Falling For The Falls
A blog update from producer Bob Dambach
May 22, 2009
Videographer Dave Geck stands too close to the edge to get a shot of St. Anthony Falls
On our Minneapolis trip, when we weren’t with the Lange family we broke up into two crews and tried to get as many images of the Twin Cities, mass transit and power related “stuff” as we could. One very pleasant morning Dave Geck and I ventured into the St Anthony Falls area north of downtown Minneapolis for some spectacular views. We even got to see a barge go through the locks from our vantage point on a walking bridge over the Mississippi.
Barge traffic still crosses St. Anthony Falls by lockway
Now for a little history. Saint Anthony Falls was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River.
St. Anthony Falls as it looked in the 1800s
The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway (“apron”) after it partially collapsed in 1869.
St. Anthony Falls in the early 1900s
Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, a series of locks and dams were constructed to extend navigation to points upstream. The falls is the birthplace of the former city of St. Anthony. St Anthony joined with Minneapolis in 1872 to fully utilize its economic power for milling operations.
Many flour mills were built on the shores of the Mississippi River on both banks of St Anthony Falls
From 1880 to about 1930, Minneapolis was the “Flour Milling Capital of the World.
The old mills have been converted to condos and offices. One now houses the Mill City Museum
Next time you’re in the area save a little time to take in the falls and the Mississippi River.
Visitors to St. Anthony Falls can tour the historic sites by foot, bike, bus or Segway
More to See
- The Cast of Characters
- Our Family Had Fun
- It’s A Tough Job But Someone Has To Do It
- Falling For The Falls
- Leaving on a Jet Plane…
- Hot Marble
- Meet the Sharma Family
- Song of India
- Closing Thoughts On India
- Update from Africa
- Winging Our Way to Cameroon
- The Amin Family
- The Anumendem Family (I think)
- My Favorite (and not so favorite) Things…
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