Mill City Museum
| Established | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Location | 704 South 2nd Street Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
| Coordinates | 44°58′46″N 93°15′26″W / 44.97938°N 93.25711°W |
| Type | Historic Museum |
| Director | David Stevens |
| Public transit access | Bus Routes 3, 7 and 22, METRO Blue Line, METRO Green Line |
| Website | www |
Washburn A Mill Complex | |
U.S. Historic district Contributing property | |
The Washburn A Mill Complex from the Stone Arch Bridge | |
| Location | 1st St. S. at Portland Ave. Minneapolis |
| Built | 1879 |
| Part of | Saint Anthony Falls Historic District (ID71000438) |
| NRHP reference No. | 83004388 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 4, 1983[1] |
| Designated NHL | May 4, 1983[2] |
Mill City Museum is located in the ruins of the Washburn Mill. The museum opened in 2003, showing the growth of jobs in Minneapolis including flour milling and hydropower from Saint Anthony Falls.
The museum has a water lab and baking lab.
Flour Tower
The flour tower is the main attraction of the Mill City Museum. Visitors sit in a elevator and are brought to different floors of the building. The floors are designed to look like a fully operational flour mill. Visitors also hear voice recordings of people who worked at the mill.
History
The original Washburn A Mill was built in 1874. It was the largest flour mill in the world. On May 2, 1878, the mill exploded due to flour dust. It was known as the Great Mill Disaster. It killed 17 people and destroyed five other mills.
In 1880, a new Washburn Mill was created as the largest flour mill in the world. The mill could make two millions pounds of flour per day.The mill became a National Historic Landmark in 1983
In 1991, a fire nearly destroyed the old mill. The mill had a good sprinkler system that would have ended the fire. The sprinklers were not on because no one was in the building.[3] The building was turned into a museum by the City of Minneapolis in 2001.
Photos
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Recreation of the Great Mill Disaster
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A boxcar showing how the goods were transferred
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A millstone used in flour milling
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Equipment used in roller milling
References
- ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2006-03-15.
- ↑ "Washburn A Mill Complex". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
- ↑ Hall 2009.
Other websites
- Official website
- Mill City History Portal Archived 2015-12-18 at the Wayback Machine