St. Anthony Falls Historic District

The following are all the contributing resources to the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

For all the historic buildings, use became abandonment, warehousing, light industry, or in one case animal rendering.

Three of the four Main Street historic buildings went from commercial to industrial to empty or storage.

In 1980, the Minneapolis Park Board proposed extending the West River Parkway from Plymouth Ave. through the mill district.

The review found numerous archaeological remains in the mill area, particularly under gravel piles on the river side of the power canal.

Remains were also found between the falls and Plymouth Ave. A great deal of public money has been spent in the Historic District, both on public entities, like the Mill City Museum and Mill Ruins Park, but also (including tax credits) on private redevelopment of historic structures.

[5] A lot was learned about the Historic District, and the NRHP nomination was amended in 1991 with much more narrative on the significance plus over four times the entities.

Use of waterpower at the falls goes back to an 1821 sawmill and an 1823 grist mill, both built by Ft.

The upstream end of Nicollet Island had historic houses of varying architectural styles, and developed as a predominantly middle and working class neighborhood.

Mills were demolished to the ground surface, leaving foundations, drop shafts, tailraces, headraces and sometimes turbines intact.

Saint Anthony Falls looking upstream
Saint Anthony Falls looking downstream, upper dam at left
Pillsbury "A" Mill and 1911 Main Street Station
Crown Roller Mill after 1983 fire (HAER 1985)
Washburn A mill complex looking compass east (1997). From left Utility Building, Washburn A Mill (with scaffolding), Wheat House, Humboldt Mill, at top - head house over Elevator 1 with Gold Medal Flour signs, far right Elevator 2 & 3 (now razed) (HAER) [ 9 ]
Arctic, Union, Holly and Cataract flour mills
Center - St.Anthony Falls; to left - dam where lock will be built (1963); to left - small building is Power Canal Gatehouse (1858-1960); right - single tall stack is Pillsbury "A" Steam Power Plant (1903-1964); Stone Arch Bridge (1883) feeds Great Northern Depot (1913-1978) above Hennepin Ave. Bridge; bottom Lower Dam Hydroelectric Plant (1895-1988) & Lower Dam (1895-1956), above it - 4 piers from 10th Ave. S bridge (one remains), right - Southeast Steam Plant (1903); center - Hennepin Island Hydroelectric Plant (1908) ca 1955 (City of Minneapolis Archives)
Minneapolis Boiler Works. The large building to the right is the Ceresota Elevator.(HAER 1985)