Since the beginning of time, bread (often referred to as the staff of life) has played a decisive role in history from Mesopotamia to Minnesota. Governments have risen and fallen over bread — Remember the French Revolution? Fortunes have been made or lost on ‘dough’! And what better way to appreciate where bread (which is essentially FLOUR and water) comes from than to spend an afternoon exploring the Mill Museum in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Beginning in 1880, Minneapolis was known as the “Flour Milling Capital of the World” or “Mill City.” Long freight trains loaded with grain from the Northern Plains and Dakotas would snake their way to the Mississippi River where mills developed on both banks, harnessing the power of St. Anthony’s Falls (the only waterfalls on the Great River) to thresh the wheat into flour. The largest of these was the Washburn A Mill. At the peak of its performance, the Mill could grind over 100 boxcars of wheat into almost 2 million pounds of flour a day!

But then progress found more efficient ways of processing the flour, and the great mills fell silent. The Washburn A Mill closed its doors in 1965, and the building stood abandoned and derelict, the waste product of industry and a blight on the city landscape. When a fire significantly destroyed the old structure in 1991, it seemed that the great mill would completely disappear.

Instead of pulling down the damaged ruins, however, Minneapolis decided to celebrate its history. The old building was turned into the Mill Museum. The rustic old limestone walls of the courtyard — twisted beams and all — were left standing exactly as the fire had left them to form an open courtyard that you can see as you ride down in the glass elevator. Breathtaking views of St. Anthony’s Falls and the Stone Arch Bridge complete the view.

The new modern structure was erected on the site. Here you can see exhibits about the history of Minneapolis and the flour milling process. Interactive exhibits in the water lab allow you to experience the force of water and how it was used to mill the flour. Displays illustrate how different cultures used flour in similar but unique ways.

Ride the elevator in the Flour Tower up and down the eight floors of the mill where recreated scenes, films, sounds and narration by actual mill workers will make you feel as though you are part of the production line. Sound effects and smoke recreate the mighty blast of  1878  caused by the ignition of volatile flour dust.

As you disembark from the elevator, your nose will twitch at the aroma of freshly baked bread that wafts from the Baking lab where you can have free samples of whatever has just come out of the oven. This is, after all, the home of Betty Crocker, created in 1921.

Flour built the great city of Minneapolis so it is only fitting that the city pay tribute to the Great Mill.

IF YOU GO
The Mill Museum is located in downtown Minneapolis on the banks of the Mississippi River overlooking St. Anthony’s Falls (704 South 2nd St, Minneapolis; 612-341-7555; Open Tuesday through Saturday 1000 to 1700 and Sunday 1200 to 1700.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Diana Russler