Dan Antion

Achievement – #1LinerWed

You can barely see detect the curve in the stone structure. Amazing craftsmanship considering it opened in 1833.

“We got up before 7:00 am and we walked across the Mississippi River!”

That’s true. Of course I should say that both statements are true. We did get up before 7:00 am, and we did walk across the Mississippi River…around 9:00 am. I think it looks better the first way, and you know I’m not one to drag out a statement.

On the other hand – yes, I know I am one to drag out a statement, but I’m not going to today – on the other hand, I did take a lot of pictures as we walked, and I wanted to share them.

The photos in the gallery are from a walk across the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. You can read all about the bridge at (ahem) Wikipedia, but here’s a teaser:

“The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the only arched bridge made of stone on the entire length of the Mississippi River. The bridge was completed in 1883.”

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

There was a set of stairs leading down to the riverbank, but they were roped off.
That’s the I-35 highway bridge and a lot of debris in the river.
Without intervention, St. Anthony’s Falls would have worn itself into a set of rapids.
Looking onto the east side of the river.
The lock is closed to navigation because the river is above flood stage farther south. No need to bunch up ships on the river.
I love these stairs. I’m pretty sure they make the Editor a little queasy, but I’d climb them.
St. Anthony’s Falls from the center of the Stone Arch Bridge.
St. Anthony’s Falls from the center of the Stone Arch Bridge. The lock structure is on the left.
This mill structure is on the east side and illustrates the way water power used to rein supreme in this region.
Not bothered by the falls, rapids or the people nearby.
Looking south along the Mississippi.
One of the historic markers on the bridge.
The west side mills.
Part of the Mill Ruins park. these old mills were unearthed after having been covered over.
The site of a flour explosion. The remnants are now stabilized and the building houses a museum and conference center.
Excavated ruins in the park.
That’s the I-35 bridge from the parking lot of Mill Ruins Park.
Another of the historic markers.
I took this for the Editor. It’s a space I doubt she would willingly enter.

82 comments

  2. That was an amazing walk, Dan. I don’t know if I ever me tioned it but I love bridges. Especially old bridges with the railroad bridge running beside it. The mighty Mississippi can be a fickle and angry old man. I lost several young cousins in thise waters down South. What a great slice of Minneapolis history. Thanks for sharing your walk with us.

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  3. That’s a wonderfully unique thing to do. Or at least it is when you live nowhere near that cool old bridge. With an arch. And you know I have yet to see a door or window or bridge with an arch that I didn’t like!

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    • Thanks Ally. I’m with you, a stone arch bridge has everything I need, just in that description. I’m so glad they preserved this one. In many ways, it would have been easier to tear it down (they had to modify it to build the lock) but I think they understood the value of having it.

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  4. Think my comment went by way of the cyberspace elves and just disappeared. Oh well, .
    It’s a good thing they have the historic markers on the bridge. You know I like history preserved.
    What exactly causes flour to explode?

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    • Like you, I like history to be preserved and explained, so the markers are excellent.

      Flour is highly flammable when it’s in particle form. I remember a sixth grade science demonstration where the teacher put flour in a coffee can over a Bunsen burner. In the packed container, it wouldn’t burn, but when she blew through a piece of rubber tubing, the spray burned like a flame-thrower. When the flour dust from the processing in the mill got airborne, the building was at risk, as the dust can explode very easily, a single spark can set it off (which is apparently what happened).

      It was also very dangerous for the workers, just due to the exposure. There was a respiratory disease that they would get from breathing in the small particles. They ended up with a dough-like substance in their lungs.

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      • As a little bit of trivia, I read a book many years ago about chocolate production and apparently chocolate dust is similar to flour for its combustive property. Particle concentration in the air needed to be monitored and of course adequate ventilation introduced to reduce the risk.

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      • Here is a little history about that.

        Washburn “A” Mill; Minneapolis, May 2, 1878
        Washburn Flour Mill Disater

        The Washburn “A” Mill explosion of 1878 is the most infamous flour mill explosion in history. It killed 17 people, pulverized the main building, and devastated seven more. The explosion was so powerful that it broke windows as far away as St. Paul and limestone blocks from the building were thrown into yards up to eight blocks away. There was no dust catching filter in use because, although there had been several explosive incidents in Europe, no one believed that the dust could actually catch fire and explode.

        At the time of the explosion, the “A” mill was the largest flour mill in the country. The explosion served as a wakeup call for owners of other mills. This was the definitive proof they needed to start eliminating the flour dust from their operations. It led directly to the use of an 1845 invention, the dust machine, which collected dust from milled grain.

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  5. I’d love to walk across the bridge and listen to the rushing water. So soothing! Pretty photos of a pretty area, Dan. As for the stairs in your one photo, I might be with the Editor depending on the condition of the stairs.

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  6. I do like how you said it the first way. One sentence, mighty thought. Yesterday in chapter reading at school, Ma, Pa, Laura and Mary crossed The Mississippi. I will show them two of your bridge photos today, the stone bridge (which would have been 30 years old at that time) and the modern bridge. Thanks, Dan!

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    • That’s a good point about bridges, Pam. It’s a very pretty area. I think the stairs are off-limits to visitors, unless you’re visiting in a boat that has to go through the lock.

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    • Thanks Judy. We only managed the bridge – the stairs are off limits. I would have loved to have gone up the long set, but I think I’d have walked alone. I almost stepped over the barrier to take the steps down to the river, but there were way too many people around.

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  9. I see what you mean from your comment last week about difficulty getting a good picture-taking view of the bridge. It is tantalizingly there … but hidden. What is the distance of the bridge? From the train model, it looked like it was quite long – at least a couple of kilometres?

    … and you got a lock, and a waterfall / rapids, and the ruins!! omg – the ruins! I would have wanted to beeline it over there for a walkabout! To me, it’s literally buried treasure!

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    • Thanks Joanne. The ruins are/were buried treasure. They unearthed them and part of the original waterway to build the park. they have even channeled water into the old waterway for effect.

      The bridge is 2,100 feet (just under half a mile, maybe .8k) – it’s a leisurely stroll but you ave to be prepared to stop for pictures. It’s part of a much larger trail in the area, so I think you could make a nice adventure around there. I think I’ll get back, maybe with time to explore one of the banks.

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    • Thanks Shelly. It’s such a pretty area. I don’t imagine I’d be all that interested in being there in the winter, though. When I realized that I had gotten closer than ever to one line, I figured I could add a little history. I guess there’s no hope for me.

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  13. No kidding–a flour explosion?! I read your comment about that…I had no idea. The river water looks pretty raging. I’m with the other who would loved to have heard that water wooshing by. Great photos, Dan.

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  17. The Stone Arch Bridge is a real eye catcher. I love the photo where you have to look really hard to see it through the trees. And the ruins of the mills, so sad but great shots. Those flour mills were accidents waiting to happen.

    I laughed out loud at that little guy, perched on his log, just floating along without a care in the world! We could all take a lesson from him!

    And I’ll sit it out with The Editor when it comes to those stairs! No way, no how.
    🔹 Ginger 🔹

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    • Thanks Ginger. Maddie doesn’t like stairs either. I guess I’m climbing alone.

      The bridge is beautiful. I hope to visit again, to walk downstream a bit. I’d go past the ruins, read a few more historic markers 🙂

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  21. Your pics tell all. I would like to see this river – it’s impressive – the size of it, the flow, the dam, and what’s on its banks.Thanks for showing what I probably otherwise never would see in person!
    Whoa, what a feat, I made it here on Wednesday!

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    • Thanks Jesh. The Mississippi is an amazing river. This spot is pretty far north. It gets wider and stronger as it rolls south to the Gulf.

      I grew up in Pittsburgh, where the Allegheny and Monongahela join to form the Ohio, which is the largest tributary (by volume) to the Mississippi – so, still a tributary.

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    • They had no real way of knowing what the future load would be in 1833. Rail service had just begun. If it’s anything like the ones around here, it was overbuilt by orders of magnitude and will likely last forever with minimal care.

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    • One of the ironic aspects of business travel is that the early morning hours are often the only times I can do any exploring. That’s when I first found the bridge (on a trip in October) and that’s why I wanted to go back. It is a great time to experience the city.

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  25. My daughter and I took a trip to Minneapolis last July and loved it! These pictures bring wonderful memories of that trip. We stood and looked at those same views .

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  27. Nice bridge, Dan. I’ve only crossed the Mississippi by car between Wisconsin and Minnesota and I do it twice every summer…once going west and once coming back home. Such a wide river! For me, an unusual one-liner would be “I woke up after 7 am.” Can’t remember the last time that happened. :-)

    janet

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    • Thanks Janet. I am usually up by 6:00 (5:00 on a work day) but I was on vacation.

      I’ve driven across the Mississippi a few times, and you’re right – big river! This was a chance to do something I might not get another opportunity to do. My brother is a history nut (retired history teacher) so he was all for this.

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  29. Hello (from Paris – France)
    The walk / visit was very interesting.
    To understand better, I use a translator
    to understand and write because my English is basic …
    The Mississippi River is a river that has a lot of strength and I enjoyed seeing the ruins of this ensemble with the museum

    I like coming to blogs in other countries than mine, so I have the opportunity to see other landscapes and things I do not know.

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    • Thank you. I use the translator when I visit your blog. I’m always afraid to use it to comment, as it doesn’t seem to do a very good job with French. Maybe I’ll be a little more bold in the future.

      I’m glad you enjoyed this, and thank you for leaving a comment.

      Trying in French

      Merci, j’utilise le traducteur quand je visite votre blog, j’ai toujours peur de l’utiliser pour commenter, car il ne semble pas faire un très bon travail en français. Future.

      Je suis content que vous ayez apprécié cela, et merci d’avoir laissé un commentaire.

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  30. Great ruins!! I love stone bridges, and this one with arches is wonderful. I’ve never walked across the Mississippi, but I’d walk across that bridge, and climb the stairs with you.

    I think the falls was prettier before the bridge though. The photo of it in the top plaque it’s gorgeous with the cascading rocks, and tall fall and huge pieces of limestone in front of it.

    I didn’t know or remember that flour dust was combustible! I’ll have a new respect for flour in my kitchen while baking, and never think of flour as some benign baking/cooking ingredient.

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    • Thanks Deborah. The arches, and the fact that it curves really make this bridge special in my mind. Add to that the fact that it was built in the early 1830s and it seems a near impossible feat.

      The falls are responsible for their own diminished presence. One of the historic markers talked about the fact that they were eating away the sandstone underneath the limestone. The original falls were about 10 miles down river, and they were moving north at a rate of 4 feet per year! Some of the manmade actions aggravated that situation, until the Amry Corps of Engineers built a concrete barrier to the erosion. If they hadn’t, they say the falls would likely be a set of rapids by now.

      I always remember a demonstration in 6th grade about how flour, once airborne as dust, was extremely flammable.

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