatory to the public on the 30th floor.

Within the vicinity you have the Dayton’s Department store. Every region has its iconic department store and for the upper midwest it was Dayton’s. It started out as Dayton Dry Goods Company in 1903 and grew into an upscale regional chain that acquired several other large retailers over the years. It spawned Target Corporation before rebranding as Marshall Field’s in 2001. A sale and merger resulted in the Macy’s name change in 2006 and closed completely in 2017. Today the site is being redeveloped to a mix of retail and restaurants including a food hall on the first couple floors with office space above.

The Lumber Exchange building was built in 1885 to create a space to conduct business and make deals as necessary for not just for the continued success of the lumber industry but for the growth of the westward-expanding nation. After the lumber industry slowed down in Minnesota, the building became office space for various businesses. The architectural firm behind it was Long & Kees which was also behind the City Hall.

Adjacently you have one of the more notable murals in the Twin Cities and also the most Instagrammed image in Minnesota. The mural is by renowned Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra and honors musical icon Bob Dylan during three stages of his life: as a young and middle-aged musician and as a wizened worldly poet of the people. Aply named “The Times They Are a-Changin’.” which is also a song by the famous artist.

Another native son honored by a mural is Prince. It is a complement of sorts to the Bob Dylan mural also depicting portraits taken of Prince at three separate points in his career.

In the topic of music thought I’d cover one more mural. Its history is rooted in the 1970s when the Schmitt Music Company selected a piece of classical music to paint on the exterior wall. Turns out the music is from a piano piece written by French composer Maurice Ravel called “Gaspard de la Nuit.” It’s arguably the most difficult piece to play for a solo pianist.

Then you run down Hennepin Ave and you’ll find 3 theaters: Orpheum, State and Pantages theater. That is why they call this area the Theater District. In fact region lays claims to second-most theater seats per capita (after NYC).

You may be aware that St Paul has a cathedral but Minneapolis has a magnificent one too in fact designed by the same French architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray. The Basilica of St. Mary earned the title of “Basilica” by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has four major basilicas in Rome and hundreds of minor basilicas throughout the world. The Basilica of Saint Mary was the first basilica in the United States.

If you get a chance you got to explore the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The neoclassical building was designed by the NY firm McKim, Mead and White. When the museum opened in 1915 it exhibited 450 pieces of art, today it boasts a collection of more than 89,000 objects that spans 20,000 years and six continents. Best part of it all, general admission to the museum is free every day.

When you look at the structure below you could immediately guess it used to be distribution center and retail location for Sears and Roebuck, there are several like this across the country. What’s now the Midtown Exchange was built in 1928 and served the Sears company until 1994 before they moved to the Mall of America. The building remained vacant for several years until the City of Minneapolis acquired it in 2001. After five years of reconstruction, the Midtown Global Market opened in 2006. Midtown Global Market is basically an indoor public market featuring mostly restaurants with some gift shops and small grocers. Many of the business owners at the market are immigrants from around the world, which means that their restaurants feature foods from all over the world.

A little walk from there will get you to George Floyd Square, it is a small rectangle of city blocks featuring murals, flowers, candles and tributes in the place where Floyd, a Black man died under the knee of a white police officer May 2020 sparking the biggest US civil rights uprising since the 1960s.

If your in the Twin Cities one thing you got to try is the Juicy Lucy. It is created by surrounding a ball of American cheese with two thin hamburger patties and sealing the sides together. As the patty cooks, the cheese melts inside the center of the burger oozing out in a glorious, cheesy goop when you bite in. Your server will very likely warn you to wait a few minutes before you consume, otherwise you could be burned by the molten cheese concealed inside. Matt’s Bar lays claims as originating it in 1954 after a customer requested it and proclaimed “That’s one Juicy Lucy!” after biting into it. There are many establishments offering their take on the Juicy Lucy and I’ve gotten to try several like Crooked Pint and Blue Door but can attest that Matt’s Bar does it the best and many locals would agree.

As you travel towards the University of Minneapolis you will come across a striking new stainless steel building on the banks of the Mississippi River. This is the Weisman Art Museum built in 1993 designed by no other than renowned architect Frank Gehry. It is named in honor of Minneapolis-born, LA-based philanthropist Frederick R. Weisman. Weisman was a major donor and who became well-known for his extensive collection of American modern art. Golly! just like the Minneapolis Institute of Art it also offers free admission.

Another interesting building within the University campus is the Moos Tower. It is the tallest building on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. It is a noted example of Brutalist architecture. Malcolm Moos its namesake was president of the University from 1967 to 1974. Inside Moos Tower are labs and faculty offices for the College of Dentistry.

Few blocks away from the University of Minnesota Gophers’ Stadium is one of Minneapolis’ largest industrial zones. First it was proposed to be redeveloped into a research park for the university but never gained traction. Instead it evolved into master plan community named Malcolm Yards, a housing project centered around a diverse food hall with nine vendors, a bar, and a self-pour beer wall. The food hall was built from the structure of the 1870 Harris Machinery building which sold sawmill, creamer and boiler equipment.

Just behind this you have the massive “United Crushers” grain elevator complex. It is actually a relic of the old Archer-Daniels-Midland mill that once operated in Minneapolis. You could spot the faded “ADM” initials on the side of the concrete towers but they are dwarfed by the work of the daring graffiti artists who painted the words “United Crushers” at the top of these urban monoliths.

References:

Minneapolis

Written by Jad