Minneapolis Riverfront

The story of Minneapolis begins with St. Anthony Falls, the only major waterfall on the Mississippi River. The falls has been a gathering place for many different people, for many different reasons, for thousands of years.

Located in Dakota homeland, Owamniyomni (St. Anthony Falls) was a place of spiritual power and a gathering place for resources like the sugar maples on Nicollet Island and nearby springs. The Dakota name for the river, Haha Wakpa (Mississippi), means “river of the falls.” Owamniyomni is part of a larger landscape — Bdote, the confluence of the Mni Sota Wakpa (Minnesota) and Haha Wakpa (Mississippi) rivers — is a place of cultural importance to many Dakota people as a site of creation, as well as a historical gathering place.

The falls were given the name St. Anthony Falls by Father Louis Hennepin, who came to the area in 1680. The Europeans and Americans who followed prized the falls as a place of beauty and a source of waterpower for industry.

In 1805, Zebulon Pike made an agreement with several Dakota representatives to acquire land for a military fort at Bdote. The Fort Snelling military reservation also included the land at St. Anthony Falls. The first sawmill and gristmill were built by Fort Snelling soldiers in the 1820s.

By the 1850s the falls were harnessed as a source of power for the commercial lumber and flour milling industries, and the riverfront settlement transformed into a city that led the world in flour production for nearly 50 years, beginning in 1880. Later, changes in transportation and industry led to a move away from the river, and as business departed, the area declined.

Today, the Minneapolis riverfront has been revitalized. It's a place where visitors enjoy sightseeing, walking and biking trails, dining, live music, and theater. Many historic buildings have been developed for new uses, including the Washburn A Mill, which is now the home of Mill City Museum.

Related resources

• Stone Arch Bridge
  MNopedia
  A feat of engineering and a reminder of the importance of rail traffic in the late 19th century.
• St. Anthony Falls Tunnel Collapse, 1869
  MNopedia
  On October 5, 1869, water seeped and then gushed into a tunnel underneath St. Anthony Falls creating an enormous whirlpool. The falls were nearly destroyed. It was years before the area was fully stabilized and the falls were again safe from collapse.
• Father Louis Hennepin Suspension Bridge
  MNopedia​
  The Father Louis Hennepin Bridge was built in 1855 to take advantage of the transport possibilities provided by the Mississippi River above St. Anthony Falls. It was the first bridge built to span the Mississippi River, and made crossing its length above the falls much easier. 
• Spiritual Power to Industrial Might: 12,000 Years at St. Anthony Falls (PDF)
  Minnesota History, Spring/Summer 2003
  Focuses on early accounts of the natural river through human-engineered changes.
• Archaeology on the Minneapolis Riverfront: Finding the Invisible Historic Sites at St. Anthony Falls (PDF)
  Minnesota History, Spring/Summer 2003
  Concentrates on the history of archaeology at the Washburn A Mill site.
• At Home in the Heart of the City (PDF)
  Minnesota History, Spring/Summer 2003
  Features the changing neighborhood and residents of the milling district throughout the years.