Pillsbury A Mill

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Pillsbury 2006

The Pillsbury A Mill , near the Saint Anthony Falls on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis , Minnesota situated, was for more than forty years, the largest flour mill in the world. Completed in 1881, owned by Pillsbury , it operated two of the most powerful direct drive mill wheels ever built. Each had an output of 895 kW (1200 horsepower ). The mill still stands on the east bank of the Mississippi River, but ceased operations in 2003.

history

In 1879, after five years of secret planning, Charles Alfred Pillsbury announced in public that he would build the largest, most advanced mill the world has ever seen. He had traveled to mills all over the world looking for the best techniques for grinding grain on a large scale. Contrary to the customs of the time, he wanted the mill to be designed by an architect so that the building was also an appealing sight. An architect by the name of LeRoy S. Buffington carried out the design. Construction began by contractor George McMullen in 1880 and was completed in 1881. The mill was designed to produce 5000 barrels a day - at that time a mill with a capacity of 500 barrels was considered large - and therefore attracted a lot of attention. For several years the mill was not fully used and was partly used as a warehouse or for other purposes

Pillsbury around 1900.

Because of the vibrations from the grinding machines and poor construction, parts of the building had to be reinforced in 1905 and some sections were even rebuilt. Unlike a few other similar sized mills in the neighborhood - the most famous being the Washburn A Mill explosion - Pillsbury A Mill never caught fire and that's why the original wooden framework still stands today.

Over the years the output of the mill has increased, also because of the technological advances in the milling industry. Other large mills were built and the luster that once surrounded Pillsbury A disappeared.

The building has been a National Historic Landmark since November 1966 and is on the National Register of Historic Places ; it is now one of the Contributing Properties in the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District .

Pillsbury A Mill's floor plan is a rectangular building measuring 53 m by 35 m. The foundation is made of Platteville limestone. The outer walls vary in thickness, ranging from 2.4 m in the basement to 0.6 m on the roof of the building. The outer walls are load-bearing stone walls that are reinforced on the inside with heavy beams (the beams were only added after the building was completed). There are six chimneys on the roof. The roof is flat and covered with gravel.

When the mill was still in operation, each of the seven floors and the basement served a specific purpose. A transformer system, water inlets and electrical systems were housed in the basement. There was a small floor-mounted strainer on the first floor, as well as a larger one that hung from the ceiling and a pressure vessel. There were conveyor belts and a canteen on the second floor. The third floor was equipped with additional conveyor belts and bins. On the fourth floor there were dust collectors, centrifugal machines, rotary valves, grinding stones, boiler stones and a packaging store. In the fifth, sieves, separators and a centrifugal machine were installed. Containers for the flour were located on the sixth floor. There was an electrical room on the seventh floor.

Recently, the mill area has slowly been converted into studios and apartments for artists. In 1997 the A-mill came up for discussion because an artist died of methane poisoning in a studio connected to the mill . The mill is occasionally treated with methane bromide to kill bacteria. Before bromomethane became common, cyanide was used in fumigation to disinfect mills, which later became illegal. Mills with timber frame constructions must be fumigated to prevent bacteria from settling in the wood.

Future of the mill

From 2003 production in the mill was stopped and the building was empty. Therefore there are plans to completely redesign the complex. The project, called East Bank Mills, includes a loft apartment complex with 759 to 1095 units. The 32,000 m 2 large project concerns two and a half blocks in the center of Minneapolis and will add new buildings with a commercially used area of about 9750 square meters. Some of the adjacent grain silos are to be demolished as part of the project. Parking spaces for the complex are to be created between the buildings and underground. The 300 million US dollar comprehensive project combines the idea of a development of the site by including the historic sites with six new buildings.

literature

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, University of Minnesota School of Architecture: HABS MINN, 27-MINAP, 3- . 1934-1989. Retrieved May 3, 2007.

See also

Commons : Pillsbury A Mill  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Shannon M. Pennefeather (Ed.): Mill City. A Visual History of the Minneapolis Mill District. Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul MN 2003, ISBN 0-87351-446-7 .
  2. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Minnesota. National Park Service , accessed August 16, 2019.
  3. ^ J. Carlson, (1998) City works to ensure safer fumigant use ( Memento of May 10, 2001 in the Internet Archive ). The Minnesota Daily , March 3, 1998. Retrieved May 3, 2007
  4. ^ Pillsbury . Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 6, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kjerickson.org
  5. ^ East Bank Mills website .
  6. ↑ a b City of Minneapolis, Pillsbury "A" Mill Complex Project, http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/PLANNING/a-mill.asp
  7. ^ A b Cuningham Group, Pillsbury "A" Mill Master Plan, Project Description ( Memento of July 1, 2004 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Coordinates: 44 ° 59 ′ 2 ″  N , 93 ° 15 ′ 10 ″  W.