Minneapolis History, Minnesota

The city was named “Minneapolis” after the first school master of the city (Mini means water in Dakota and polis means city in Greek). The city is also nicknamed as the “Mill City” and “City of Lakes.”

 The first and sole residents of the city were the Dakota Sioux before explorers from France arrived in the region in 1680. The United States Army built the Fort Snelling in 1819, which spurred the growth rate in the region.

In 1856, Minneapolis was authorized as a town by the Minnesota Territorial Legislature on the west bank of River Mississippi. The town of Minneapolis was then incorporated as a city in the year of 1867. It was the same year when the rail services were started between Chicago and Minneapolis, which helped in joining the city with the east bank of the city of St. Anthony.

 The city of Minneapolis grew around the Falls of Saint Anthony, which is the only waterfall of River Mississippi. History suggests that the Millers have been using hydropower since 1st century B.C. Minneapolis was even described as the “the greatest direct drive water power center ever seen by the world.’ The forests located in the northern Minnesota in early years were the source of the lumber industry operating nearly seventeen sawmills.

The industry ran on power generated from the waterfall.  The west bank of the river had 23 businesses by 1871, which included woollen mills, flour mills, railroad machine shop, iron works, planning wood, paper and cotton. Minneapolis was recorded to deliver nearly 10% of the country’s grist and flour by 1905. By 1886, the city of Minneapolis made some dramatic changes which helped in rectifying the prevailing discrimination.

Martha Ripley founded a Maternity Hospital in 1866, which helped both unmarried and married mothers. The city saw a demolition of nearly two hundred buildings as a part of urban renewal during the period of 1950-1960, destroying 40% of the town.  But the city has developed rapidly since then, and has loads to offer to thousands of tourists visiting the place.

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• What to do in Minneapolis
  review by MadSuh posted more then 30 days ago
  Minneapolis is one of the places with the highest standard of living. Major companies like 3M or Northwest Airlines are headquartered in Minneapolis. Minneapolis offers some sports teams as well as some great outdoor activities not too far away. If you are into shopping, they have the Mall of...

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• Basilica of Saint Mary
  travel tip by tylerd posted more then 30 days ago
  The Basilica of Saint Mary is an imposing church in downtown Minneapolis, and the oldest Catholic parish in the city. It was built about a hundred years ago, and it is known to be an exquisite example of Beaux-Arts architecture, one of...
• Hennepin Center for the Arts
  travel tip by andra88 posted more then 30 days ago
  The Hennepin center is very interesting, and not only because of what it contains, but on the outside as well. It was built in 1888, and its original purpose was to be a masonic temple. Today, it houses several performing arts and...

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