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'Minneapolis Riverfront: Then and Now' Opens Nov. 12 at Mill City Museum

Photographer Jerry Mathiason and Mill City Museum embarked on a project during the state sesquicentennial in 2008 to document change on the Minneapolis riverfront, selecting historic photos from the state's early years (1850s-1870s) and taking photographs of the contemporary landscape from the same vantage points. The pairs of then and now photographs reveal the dramatic changes to the city during its first 150 years, including the disappearance of St. Anthony Falls, changes in transportation, bridge collapses past and present, the growth of a small village into a major city, and continually evolving uses of the Mississippi River.

Images

West side milling district, Photographer unknown, about 1870

Downtown Minneapolis from Father Hennepin Bluffs Park, Photograph by Jerry Mathiason, 2008

Hi-res images are available upon request.

Jerry Mathiason has over four decades of photographic experience, specializing in architectural, art copy and landscape photography. Mathiason's work is featured in "Twin Cities Then and Now" by architecture historian Larry Millet with images taken by Mathiason of present day versions of scenes from vintage photos. Jerry teaches photography at North Hennepin Community College.

"Minneapolis Riverfront: Then and Now, 1858 - 2008" will be on display in the Mill Commons area from Nov. 12, 2009 through March, 28, 2010. The exhibit is supported by a grant from the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board.

Also on view through Dec. 31, 2009 is "Storyboats," a display of porcelain boats created by sculptor Anna Metcalfe. Matcalfe adorned the boats with drawings and comments collected from members of the National Park Service, staff from Wilderness Inquiry and Dakota elder Alameda Rocha after the group canoed the Mississippi river this past summer.

Both exhibits are free, but do not include museum admission of $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and college students, $5 for children ages 6-17 and free for members of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Minneapolis Riverfront History

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.

After World War I the milling industry in Minneapolis began to decline, leaving the old mills abandoned and many of them subsequently razed. The Washburn A Mill closed in 1965, and was nearly destroyed by fire in 1991. Meanwhile, the water from St. Anthony Falls was used to generate more and more electricity for the growing city.

Mill City Museum, built within the ruins of the Washburn A Mill, opened its doors in 2003. The museum chronicles the flour milling industry that fueled the growth of Minneapolis. The museum is located at 704 S. Second St. in Minneapolis. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 612-341-7555 or visit www.millcitymuseum.org.

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