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Mill City Museum
The Washburn A Mill was the second biggest flour mill in the city of
Minneapolis, Minnesota, constructed in 1874 by Cadwallader C.
Washburn, but then destroyed in a mill explosion in 1878, killing 18
people. The mill was rebuilt, sometime later, and for almost half a
century, was the most technologically advanced and biggest mill in
the world; shut down eventually and then turned into a wonderful
historical museum dedicated to the local milling industry and called
the Mill City Museum. The Mill Ruins Park is out in front of the
complex, which together with the mill belong to the St. Anthony
Falls Historic District that is itself part of the larger National
Park Service's Mississippi National River and Recreation area. At
its peak, the mill could produce 2 million pounds of flour a day,
unloading more than 100 boxcars a day of wheat. One of their ads
from 1870, read, "Forty-one runs of stone. Capacity, 1200 barrels
per day. This is the largest and most complete mill in the United
States, and has not its equal in quantity and quality of machinery
for making high and uniform grades of Family Flour in this country."
Aside from all that, the mill, the Pillsbury A Mill and other flour
mills powered by St. Anthony Falls, have influenced the growth of
the city and its development. In 1878, May 2nd, a spark ignited the
flour dust inside the mill, which caused a huge explosion that
destroyed the 7 story Washburn A Mill, as well as two other nearby
mills, while the fire did its destructive work on other businesses
in the area. Fourteen mill workers died in that fire, as did four
other workers in the nearby buildings. It would become known as the
Great Mill Disaster, making national newspapers and became a focal
point that would create many great reforms in the flour industry. To
make sure that there would be no future examples of this magnitude
would occur, ventilation systems and other kinds of precautionary
devices were put into the mills located around the nation. Washburn
has rebuilt the mill by 1880, to where it was the biggest in the
world, until the Pillsbury A Mill was constructed across the river
the next year. Washburn would soon partner with John Crosby and they
would form the Washburn-Crosby Company that later became the company
known as General Mills. Sometime after WWI, the flour production
declined as the water power became less important to create the
flour, and other cities became more invested in flour production,
like Buffalo, New York. Eventually companies like General Mills
would become more interested in producing cereals and baking mixes,
rather than just flour. The Washburn A Mill produced only white
flour, and couldn't produce whole wheat, which was gaining in
popularity in the country. It was shut down in 1965, as were eight
other mills in the area, and were no longer used. In 1991, a fire
raged through the old mill and almost destroyed it, but later during
that decade, the city worked to stabilize the ruins. The Minnesota
Historical Society manages the museum inside the mill, which
showcases the history of milling and examples of the machines used
to grind the wheat into flour, as well as a tour that highlights
each job performed on every floor of the 8 floors of the mill. The
main display is where visitors are seated in the main elevator of
the flour tower, where they are taken, floor by floor, to a
recreated animatronic picture of the machinery that was used for the
production of flour, and at the finish, they are taken to an outdoor
observation platform at the top of the building where you can see
the entire complex and marvelous views of the riverfront. Next to
that tower is a grain elevator that still shines the Gold Medal
Flour sign at night; while the old competitor, Pillsbury, has a sign
on its top reading Pillsbury's Best Flour.
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