Historic Resources

Publications Tell Flour Power Story

The Minnesota Historical Society Press offers books about the flour milling industry and its impact on Minneapolis and the region. These books are available at shop.mnhs.org, Mill City Museum or at area bookstores.

Mill City: A Visual History of the Minneapolis Mill District
Mill City provides dramatic first-person narratives and historic photographs that bring to life the history of the Minneapolis riverfront, its industries and its people ($29.95 cloth; $15.95 paperback).

Mill City: A Postcard Book
A collectable book of 30 black-and-white tear-out postcards featuring historic photographs of the Mill District ($9.95).

Selling the Mill City: A Postcard Book
Mills found themselves in fierce marketing battles to win consumers over with their various flour brands. This book features 30 black-and-white tear-out postcards of historic images of advertising art from the mills in the Mill District ($9.95).

Other Publications
Addtional books from MHS Press that help tell the story of the Mill District and the history of Minneapolis include: The Falls of St. Anthony: The Waterfall that Built Minneapolis ($12.95); Lost Twin Cities ($29.95); and Twin Cities Then & Now ($24.95).

Minnesota History Magazine
The Spring/Summer 2003 issue of Minnesota History featured a variety of articles from experts and historians on the subject of the mills and the beginnings of Minneapolis.

• “The Significance of Flour Milling at Saint Anthony Falls,” written by David Danbom of North Dakota State University, explores the ties Minneapolis milling had with the globalization of the United Sates economy.
• Annette Atkins of St. John’s University published an article titled “At Home in the Heart of the City.” This account features the changing neighborhood and residents of the milling district throughout the years.
• John Anfinson of the National Park Service writes “Chaotic Majesty: The Falls of St. Anthony,” which focuses on early accounts of the natural river through human-engineered changes.
• “Archaeology on the Minneapolis Riverfront: Finding the Invisible Historic Sites at St. Anthony Falls,” written by the Society’s Scott Anfinson, concentrates on the history of archaeology at the Washburn A Mill site.
• Advances in advertising, branding, selling and creating demand for named flours is featured in an article written by the Society’s Kate Roberts and Barbara Caron titled “To the Markets of the World: Advertising in the Mill City, 1880-1930.”

This issue can be purchased at Mill City Museum or online.

The Minnesota History web site has more information about other issues of Minnesota History.