Minneapolis
City in southeastern Minnesota, USA, 13 km/8 mi from St Paul, with which it forms the ‘Twin Cities’ area; seat of Hennepin County; population (2000 est) 382,600; metropolitan area (1992) 2,618,000. It is at the head of navigation of the Mississippi River, and is the centre of one of the richest agricultural areas in the USA. Industries include food processing and the manufacture of machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, precision instruments, transport machinery, and metal and paper products. Cray computers – used for long-range weather forecasting, spacecraft design, and code-breaking – are built here.
History
Minneapolis was incorporated as a village in 1856 and as a city in 1867. It is situated on the upper Mississippi, where its point of growth was the Falls of St Anthony. These falls provided water power and made the settlement an important milling centre for grain and lumber. The first European exploration of the area dates from 1680, and the first mill towns were incorporated as St Anthony (on the east bank) in 1855 and Minneapolis (on the west) in 1856. By 1870 Minneapolis was the leading flour producer in the USA. Although the lumber mills largely disappeared with the end of the lumber boom of the 1880s, the grain mills remain, and the city has developed a wide range of other products.
Features Minneapolis has an arts institute, a symphony orchestra, and the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre. Shopping areas of the city centre are glass-covered against the cold and snow of winter. There are 104 entries on the national register of historic places including bridges, churches, and the county courthouse. |
| Minneapolis is the seat of several colleges including the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota (re-founded in 1867), Augsburg College (1869), and Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1886). The US democratic politician and presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey was born in Minneapolis. |
