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Photo, Print, Drawing Pillsbury Milling Complex, Pillsbury "A" Mill, 116 Third Avenue/301 Main Street, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

View 22 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS MN-29-5-A  ]

More Resources

View 24 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS MN-29-5-A  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS MN-29-5-A  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS MN-29-5-A  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Pillsbury Milling Complex, Pillsbury "A" Mill, 116 Third Avenue/301 Main Street, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Buffington, LeRoy S.
  • C. A. Pillsbury & Company
  • McMullen, George
  • St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company
  • Steele, Franklin
  • Minneapolis Mill Company
  • Hill, James J.
  • Pillsbury, Charles A.
  • Northern States Power Company
  • Pillsbury Flour Mills Company
  • Great Northern Railway
  • Stilwell and Bierce
  • James Leffel & Company
  • Fish, F. B.
  • Wiegand, Charles
  • Miller, James
  • University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, sponsor
  • State Historic Preservation Office, Minnesota Historical Society, sponsor
  • Dunwaddie, Foster W., project manager
  • Sabongi, F. J., historian
  • Shilts, Robert, historian
  • University of Minnesota, School of Architecture, photographer
  • Mead & Hunt, Inc., contractor
  • Goodson, Heather, historian
  • Frame, Robert M., III, historian
  • Ortiz, Melinda, historian
  • Nelson, Brent, engineer
  • Leagjeld, Eric, engineer
  • CNA Consulting Engineers, contractor
  • Gronholvd, Amanda, archaeologist
  • Tumberg, Tim, archaeologist
  • 10,000 Lakes Archaeology, contractor
  • Dorr, William G., historian
  • Maine, M. F., photographer
  • Lowe, Jet, photographer
  • Lavoie, Catherine C., historian
  • Jacobson, David L., field team supervisor
  • Jacobson, N. S., field team
  • Van Booskirk, J. H., field team
  • Wessel, H. J., field team
  • Madrid, Chris, transmitter
  • Pratt, Daniel R., photographer
  • Hess, Roise and Company, contractor
  • McDonald & Mack Architects, contractor
  • Roise, Charlene, historian
  • Gales, Elizabeth, historian
  • Mathiason, Jerry, photographer
  • Van Gessel, Amy, delineator
  • Grover, Todd, delineator
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  mills
  • -  flour mills
  • -  tunnels
  • -  hydraulic turbines
  • -  intakes
  • -  forebays
  • -  tailraces
  • -  flour & meal industry
  • -  food industry
  • -  water power
  • -  Minnesota--Hennepin County--Minneapolis

Latitude / Longitude

  • 44.983823,-93.252968

Notes

  • -  Significance: This mill is the most imposing structure on Main Street. Still operative, the mill more than any other building symbolizes the role of Minneapolis as a major U.S. Flour Milling Center from 1880-1930. The Pillsbury "A" Mill was the largest, most advanced mill in the world at the time of its completion in 1881. It was a masterpiece of industrial design from which a standard of all other mills of its time were measured. The production from this mill made Pillsbury the undisputed leader in the flour milling industry. The waterpower of Saint Anthony Falls drew C. A. Pillsbury and Company to the east bank of the Mississippi, where it opened its flagship "A" Mill in 1881. The mill played a key role in making Minneapolis the flour-milling center of the United States from the late nineteenth century into the 1920s, when the industry shifted to eastern states due to changes in rail rate regulations. The unreliability of the river's flow led the "A" Mill's management to supplement waterpower with steam early on, but the mill continued to use waterpower until a bulkhead sealed the intake in the mid-1950s.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-3
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2054
  • -  Survey number: HABS MN-29-5-A
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1880- 1882 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1912 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1913 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1955 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 2015 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1992 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1901 Demolished
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000402

Medium

  • Photo(s): 52
  • Measured Drawing(s): 24
  • Data Page(s): 113
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 6

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS MINN,27-MINAP,3-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • mn0034

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS MINN,27-MINAP,3-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
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  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
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      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Leroy S Buffington, C. A. Pillsbury & Company, George McMullen, St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, Franklin Steele, Minneapolis Mill Company, et al., University Of Minnesota, School Of Architecture, M. F Maine, Jet Lowe, Daniel R Pratt, and Jerry Mathiason, photographer. Pillsbury Milling Complex, Pillsbury "A" Mill, 116 Third Avenue/301 Main Street, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN. Hennepin County Minnesota Minneapolis, 1933. translateds by Madrid, Chrismitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/mn0034/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Buffington, L. S., C. A. Pillsbury & Company, McMullen, G., St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, Steele, F. [...] Grover, T., University Of Minnesota, S. O. A., Maine, M. F., Lowe, J., Pratt, D. R. & Mathiason, J., photographer. (1933) Pillsbury Milling Complex, Pillsbury "A" Mill, 116 Third Avenue/301 Main Street, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN. Hennepin County Minnesota Minneapolis, 1933. Madrid, C. & McPartland, M., transs Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/mn0034/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by University Of Minnesota, School Of Architecture, et al. Pillsbury Milling Complex, Pillsbury "A" Mill, 116 Third Avenue/301 Main Street, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN. trans by Madrid, Chrismitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/mn0034/>.