St. Anthony Falls and The Flour Capital: Story and Facts

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St. Anthony Falls and the Flour Capital is a Minnesota story with a documented core at Mill City Museum and the Stone Arch Bridge, Minneapolis, Hennepin County. The sources are named below.

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Twin CitiesRegion
Nov 1Checked, 2026

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A story with a documented core.

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St. Anthony Falls and The Flour Capital

People say Minneapolis once ground more flour than any city on Earth, and the waterfall that powered it is still there. A railroad king's stone bridge crosses the river just below it.

What The Record Shows

The Mill City Museum, run by the Minnesota Historical Society at 704 South 2nd Street, is built into the ruins of what the museum calls the world's largest flour mill. Its timeline says the first Washburn A Mill opened in 1874 and a second in 1880, and that an 1878 explosion killed 18 workers. Minneapolis led the nation in flour production from 1880 to 1930, with a peak year of 1916. James J. Hill's Stone Arch Bridge opened in 1883, last carried passenger trains in 1978, and reopened for bicycles and pedestrians in 1994. The Museum opened in 2003. The National Park Service says the falls formed about 10,000 years ago, powered many lumber and flour mills, and suffered severe damage from 1860 to 1887 from overuse and poor engineering, before Army Corps stabilizing work in 1937.

Sources: Timeline (Mill City Museum, Minnesota Historical Society); Mill City Museum (Minnesota Historical Society); St. Anthony Falls (National Park Service, Mississippi NRRA).

A Note

The 1878 mill explosion killed 18 workers. Not confirmed: current bridge access, so check before you visit. We do not repeat the claim that these are the only falls on the Mississippi.

Its home: Mill City Museum. Official page.

On this site: Historic Sites, National Historic Landmarks, Twin Cities Events.

Looked for and Not Found

An 1869 tunnel collapse on a federal page

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the story of St. Anthony Falls and the Flour Capital true?

The Mill City Museum, run by the Minnesota Historical Society at 704 South 2nd Street, is built into the ruins of what the museum calls the world's largest flour mill.

Is this a legend?

It is a story with a documented core. The facts are listed on this page with their sources.

Where do these facts come from?

From the named sources listed on this page: Timeline (Mill City Museum, Minnesota Historical Society); Mill City Museum (Minnesota Historical Society); St. Anthony Falls (National Park Service, Mississippi NRRA).

Sources

Read on November 1, 2026. Stories are for fun; the facts come from these sources. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? tell us.

Cite this page: It's Minnesota, “St. Anthony Falls and The Flour Capital”, itsminnesota.com/legends/st-anthony-falls-mill-city/ (updated 2026-11-01). By the It's Minnesota editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.