Mill City Museum, Minneapolis

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.

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.

Rail car 1320

Barrels inside the car

The museum gallery had all sorts of advertisements from the history of the company.

Dough boy stuff

Make your baby healthy!

Malto-Meal sounds lame, but what about Cheerios?

Book tie-in, not movie tie-in

The many faces of Betty Crocker!

Some of the activities were interactive. My youngest and I designed cereal box covers with reusable stickers.

Making an attractive cover

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!

A personal grinder

Working on his own

Sifting the ground wheat

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.

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.

Two happy boys

The mill ruin courtyard

View of the observation deck

View from the observation deck

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.

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.

Water power demo

Placing mills along the river

The museum had a lot of vintage furnishings from the time, including this stove.

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.