2026-04-23T10:54:30+00:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/ Minnesota Environments https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu 2014-11-05T19:01:17+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/29 Takuya Amagai , Sahree Kasper and the Minnesota Environments Team In 1915, flour production in Minneapolis peaked at about two million barrels. From there, the mills started a slow descent from world leadership to only a memory of their former glory. In 1880, Minneapolis was known as the “Flour Milling Capital of the World,” or simply, “Mill City.” In 1928, a number of mills formed together into one company, General Mills, and from then on the two names most associated with milling would be General Mills and Pillsbury. After World War I, flour milling in Minneapolis entered a period of significant decline. By 1930, the great Mill City had become a shadow of its former self. The early advantages of Minneapolis mills - power provided by the falls and their innovative milling techniques - ceased to provide a competitive edge. The Red River Valley was experiencing declining crop fertility and the southeastern farms began adopting harder wheat varieties. While a few millers kept their headquarters in Minneapolis, such as General Mills and Pillsbury, most millers moved away from Minneapolis. Although few true millers remain in Minneapolis, the city has found ways to honor its heritage. For nearly eighty years up until 1960, Minneapolis' baseball team was called the Millers. The city’s Gold Medal Park, named after the Washburn-Crosby company's award-winning flour, was opened in 2007 and borders the old milling district and St. Anthony Falls. The Washburn A. Mill closed in 1965 and when it was destroyed by a fire in 1991, the Minnesota Historical Society converted it into the Mill City Museum. The museum hopes to lead visitors to discover how the milling industry of the city “transformed a region and influenced our world.” Currently, the museum is in the process of preserving the Washburn-Crosby Elevator No. 1, one of the first and largest circular grain storage units. From the southeastern pioneer farms to the northwestern bonanza farms, from St. Anthony Falls to the city’s milling district, the rich wheat farming and milling industries are heavily integrated into the city’s legacy. These living memories, the museum and the park, show that Minneapolis strives to preserve more than a mill; the city is preserving its history and the legacy of wheat and flour in the city. For more (including 5 images), view the original article. 2014-11-04T14:19:33+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/20 Takuya Amagai , Sahree Kasper and the Minnesota Environments Team St. Anthony Falls and the area surrounding it became the milling capital of Minnesota in the second half of the 19th century. The mills, for both lumber and flour, were built alongside the falls to capitalize the power that the rushing water provided. In the 1850s, mill owners constructed canals and tunnels around the falls to supply the mills with water and to discharge used water and waste. Slowly, constant upgrades and modifications made to ensure the stability of the falls and the productivity of the mills tamed the wild and unruly St. Anthony Falls. Even though St. Anthony Falls provided seemingly ideal conditions for a thriving a milling district, the geology of the falls was more fragile and susceptible to erosion than its early developers realized. Characteristic of the surrounding area, the district was built on the base of a hard limestone cap and a soft sandstone base. This made it easy to drill tunnels through the soft sandstone under the falls, but it also created a geologically unstable landscape when combined with flowing water. In the 1860s, Minneapolis pushed for the construction of an “apron” over the falls, which would protect the falls by rerouting the water over wooden planks, slowing the flow and protecting the sandstone layer from further erosion. In 1867, a flood destroyed the recently completed apron, overwhelming the mills and sweeping away the lumber booms, the barriers meant to contain the logs. The flood further destabilized the falls and the thousands of logs released from the lumber booms battered buildings perched along the river. Fears were voiced that another flood like this would completely destroy the falls and the river’s infrastructure. By 1869, the construction of a new apron was underway. As its completion neared, an article in the Tribune optimistically wrote, “the mighty falls of St. Anthony have been made to succumb to man and are now as subject to his will as a child.” Unfortunately, the power of the falls was yet again underestimated. In the fall of that same year, Hennepin Island collapsed, resulting from one disaster after another. The owners of the island built a tunnel beneath it, but in October of 1869, the rushing water pummeled the lower end of the island and washed away a chunk of the island. There was no hope for mills on the island and volunteers began salvaging what they could carry. During this, parts of the tunnel collapsed and the volunteers tried to block the tunnel gaps with miscellaneous materials, such as logs and dirt, but to no avail. Their next idea was to build a raft from the lumber on Nicollet Island, which was guided over the collapsed opening. The raft could not withstand the powerful flow from the gap, and as it came apart, the volunteers noticed that another section of Hennepin Island had washed away. In 1870, spring floods washed the rest of the new apron away. Minneapolis and its millers felt powerless compared to the fierce falls. Despite these repeated setbacks, the residents of Minneapolis knew that they could not abandon the reinforcement of the falls or else their famous mills would be no more. Construction carried on, expanding to include the dikes and dams that were installed in the following years. By the mid 1880s, the wild falls were finally stabilized. The industry along the falls continued, and the flour mills powered well into the early twentieth century. For more (including 6 images), view the original article. 2014-11-04T14:08:27+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/18 Takuya Amagai , Sahree Kasper and the Minnesota Environments Team The mills of Minneapolis had a humble beginning, but they soon emerged as a world-renowned flour powerhouse. On their path to fame, the mills struggled to tame St. Anthony Falls and to mill and market the coarser varieties of spring wheat that grew in Minnesota. The mills and St. Anthony Falls formed a close-knit connection; the mills would not have without the falls, and the falls would not have been reinforced without the mills. Because the state’s harsh winter climate eliminated soft winter wheat it as an option for Minnesota wheat farmers, they grew spring wheat which they could plant in the spring and harvest in the fall. Yet hard spring wheat created challenges for the mills. Because it had a brittle husk, the wheat produced a darker and coarser flour than the more popular winter wheat. It was also difficult to mix evenly, resulting in flour that soured more quickly than the flour produced from softer winter wheat varieties. To solve these problems Minneapolis millers applied and adapted two innovations. The first, called a “middlings purifier,” blasted air through the flour, removing the undesirable bran and husks from the valuable flour, making the final product less coarse and lighter-colored. The second, a process called “gradual-reduction,” replaced the traditional millstones made of stone with roller mills made of porcelain or iron. These new rollers successfully mixed the gluten and the starch, which gave the flour a longer shelf life. With the unique challenges of milling hard spring wheat solved, sales skyrocketed - along with the reputation of Minneapolis millers. In 1870, there were thirteen flour mills by St. Anthony Falls, versus a total of five hundred other mills throughout the state. That year, the Minneapolis mills produced 200,000 barrels of flour. As wheat production shifted from southeastern Minnesota to the northwestern part of the state, the Minneapolis mills became more central to the wheat economy. With its direct connection to the Mississippi River and its proximity to the Great Lakes, Minneapolis became a hub for flour. By 1884, Minneapolis was the world’s leading flour miller. In 1890, the Minneapolis mills produced a record seven million barrels of wheat. Even though less than four percent of the country’s mills were in Minnesota, these mills produced nearly a fourth of the nation’s flour. It was the golden age of flour milling in Minneapolis, fueled by the falls and by innovations in the mills. For more (including 6 images), view the original article.