Urban Bike: Mill City

Much of the early wealth of Minneapolis came from grain. This grain legacy translates into locally headquartered companies like Cargill and General Mills.

Cargill, the largest privately held company in the country, manages 25% of US grain exports. General Mills manages ubiquitous brands like Betty Crocker and Pillsbury.

The first flour mill in what is now Minneapolis was built in 1823 to serve Fort Snelling. From the 1880’s through the 1920’s, Minneapolis earned the nickname “Mill City” because its mills were the most productive in the world.

I spent a day on my bicycle finding significant examples from these productive times.

Railroads provide a common thread for flour mills and cycling. Some of my trails follow railroad rights of way. All the facilities I visited are built next to railroads.

The first two grain elevators are next to the Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail, not too far from our home.

1. Peavey–Haglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator
1899: The first concrete grain elevator in North America, possibly the world

I’ve cycled past this grain elevator many times thinking it was a chimney for the Nordic Ware cookware factory.

This elevator changed the world of grain elevators. Built as a prototype, it proved it was practical to build grain elevators using concrete. It was only filled once with grain, and the experiment was declared a success.

Soon after that, concrete grain elevators popped up all over the region. Some of these are still in productive use.

2. Calhoun Isles Condominiums
1915 and 1928 Cereal Grading Company silos converted to condominiums in 1982

These condominiums incorporate two silos. The silos are clad with urethane insulation then stucco. Windows are flat, rather than curved, and interior walls are exposed concrete.

The end result seems bland, but it does strengthen a sense of place, a connection with the past.

3. Fruen Mill 
Circa 1894: Abandoned mill, dangerous dereliction, poised for development

I’ve puzzled over how to assign a single build year to a structure as fluid as a grain elevator. The Peavey Haglin was easy: it was built, used once, then abandoned. By contrast, the Fruen is a conglomeration of structures upon structures. As needs changed, as better technologies became available, structures were tacked on or altered.

As with other mills on my route, urban explorers have died or been injured here. Recently developers bought the Fruen to convert it to “office, brewery, and restaurant space.”

4. General Mills Soo Mill
A working mill

I have to include one working mill in this post, and this is it. There are still many working mills around the Twin Cities, but I chose this one because the location nicely lengthened the ride.

I’ve now learned mills are works in process. I see evidence of many additions over the years, including steel silos alongside concrete silos.

I hear a working mill. The electric motors, the extractors working round-the-clock to keep the dust below explosive limits.

While a working mill may dominate the landscape, the mill operators seem to want it to be invisible. There are no signs, no declaration this is owned by General Mills, no information of any kind. I found no information on General Mills’ public Web sites.

BNSF trains serve this mill. The BNSF Web site tells me General Mills operates this facility, it’s called the Soo Line elevator, and it processes barley and oats.

5. Mill City Museum
Museum opened in 2003 in the ruined shell of Washburn A Mill (built 1880)

For forty years this was the world’s largest flour mill. Mill City Museum rises out of the ruins.

This area was the center of milling in Minneapolis. Other notable mills in the area include the Ceresota, now a mixed-use building, and the Pillsbury A, now artists’ lofts.

I stare at expressionist images of the Mill City Museum in the mirrored panels of the neighboring Guthrie Theater. A dent in the mirror provides trippy re-imaginations of the structure.

A modern freight elevator takes me to the top of the mill. I’m treated to dangling, converging dust removal ducts. I look down on the Mississippi and St. Anthony Falls, the mill’s first power source.

6. Electric Steel Elevator