Why go
The mill district makes the city’s industrial history visible in place. Compare the falls with old mill structures and ruins to understand how water power became commercial power, then how the riverfront changed as milling declined and other uses took its place.
The full story
Early sawmills used Saint Anthony Falls to cut timber brought from northern Minnesota. Flour milling grew from the fort’s supply mill into a much larger industry and eventually surpassed lumber in value. Mills on both banks used the falling water, while railroads moved grain and finished flour. The falls themselves were vulnerable: industrial work accelerated erosion beneath their limestone cap, and an 1869 tunnel collapse threatened the water power on which the mills depended. Engineers repaired and protected the falls, preserving the industrial site. The city also tried new uses of power; an early hydroelectric plant at the falls lit shops on Washington Avenue in 1882. Later changes in power, grain production and transport weakened Minneapolis’s milling advantage. Former mills and ruins beside the river now show the scale of an industry that once organized work, investment and much of the city’s physical form.