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Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in southeastern Minnesota. The seat of Hennepin County, the city is located by the Falls of Saint Anthony, at the head of navigation of the Mississippi River. It is the largest city in Minnesota and one of the largest cities in the upper Midwest, and, with the adjacent city of Saint Paul to the east, dominates the economic and cultural life of this extensive region. Minneapolis and Saint Paul are known as the Twin Cities.
Economy
Minneapolis is the center of one of the richest agricultural areas of the United States and is a regional hub of transportation, commerce, and finance. Leading industries include medical-instrument manufacturing; medical research; processing of food and dairy products; printing and publishing; and the manufacture of machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, metal and paper products, precision instruments, and transport machinery. It is a rail and highway hub; Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is located south of the city.
The area now occupied by Minneapolis was inhabited by the Sioux when the Franciscan missionary Louis Hennepin visited in 1680 and named the Falls of Saint Anthony. In 1820 Fort Snelling was built at the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, to pave the way for settlers moving west. The area west of the Mississippi was opened for legal settlement in 1855. Minneapolis was incorporated as a village in 1856 and as a city in 1867. Its name is derived from the Sioux minne, meaning "water," a reference to the numerous lakes and streams of the area, and the Greek polis, meaning "city." Saint Anthony, a community on the east side of the river, was chartered as a village in 1855 and as a city in 1860. In 1872 it became part of Minneapolis.
Early growth in Minneapolis was promoted by lumbering in the region's hardwood forests. Later, wheat from the western Minnesota prairies and lumber from the pine and fir forests of northeast Minnesota sustained the economic boom. German and Scandinavian immigrants account for the city's increased population during this period. Lumber production peaked in 1899 and disappeared by 1920 with the exhaustion of forest reserves. By 1870 Minneapolis was one of the nation's leading flour producers, with a dozen mills operating at the falls. Flour milling peaked in 1915, then waned as milling companies became diversified food manufacturers. Minneapolis, however, remains a leading grain market. The American Indian Movement (AIM) was organized in Minneapolis in 1968 with the original purpose of providing assistance to the city's Native American population. An aggressive plan of construction and development transformed much of the downtown area in the 1990s. |
