St. Anthony Falls Historic District
(U.S. Registered Historic District)
Aerial view of Saint Anthony Falls with the upper dam; there is also a lower dam. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A historic district in the United States is a group of buildings properties or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally
Location:	Minneapolis, MN
Built/Founded:	1848
Architect:	Ard Godfrey, et al.
Added to NRHP:	March 11, 1971
NRHP Reference#:	71000438 [1]

Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of Events 1425 BC - Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. A waterfall is usually a geological formation resulting from water often in the form of a Stream, flowing over an Erosion -resistant rock WikipediaCiting sources --> See also Mississippi River The Upper Mississippi The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway (also called an "apron") after it partially collapsed in 1869. Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, a series of locks and dams were constructed to extend navigation to points upstream. A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees ^[2]

Named after the Catholic saint Anthony of Padua, the falls is the birthplace of the former city of St. Anthony and to Minneapolis when the two cities joined in 1872 to fully utilize it's economic power for milling operations. Saint Anthony ( August 15, 1195 – June 13, 1231) also venerated as Saint Anthony of Lisbon and Saint Anthony of Padua, St Anthony, also known as Saint Anthony Village, is a city in Hennepin and Ramsey counties in the U Minneapolis is the largest City in the state of Minnesota in the United States and the County seat of Hennepin County. From 1880 to about 1930, Minneapolis was the "Flour Milling Capital of the World. "^[3]

Today, the falls is defined by the Lower Saint Anthony Falls which refers to a downstream lock of what is now officially referred to as Upper Saint Anthony Falls. ^[4] These locks were built as part of the Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Navigation Project. The area around the falls is designated the St. Anthony Falls Historic District. ^[5]

History

The Falls of St. Anthony by Albert Bierstadt

Before European exploration, the falls held cultural and political significance for native tribes who frequented the area. Albert Bierstadt ( January 8 1830 - February 18 1902) was a German - American painter best known for his large

The falls was an important and sacred site to the Mdewakanton Dakota and they called the Mississippi River, hahawakpa, "river of the falls. Mdewakantonwan (singular Mdewakanton) are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee Dakota ( Sioux) Sioux (pronounced SUE are a Native American and First Nations people " The falls (haha) themselves were given specific names, mnirara "curling waters," owahmenah "falling waters," or owamni, "whirlpool" (mniyomni in the Eastern Dakota dialect and owamniyomni in the Teton Dakota (Lakota) dialect. Lakota or Lakotah may refer to Lakota people, a Native American tribe Lakota language, the language of the Lakota ^[6] Dakota associated the falls with legends and spirits, including Oanktehi, god of waters and evil, who lived beneath the falling water. ^[7] The sacred falls also enters into their oral tradition by a story of a warrior's first wife who killed herself in anguish of forlorn love for the husband had assumed a second wife. ^[8] The rocky islet where the woman had pointed her canoe towards doom thus was named Spirit Island which was once a nesting ground for eagles that fed on fish below the falls. Dakota also camped on Nicollet Island upstream of the falls and to tap the sugar maple trees. ^[9]

One of the dams making up St. Anthony Falls, photographed from downstream in October, 2005. One of the locks can be seen on the left.

Since the cataract had to be portaged, the area became one of the natural resting and trade points along the Mississippi between Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples. The Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) term was recorded as "kakabikah" (gakaabikaa, "split rock" or more descriptively, gitchi gakaabikaa, "the great severed rock" which referenced the jagged chunks of limestone constantly eroding by the falls). ^[6][10]

In 1680, the falls became known to the Western world when they were observed and published in a journal by Father Louis Hennepin, a Catholic friar of Belgian birth, who also first published about Niagara Falls to the world's attention. Father Louis Hennepin, OFM baptized Antoine, ( 12 May, 1626 &ndash c The Niagara Falls are massive Waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border separating the Canadian province of Ontario ^[11] Hennepin named Saint Anthony Falls after his patron saint, Anthony of Padua. Saint Anthony ( August 15, 1195 – June 13, 1231) also venerated as Saint Anthony of Lisbon and Saint Anthony of Padua, ^[11] Later explorers include Jonathan Carver and Zebulon Montgomery Pike. Jonathan Carver ( April 13[[ 715]] &ndash January 31[[ 780]] was an American explorer and writer Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr ( January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American soldier and explorer for whom Pikes Peak

Following the establishment of Fort Snelling in 1820, the falls became an attraction for tourists, writers and artists who sought inspiration even if Hennepin's descriptions were not as majestic as hoped for. Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort St Anthony, is a former Military Fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota However by the 1860s industrial waste had filled the area and marred the falls' majesty. ^[7] Further competition over the power of the falls on both banks of the river led to its eventually downfall when it partially collapsed in 1869 and was reinforced and subsequently sealed by a concrete overflow spillway (or "apron").

The area around the falls was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District in 1971 which includes 8th Avenue Northeast extending downstream to 6th Avenue Southeast and approximately two city blocks on both shoreline. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of ^[12][13] The district's archaeological record is one of the most-endangered historic sites in Minnesota. ^[14] The National Register of Historic Places is facilitated by the National Park Service. The National Park Service ( NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation The national significance of the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District is a major reason why the National Park Service's Mississippi National River and Recreation Area was established along the Mississippi River in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area protects a 72 mile (115 km and 54000 acres (220 km² corridor along the Mississippi River from the cities of Dayton and

A Heritage Trail plaque nearby says,

"For untold generations of Indian people the Mississippi River was an important canoe route. To pass around the falls, the Dakota (Sioux) and Ojibway (Chippewa) used a well-established portage trail. For other meanings of the word including the United States states please see Dakota The Design Analysis Kit for Optimization and Terascale Applications The Ojibwa or Chippewa (also Ojibwe, Ojibway, Chippeway) is the largest group of Native Americans - First Nations Starting at a landing below the site now occupied by the steam plant, the trail climbed the bluff to this spot. The Southeast Steam Plant also known as the Twin City Rapid Transit Company Steam Power Plant is a combined heat and power plant on the From here it followed the east bank along what is now Main Street to a point well above the falls. Nicollet Island/East Bank is a neighborhood within the larger University community in Minneapolis. "

Geology

Sandstone layered under limestone

Geologists say that the falls first appeared roughly 10,000 years ago several miles downstream at the confluence of the glacial River Warren (at present-day Ft. Snelling). Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Glacial River Warren or River Warren was a prehistoric river that drained Lake Agassiz in central North America between 11700 and 9400 years ago Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort St Anthony, is a former Military Fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota ^[7] Estimates are that the falls were about 180 feet (55 m) high when the River Warren Falls receded past the confluence of the Mississippi River and the glacial River Warren. River Warren Falls was a massive waterfall on the Glacial River Warren initially located in present-day Saint Paul Minnesota, United States. Over the succeeding 10,000 years, the falls moved upstream to its present location, breaking off the limestone cap in chunks as it receded. Tributaries such as Minnehaha Creek begot their own waterfalls as the Mississippi River valley was cut into the landscape. Minnehaha Creek is a Tributary of the Mississippi River located in Hennepin County Minnesota that extends from Lake Minnetonka in the west

From its origins near Fort Snelling, St. Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort St Anthony, is a former Military Fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota Anthony Falls relocated upstream at a rate of about 4 feet (1. 2 m) per year until it reached its present location in the early 1800s. When Father Louis Hennepin documented the falls he estimated the falls' height to be 50 or 60 feet (18 m). Later explorers described it as being in the range of 16 to 20 feet (6. 1 m) high. ^[7] The discrepancy may have been due to scope, as the current total drop in river level over the series of dams is 76 ft (23 m).

The geological formation of the area consisted of a hard, thin layer of Platteville Formation, a carbonate rock, overlaying the soft St. Peter Sandstone sub-surface. Carbonate rocks are a class of Sedimentary rocks composed primarily of Carbonate Minerals The two major types are Limestone and Dolomite St Peter sandstone is an Ordovician formation in the Chazyan stage of the Champlainian series ^[15] These layers were the result of an Ordovician Period sea which covered east-central Minnesota 500 million years ago. The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic era, and covers the time between 488 ^[16] The water churning at the bottom of the falls ate away at the sandstone, and after enough support had been removed, large blocks of the Platteville Formation would fall off. This process had been happening naturally since 8000 BC, with the falls having receded up from the Fort Snelling area to their location in the 1850s.

Industry

A diagram showing the recession of the falls between 1680 and 1887.

Looking northeast across the river ca. 1868

The falls in the early 1900s

The first private land claim at the falls was made by Franklin Steele in 1838 — though he didn't obtain financing for development until 1847, in the form of $12,000 for a 9/10 stake in the property. Franklin Steele (1813 &ndash September 9, 1880) was an early and significant settler of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States On May 18, 1848 president Polk approved the claims made in St. Events 1152 - Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. Year 1848 ( MDCCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap James Knox Polk ( November 2 1795&ndashJune 15 1849 was the eleventh President of the United States, serving from March 4 1845 to March 4 1849 Anthony, and Steele was able to build his dam on the east side of the river above the Falls, blocking the east channel. The dam extended diagonally into the river 700 feet (210 m), was 16 feet (4. 9 m) high, and was secured to the limestone riverbed. Its thickness tapered from 40 wide at its base to 12 feet (3. 7 m) wide at the top. Steele dispatched logging crews to the Crow Wing River in December 1847 to supply pine for the his sawmill, and by September 1, 1848 sawing commenced using two up-down saws. The Crow Wing River rises in a chain of 10 lakes in southern Hubbard County Minnesota and flows southeast about 90 miles before joining the Mississippi River at This article is about the tree For other uses of the term "pine" see Pine (disambiguation. A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1848 ( MDCCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap He was able to sell the lumber readily, supplying construction projects in the booming town. ^[17] The new community at the Falls attracted entrepreneurs from New England, many of whom had experience in lumber and milling. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the He had hired Ard Godfrey to help build and run the first commercial sawmill at the Falls. Godfrey knew the most efficient ways to use natural resources, like the falls, and the great pine forests, to make lumber products. ^[18] Godfrey built the first home in St. Anthony, Steele had the town platted in 1849, and it incorporated in 1855. ^[19][20]

By 1854, 300 squatters occupied the west bank of the river, and in 1855 Congress recognized the squatters' right to purchase the land they had claimed. The west side quickly developed scores of new mills and consortia. They built a dam diagonally into the river to the north, which, along with Steele's dam created the inverted V-shape, still apparent today. Steele created the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company in 1856 with three New York financiers. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The company struggled for several years, due to poor relations with the financiers, a depression, and the Civil War. A recession is a contraction phase of the Business cycle. The U Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South In 1868 the firm reorganized with new officers including John Pillsbury, Richard and Samuel Chute, Sumner Farnham, and Frederick Butterfield. There are multiple people with the name John Pillsbury John E ^[17]

As Minneapolis (and its former neighbor across the river, St. Anthony) developed, the water power at the falls became a source of power for several industries. Hydropower, hydraulic power or water power is power that is derived from the Force or Energy of moving water which may Water power was used by sawmills, textile mills, and flour mills. A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters A gristmill or grist mill is a building where Grain is ground into Flour, or the grinding mechanism itself Millers on the Minneapolis side formed a consortium to extract power by diverting upper-level water into waterwheel-equipped vertical shafts (driven through the limestone bedrock into the soft, underlying sandstone) and then through horizontal tunnels to the falls' lower level. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Sandstone is a Sedimentary rock composed mainly of Sand -size Mineral or rock grains. These shafts and tunnels weakened the limestone and its sandstone foundation, accelerating the falls' upriver erosion to 26 feet (7. 9 m) per year between 1857 and 1868. The falls quickly approached the edge of their limestone cap; once the limestone had completely eroded away, the falls would degenerate into sandstone rapids unsuitable for waterpower. ^[7] The mills on the St. Anthony (east) side of the river were less-well organized harnessing the power, and therefore industry developed at a slower pace on that side.

The 1869 collapse of the Hennepin Island tunnel

Main article: Hennepin Island tunnel

The early dams built to harness the waterpower exposed the limestone to freezing and thawing forces, narrowed the channel, and increased the damage from floods. Hennepin Island tunnel was a -long underground passage in Saint Anthony Minnesota (now Minneapolis) dug beneath the Mississippi River riverbed between A report in 1868 found that only eleven hundred feet of the limestone remained upstream, and if it were eroded away, the falls would turn into a rapids that would no longer be useful for waterpower. ^[21] Meanwhile, the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company approved a plan for the firm of William W. Eastman and John L. Merriam to build a tunnel under Hennepin and Nicollet Islands that would share the waterpower. This plan was met with disaster on October 5, 1869, when the limestone cap was breached. Events 869 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about Patriarch Photius of Constantinople Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The leak turned into a torrent of water coming out the tunnel. The water blasted Hennepin Island, causing a 150-foot (46 m) chunk to fall off into the river. Believing that the mills and all the other industries around the falls would be ruined, hundreds of people rushed to view the impending disaster. Groups of volunteers started shoring up the gap by throwing trees and timber into the river, but that was ineffective. They then built a huge raft of timbers from the milling operations on Nicollet Island. This worked briefly, but also proved ineffective. A number of workers worked for months to build a dam that would funnel water away from the tunnel. The next year, an engineer from Lowell, Massachusetts recommended completing a wooden apron, sealing the tunnel, and building low dams above the falls to avoid exposing the limestone to the weather. Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. As of the 2000 census the city had a total population of 105167 This work was assisted by the federal government, and was eventually completed in 1884. The federal government spent $615,000 on this effort, while the two cities spent $334,500. ^[22]

See also: Mills District, Minneapolis, Pillsbury "A" Mill, Washburn "A" Mill, Mill Ruins Park, Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company, North Star Woolen Mill, and History of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Locks and dams

The concrete apron over St. The Mills District is a neighborhood within Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and a part of the larger Downtown East neighborhood The Pillsbury "A" Mill, situated along Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis Minnesota, held the title of largest The Washburn "A" Mill was the second-largest Flour mill in Minneapolis Minnesota. Mill Ruins Park is a park in downtown Minneapolis Minnesota, United States, standing on the west side of Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company was an American flour milling company that operated about one quarter of the mills in Minneapolis Minnesota when The North Star Woolen Mill is a building in downtown Minneapolis Minnesota. Minneapolis is the largest City in the state of Minnesota in the United States and the County seat of Hennepin County. Anthony Falls is engineered to produce the pronounced hydraulic jump evident in this photo. A hydraulic jump is a phenomenon in the science of Hydraulics which is frequently observed in open channel flow such as Rivers and Spillways.

In 1963 the Stone Arch Bridge was altered to allow clearance for the upper lock

St. The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis Minnesota. Anthony Falls was the upper limit of commercial navigation on the Mississippi until two dams and a series of locks were built between 1948 and 1963 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The United States Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE) is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34600 Civilian and 650 Military personnel The locks make commercial navigation possible above Minneapolis but, since the locks in Minneapolis are smaller than most of the locks on the river, the practical limit for many commercial tows is further downriver. Few barges go past St. Paul. Saint Paul ( abbreviated St Paul) is the capital and second most populous city in the U Completed in 1963, the upper St. Anthony Falls dam is a horseshoe-shaped hydro-electric dam 93 feet (28 m) in height. Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees The upper pool has a normal capacity of 3,150 acre feet (3,885,000 m³) and a normal level of 799 feet (244 m) above sea level. Mean sea level (MSL is the average (mean height of the Sea, with reference to a suitable reference surface The navigation channel required alteration of the historic Stone Arch Bridge, which now has a metal truss section to allow ships to pass below. The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis Minnesota.

Completed in 1956, the lower St. Anthony Falls dam is a gravity-type hydro-electric dam 60 feet (18 m) in height, consisting of a 275 foot (84 m) long concrete spillway with 4 tainter gates. The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm Floodgate used in Dams and Canal locks to control water flow The lower pool (sometimes called the intermediate pool) has a normal capacity of 375 acre-feet (463,000 m³) and a normal level of 750 feet (229 m) above sea level.

The pool below the lower dam has a normal level of 725 feet (221 m) above sea level.

The upper and lower locks are each 56 feet (17 m) wide by 400 feet (122 m) long.

The current around the spillway/falls is often swift and dangerous. In 1991, a small boat drifted too close and fell over one part of the dam. Two people onboard were killed, and two others had to be rescued by helicopter. History Since 400 AD Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys. Rescues at the site are usually much less dramatic, but continue to happen occasionally.

See also

• List of contributing properties in the St. Anthony Falls Historic District
• Saint Anthony Main shopping area
• Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
• I-35W Mississippi River bridge, which collapsed in 2007 and temporarily blocked the lower pool. The following are the 85 contributing properties in the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Saint Anthony Main is a shopping and office complex located on Main Street in the Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood of Southeast Minneapolis in the The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area protects a 72 mile (115 km and 54000 acres (220 km² corridor along the Mississippi River from the cities of Dayton and The I-35W Mississippi River bridge (officially known simply as Bridge 9340) was an eight-lane steel Truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across

References

External Links

• Wheat Farms, Flour Mills, and Railroads: A Web of Interdependence, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan

• St. Anthony Falls page within the NPS Mississippi National River and Recreation Area website