We love kid-friendly museums and were happy to discover
Mill City Museum in Minneapolis. The museum is built in the ruins of Washburn A Mill, part of the group that would be eventually known as General Mills. The first building was constructed in 1874, but an 1878 explosion destroyed it. Washburn A was rebuilt in 1880. The mill became part of General Mills in 1928 and stayed open until 1965. A fire gutted the abandoned building in 1991. In 2003 the museum opened.
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Mill City Museum entrance |
After a quick snack in the cafe (we walked the mile or two from our hotel and had worked up an appetite), we explored the exhibits. The first room was the Rail Corridor with a boxcar from back in 1879. This part of the building was where flour was loaded for shipment across the country.
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Rail car 1320 |
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Barrels inside the car |
The museum gallery had all sorts of advertisements from the history of the company.
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Dough boy stuff |
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Make your baby healthy! |
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Malto-Meal sounds lame, but what about Cheerios? |
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Book tie-in, not movie tie-in |
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The many faces of Betty Crocker! |
Some of the activities were interactive. My youngest and I designed cereal box covers with reusable stickers.
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Making an attractive cover |
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Our brands |
A lady was at another station teaching us how wheat was ground into flour, including the various grades of flour (from coarse to fine). My son even ground some!
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A personal grinder |
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Working on his own |
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Sifting the ground wheat |
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My turn! |
The Flour Tower was an elevator ride to the top of the eight-story mill. Along the way, the elevator stopped and riders heard and saw some of the history of this mill and milling in Minneapolis.
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Equipment on the way |
The ride ended at the top with an observation deck overlooking the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls. There's also a view down to the Ruin Courtyard, which hosts concerts in July and August.
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Two happy boys |
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The mill ruin courtyard |
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View of the observation deck |
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View from the observation deck |
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Looking a little more to the south |
The museum had a water lab with some wet and fun experiments. One table had visitors blocking a column of water to see how water pressure can build up.
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Under pressure |
Another table demonstrated how the local mills used water power. Lots of different mills (including logging mills) used the might Mississippi to power their plants.
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Water power demo |
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Placing mills along the river |
The museum had a lot of vintage furnishings from the time, including this stove.
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Coal-powered stove |
The Baking Lab had visitors see how the flour was used in cooking. They also offered samples of baked goods, so naturally I didn't take any pictures since it was hard enough choosing which was the best piece of cake to take.
We enjoyed the museum and recommend it to visitors.
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