Mill City Museum
Architectural Background |
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Background
As the newest addition to the Minnesota Historical Society's statewide network of museums, historic sites and trails, Mill City Museum, which opened in September 2003, describes in compelling, multi-sensory and hands-on ways how industry, nature and people came together to make Minneapolis the "Flour Milling Capital of the World" from 1880 to 1930.
The museum is an architectural showpiece, rising eight stories within the limestone ruins of the Washburn A Mill, a National Historic Landmark that was once the largest flour mill in the world and one of two dozen Minneapolis mills that lined the banks of the Mississippi River.
As flour milling reached its peak in Minneapolis in the late 19th century, it inspired an explosion of productivity, fed by technical and marketing innovation. In that sense, the story of how flour milling propelled the city and the region into the modern era has similarities with that of Silicon Valley's rise around the microchip in California 100 years later. Both developments had a profound influence on their respective industries and regions - and on the everyday lives of people around the world.
Flour milling didn't grow up in Minneapolis by accident. The Mississippi River - and specifically the river's only natural waterfall, St. Anthony Falls - shaped the city and its history. And St. Anthony Falls, viewed as a prized source of energy, had long attracted people to the region. Originally, power from the falls had supported the lumber industry by powering its sawmills. The flour mills came next. By 1880, the falls' massive power had been harnessed to drive the turbines in Minneapolis' flour mills, grinding wheat from the vast western plains into flour. Rail lines, extending west from Minneapolis, delivered grain to the mills. Trains traveling north to Duluth's port and east to the nation's major population centers carried the flour to market. An influx of immigrants provided the labor.
Mill City Museum is a lively, "must-see" cultural attraction. Its exhibits are designed to involve visitors of all ages in an engaging, interactive discovery involving all five senses. Guests learn about the past in the familiar narrative style, reading and hearing the stories of colorful people and events. In addition, visitors are able to "touch" the region's history in ways unique to Mill City Museum.
Mill City Museum Highlights
- Flour Tower A media show in an eight-story elevator ride features the stories of employees who worked in the mill from the 1940s through the mid-1960s when it closed; historic film and photographs; and the dramatic use of lighting, sound and special effects. The ride provides a memorable trip back in time - and an appreciation for the powerful, noisy process of transforming grain into flour.
- Water Lab Waterpower from St. Anthony Falls drove the mills. Visitors don rain gear as they learn about the river's vital role in the logging and lumber industry that earlier fueled the Minneapolis economy - and later the flour milling industry that relied on the falling water to run turbines and generate power.
- Rail Corridor An 1879 wooden boxcar is the focal point of exhibits showing how railroad networks delivered grain from farms to mill - and flour from mill to market.
- Baking Lab Milling operations tested and perfected their flours in areas that might be thought of as the original test kitchens. In Mill City Museum's Baking Lab, visitors grind wheat, bake bread, conduct experiments and package food. And, they're able to watch professional baking demonstrations.
- Recipe for a Mill City A giant recipe box with a series of oversized cards feed visitors some absorbing history about the Mississippi and its influence on the city of Minneapolis - in bite-sized doses. Topics include lumber and flour milling as well as more recent developments: the decline of the river's east bank after the mills closed and its recent urban resurgence as a place to live, work and play. The city's evolution is the subject of videotaped interviews with a range of the city's workers and residents - from school children to Minneapolis Grain Exchange traders.
- Meet the Machines Authentic 19-century milling machines, connected to an overhead network of pulleys, belts and wheels, is on display. Hands-on models and diagrams explain how such devices as roller mills, cleaners, sifters, dust collectors and flour packers were used to prepare flour for the market. Inventors, mill hands, investors and engineers - the people behind the machines - are introduced.
- Harvesting Wheat What type of wheat to plant, whether to use pesticides, where and when to sell? Visitors to this exhibit wrangle with the questions that, to this day, face wheat farmers. Recorded first-person accounts from wheat farmers past and present, a late 19-century traction engine and the opportunity to sit down at a huge dinner table outfitted to feed a threshing crew on a bonanza farm also helps visitors appreciate the role of the farmer.
- Global Exchange Technologies developed in Europe were used to their utmost by Minneapolis flour mills, eventually allowing them to produce flour in quantities that saturated European markets. Visitors learn the story of this historic technology transfer - as well as flour milling's role in international trade, food relief and immigration. The exhibit also examines how recent immigrants to Minneapolis have incorporated local products into their diets.
- Wheat Emporium Wheat has served as an important icon through the ages. This display explores its use as an icon in household items, paintings, currency, clothing and other objects from a range of cultures.
- Promoting Mill Products Producing flour was one thing, selling it another. Minneapolis' milling industry gave rise to such commercial powerhouses as General Mills, Pillsbury, Cargill, International Multifoods and Malt-O-Meal. Visitors to this exhibit learn how Minnesota food producers have influenced the way the world eats through advertising and promotion. It includes vintage TV commercials, advertisements, packaging and marketing.
- Rooftop Observation Deck Visitors to the museum's rooftop observation deck gain a panoramic view of the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls. Plus, they have a bird's-eye view of the historic Stone Arch Bridge and Mill Ruins Park - and the emerging urban landscape of renovated and new buildings. Lakota artist Daryl No Heart's panorama of the Falls of St. Anthony before industrial development, displayed here, helps visitors draw a contrast between then and now.
