North by Northwest

I got to go check out the sights along the Mississippi riverfront in downtown Minneapolis last Sat. afternoon (I’m trying to catch up on posting some pictures). I didn’t realize there was so much to see there – I wasn’t really expecting much. But there was a lot of historical information about the old mills on the sight and the falls plus some great walking trails. I was planning to go see what was going on in St. Paul for the 150 year celebration that weekend, but stopped off to take a quick look at the bridge construction work in downtown Minneapolis first. In trying to get to the bridge I stumbled into mill area. So I ended up spending a couple hours looking around on my “quick detour” and I never made it to St. Paul! Here are a few pictures and you can see all of them here (I took a bunch just to try some different camera settings and didn’t delete most of them).

First off, the ruins of the old mills.

The city of Minneapolis grew up around the grain processing and flour producing businesses, powered by the energy of the Mississippi river and the St. Anthony falls. They were able to channel part of the river into the banks and use water turbines to drive their machinery. The hydro power plant located at the falls is the second oldest (by only a couple weeks) hydro power plant in the western hemisphere! It began operation in 1882. There is a hydro plant still in operation today at the same site.

An old turbine and the museum:

The partial remains of the old mills are still visible today and there is a Mill City Museum (will visit soon) to capture the history of the industry in the city.

And even some wildlife among the ruins along the riverbank:

Minneapolis was the flour milling capital of the nation from 1880 to 1930. Gold Medal Flour is now General Mills and now owns Pillsbury (since 2000).

A series of 29 locks and dams along the Mississippi River has been installed to make the river deeper and wider. They are designed to maintain a depth of at least 9 feet along the entire river. Here’s a tour boat rising through the lock near the falls:

Running from Lake Itasca, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi is the 4th longest river in the world, behind the Nile, Amazon and Yangtze and drains over 40% of the lower 48 states.

St. Anthony Falls:

Some sights along the river…A view of the under-construction I-35W bridge just downstream:

The photogenic Guthrie Theater with its Endless Bridge (the bridge has no end!) jutting out over the street:

(view from the river).

The architect recently won the prestigious Pritzker Prize in Architecture.

A flock of segways on a tour:

Can someone tell me why all these trees are leaning the same direction? (east bank of the river)

The Minneapolis skyline from the stone arch bridge:

The rest of the pictures here.