Saint Anthony Main

Back in 1837, a man named Franklin Steele settled a large chunk of land at the east end of the Falls Of Saint Anthony. Steele then went back East to raise investors to take advantage of the great water power resources at the falls. It was a slow process. After 10 years of drumming up interest, he finally commissioned Ard Godfrey to build the first commercial water powered lumber mill at the falls. It was built on a small dam in the East Channel immediately north of where the 3rd Avenue Bridge is today. Money was tight and to complete it, Steele had to make Godfrey a partner in the mill as payment to complete the mill.

For Steele, this was a sign of things to come. He had great faith that the Falls of Saint Anthony would come to rival the water powered industrial centers back East like Lowell and Amhearst, Massachusetts. He was right, but by the time it happened, he was a minor player, even though he once owned most of the land between Nicollet Island and the University of Minnesota.

Steele had big plans for this area. He named it Saint Anthony after the falls, platted it, incorporated it as a town with the territorial legislature and even served as its first mayor. Unfortunately, due to having skittish investors back East, he ended up defaulting on several loans which eventually separated the water power rights of many parcels of land from the land rights. This ended up in the courts and it can be taken as a bad sign that most of the buildings along Main Street once housed lawyer's offices.

Because of the legal entanglements, most new investments went across the river where the land was freshly opened after 1851. The city across the river grew rapidly and after 1855 it was larger than Saint Anthony. Eventually, the city officials realized that these cities should be one and in 1872 Minneapolis annexed Saint Anthony.

This area was still to suffer another blow to progress. While digging a canal for this side of the river's future water powered industries, a natural cave was struck. Not having the finances or technology to fix the breach, the tunnel project was abandoned until the early 1880s. This stymied growth even further on the east side and it wasn't until the Pillsbury "A" Mill was built did the canal get finished.

This area continued to be heavily industrial over the years sporting a mattress factory, iron works, a windmill factory, an ice cream factory, and various other industries. In the mid 1970s, a developer named Peter Hall refurbished Pracna, a longtime tavern built in 1890. The renovation was a success and in the mid-'80s an entertainment complex and several high-rise apartments and condominiums were built. The project was scaled back in the early 1990s as many people found their entertainment at the newly built Mall of America, but Saint Anthony Main and Riverplace still supply nice office spaces for doctors, lawyers, architects and various other office-based companies. There's still a movie theater there and quite a few excellent restaurants.

This place virtually drips with history and the Minnesota Historical Society has an office right on Main Street. Check out the Minnesota Historical Society's Saint Anthony Main Office. The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices is located here as well. One of the main stops on the Minneapolis River City Trolley is located right out in front of the MHS's offices. One can also see the outside of the Pillsbury "A" Mill, the Ard Godfrey House and the beautiful Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic Church all within a short walk.