Milling about Minneapolis at the Mill City Museum
If the inside of a stadium or shopping mall is all you’ve seen of Minneapolis lately, it’s time to head to the Mill City Museum downtown on the Mississippi River. It’s a feast for the eyes, intellect and taste buds. Call it the fullMinneapolis experience.
After all, Minneapolis earned the nickname of Mill City similar to Milwaukee being called Brew City. Once considered the world’s milling capital, Minneapolis led the flour milling industry for half a century. Even the city’s first professional baseball team, the Minneapolis Millers, personified the city’s milling dominance.
The flour-milling boom lasted for decades in Minneapolis, but decline set in after the First World War when milling no longer depended on water power.
A few years ago, the mill site sat as a neglected eyesore of urban rot, gradually decaying throughout the late 1900s.
Now, the entire riverfront milling district has been transformed. The striking Mill City Museum opened in 2003, built into the limestone ruins of what was once the world’s largest flour mill.
“Mill City Museum is unique as one of the few tourist attractions in the U.S. that is built into an industrial ruin,” said museum manager David Stevens. “Because the mill is a National Historic Landmark, civic leaders decided to preserve the mill as a ruin, leaving a dramatic open-air courtyard surrounded by the ruined walls, and building a new facility within the other half of the mill preserving as much of the original fabric as possible.”
The mill originally opened in 1874 and was eventually owned by General Mills, which is still headquartered in Minneapolis but at a different location.
A must-see attraction at the museum is the Flour Tower elevator show, where visitors take a trip through time sitting in a freight elevator with a docent at the controls. The doors open to showcase the sights and sounds of a working flour mill. Turns out, flour is extremely combustible and milling is a powerful, loud and sometimes deadly process to transform grain.
On the eighth floor, visitors exit the elevator to conclude the tour on foot, then are free to linger on the ninth floor observation deck that offers spectacular views of the riverfront milling district.
Included in that view is the former Pillsbury mill, also billed as the largest flour mill of its time, that has been converted to residential lofts. The huge, red “Pillsbury’s Best Flour” sign still stands, after a restoration in 2015.
Another huge attraction in the museum is a 15-foot “box” of Bisquick located outside the baking lab where visitors can watch professional baking demonstrations.
Beyond the museum, the local flour industry is rising again, but this time it’s milled in small batches by local artisans from organic, heritage grains.
The museum holds a farmers market on Saturdays, complete with local flour.
“A trip to the market, including a tour of the museum, and exploration of the area can fill a whole summer day,” said Martha Glanville, local miller at Sunrise Flour Mill and vendor at the Mill City Farmers Market.
“It overlooks the Mississippi River and it’s a short walk to Stone Arch Bridge, which is the pedestrian bridge over the river to northeastern Minneapolis, full of shops, restaurants and other interesting places.”
Sunrise Flour Mill exclusively mills organic heritage wheat, with its best-selling flour being Turkey Red.
For some instant gratification, find artisan bread and other baked goods from Heritage Breads, also at the market. Heritage Breads uses only local flour from Sunrise Flour Mill, according to baker Jonathan Kaye.
The Mill City Farmers Market is open from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturdays through September.
If it doesn’t happen to be Saturday and you’re craving delicious bread, visit Heritage Breads at its bakery, 10902 Greenbrier Road in nearby Minnetonka.