Photo courtesy of John Cross / Minnesota Historical Society
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The museum itself is a piece of history, located in the ruins of the Washburn A Mill on the banks of the Mississippi next to St. Anthony Falls.
From 1880 to 1930, Minneapolis was the flour milling capital of the world. But that story — and the building that currently houses it — was almost lost.
“The mill shut down in 1965 and it sat mostly empty for the years after that. In the winter of 1991, the mill was destroyed — or nearly destroyed — by a massive fire,” Stevens told WCCO after last year’s nomination. “Could have been the end of the building, but civic leaders and the head of the historical society decided to save what was left of the mill, preserve it as a ruin, then create a new museum within the shell of the old.”
Today, visitors of all ages can learn about the history of flour, food production and Minneapolis.
