Washburn A Mill

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The Washburn A Mill complex in Minneapolis , Minnesota . The blue structure is the canopy of the new Guthrie Theater . The two buildings on the right are historic but have been converted for residential use.

The Washburn A Mill was the second largest flour mill in Minneapolis , Minnesota and was built in 1874 by Cadwallader C. Washburn . The mill building complex was destroyed in an explosion in 1878 that killed 18 people.

The mill was rebuilt later and was in operation until 1965. It was later closed but now functions as a historical museum of the local milling industry known as the Mill City Museum . The complex was inscribed in May 1983 as a Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places and at the same time received the status of a National Historic Landmark . In addition, the building complex is Contributing Property of the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District , which was formed in March 1971.

Mill Ruins Park is right in front of the building complex .

history

At the height of its production, the mill could grind enough flour to bake twelve million loaves of bread a day. An advertisement from the 1870s advertised, “Forty-one Runs of Stone. Capacity, 1,200 barrels per day. This is the large 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 degree of Family Flour in this country. " Advertisers exaggeration admitted outside the mill actually, together with the Pillsbury A Mill and other flour mills powered by the Saint Anthony Falls contributed to the development of the city of Minneapolis.

On May 2, 1878, a spark ignited the flour dust in the air inside the mill. The resulting explosion destroyed the seven-story building and two other neighboring mills. The subsequent fire spread to the surrounding business district and affected it. Fourteen Washburn workers were killed and four more in neighboring buildings. As the "Great Milling Disaster" , the explosion made headlines across the country and was the starting point for reforms in the milling industry. To prevent future flour dust explosions, ventilation systems and other preventive measures were installed in mills throughout the country.

Stereograph - representation of the accident from 1878.

By 1880 Washburn had rebuilt the A-Mill as the largest flour mill in the world, until the Pillsbury A Mill was built across the river the following year. Washburn later teamed up with John Crosby to jointly found the Washburn-Crosby Company, which later became General Mills .

After World War II , flour production in Minneapolis began to stagnate because milling technology was no longer dependent on hydropower . Other cities, such as Buffalo , New York , became more important in the flour industry. Later in the company's history, General Mills shifted its product focus more to the production of breakfast cereals and baking mixes and moved away from flour production. However, since the Washburn A Mill was only designed for the production of white flour, it could not withstand the demand for whole wheat flour and other products. For this reason, the mill was closed in 1965, along with eight other of the oldest mills operated by General Mills, and remained unused. In 1991 the old mill was almost completely destroyed by a fire, but during the late 1990s the city administration stabilized the ruins.

The Minnesota Historical Society now operates the Mill City Museum within the building complex. The museum has an exhibition on the history of milling, examples of the machines used to grind wheat grains into flour, and the professions that were practiced on the mill's eight floors.

On the roof of the adjoining wheat silo, the neon sign "Gold Medal Flour" lights up at night and opposite, on the other bank of the river, on the Pillsbury A Mill, the former competitor, there is a sign saying "Pillsbury's Best Flour" .

swell

  • Mill City Museum . Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved May 13, 2006.
  • Don L. Hofsommer: Minneapolis and the Age of Railways . University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN 2005, ISBN 0-8166-4501-9 .

Individual proof

  1. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Minnesota. National Park Service , accessed August 16, 2019.
  2. ^ St. Anthony Falls Historic District on the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed October 25, 2019.
  3. ↑ Falls of St. Anthony . In: A History of Minneapolis . Minnesota Public Library. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2007.

Coordinates: 44 ° 58 ′ 45.2 "  N , 93 ° 15 ′ 25.2"  W.