Minnesota is a State of the US Confederacy. Explored by the French, in 1763 it was divided between the English and the Spanish. In 1803 it passed under the United States and sided with the North in the civil war. After quelling the revolt of the indigenous population, immigration in the last decades of the century gave a significant increase to the cultivation of wheat and related industries, starting a growth that is still significant today.
Minneapolis
The most populous city in the state of Minnesota (United States), the 15th in the union in decreasing order of population, capital of Hennepin County; it arose on both banks of the Mississippi, where the presence of an island (Nicollet Island) made it easier to pass, near the falls of S. Antonio, in contact with St Paul, with which the city forms a single agglomeration urban. The two cities arise: St Paul at the beginning of navigation on the Mississippi with the network of numerous tributaries; Minneapolis at the point where the river is most easily crossed and can provide abundant water energy for natural reasons.
The city has a typically continental climate: annual average of 7 ° -8 °; cold winters with −8 °; hot summers (21 ° -22 °); the differences between absolute minimums and maximums are enormous (−30 °; + 40 °); rainfall around 700 mm. (40% in summer; 9% in winter); abundant snow (1000 mm. per year).
The demographic increase is very remarkable; in 1860 the center had 2564 inhabitants; in 1880 46,887; in 1900 202,718; in 1910 301,408; in 1920 380,582; in 1930 464,356. Part of the increase is due to the annexation of neighboring towns. In 1930 the ethnic composition was as follows: whites born to indigenous parents 194,704 (41.9%); whites born to partially and totally foreign parents 183,941 (39.6%); whites born abroad 80,834 (17.4%); 4877 color elements (1.1%). Of the 80,834 whites born abroad, the most represented nationalities were the Swedish (24,866 individuals); the Norwegian (15,492); the German (5969); the Polish (4555), etc. The Italian element is scarce (785).
According to acronymmonster, Minneapolis is a large industrial center: the workers were about 27,000 in 1909; they rise to 38,000 in 1919; there are 35,700 in 1929. The value of production in the same years was 165; 491; 361 million dollars respectively. The industrial and economic development of Minneapolis rests on geographical bases: the center rises on the Mississippi, a magnificent natural traffic route, integrated by a dense network of roads and railways; it is located in contact with three fundamental economic regions (the Great Lakes area; the spring grain growing area; the breeding area), near the aforementioned S. Antonio waterfalls, which are equipped with two dams and supply about 60,000 HP of energy.
The oldest industry in Minneapolis is lumber, largely supplied by the vast expanses of white pine in the north, easily transported on rivers, processed in the sawmills that have sprung up near the falls, and largely used by the vast treeless grasslands of the south and southwest. . The increasing production, peaked at the end of the century. XIX with about 600 million boards cut a year. Currently, despite the decline, this industry, connected with the furniture factory, employs thousands of workers. The flour industry, on the other hand, has taken on a great development, for which Minneapolis always occupies the first place in the Union, although, especially after the world war, this industry has partially moved towards the east (Great Lakes region, Buffalo). The city has 26 large factories, mostly located near the S. Antonio waterfalls with an annual production of 12 million “barrels”, surpassing the other large centers specialized in this economic activity. Consequently, even for the “elevators” (capacity of over 2 billion liters) the center holds a first-rate place. The mills employ over 2000 workers: connected with this activity is that of kilns, etc., with more than 1500 people employed.
Another very important industrial branch is that concerning flax (seeds, oil, flour), facilitated by the abundant communications and the proximity of the area of greatest production (Minnesota, North and South Dakota, eastern Montana and western Wisconsin). Another fundamental industry is that relating to the steel industry, mechanical products, publishing.
The center is of exceptional importance from the point of view of traffic and communications: on the Mississippi the harbor works, owned by the city hall, are managed by the Inland Waterwasy Corporation. Regular navigation, following the work undertaken by the US government, began in 1917. The railways belong to numerous companies. It follows that both from the financial point of view, as from the commercial and industrial point of view, Minneapolis is the main center of the NO., Having relations with numerous states such as Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Montana and partly with those of Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan.
The city is home to numerous higher education institutions: first of all the University of Minnesota founded in 1851, which since 1928 has become one of the most important universities in the United States with over 12,000 students; also Augsburg College (Lutheran), Theological Seminary, Minnesota College of Law, William Hood Dunwoody Industrial Institute, etc., the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts (1883) and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1903) make the city one of the most important centers for the arts and music. There are numerous libraries, including the University Library with 565,000 volumes, the Public Library with another 400,000 volumes.
The location of the city is excellent; a picturesque element is added by the extensive riverside with the milling skyline, with the alignment, that is, of the large mills, the surrounding natural lakes and parks. The Minnehaha Falls, celebrated by Longfellow in the poem Hiawatha, are located in one of these parks. The Minnesota River flows into the vast Mississippi Current just downstream from the city.
The Minnesota Art Institute possesses important collections of sculpture, painting and drawing, oriental art. The buildings of the University of Minnesota, designed by Gilbert Cass, cover approximately sixty-four hectares with the outbuildings. The Federal Reserve Bank is responsible for the same architect. The Walker Galleries, formerly a private collection, begun around 1875, now housed in a new building opened in 1927, contain about five hundred paintings, three hundred and fifty miniatures, selected collections of jade, amber, ivory, and a very rich series of Japanese and Chinese ceramics and porcelain., greek and shutters.
Among the statues raised in the city are those of JS Pillsbury by Daniel Chester French, and the Father of the Waters, the Mississippi, by Larkin Meade.
History. – The place was visited by the Franciscan L. Hennepin in 1805, after the annexation of Louisiana, and was part of a region taken from the Indians for a military reserve. The fort was built in 1819; in 1838, the first settlers settled there, east of the Mississippi, in front of the S. Antonio falls. As a village of St Antony, it thrived; but slowly. In 1845, the population did not surpass 200 people. Three years later, sawmills were built there. In 1849 the congress also allowed the colonization of the west bank and the village that arose was called Minneapolis. The two municipalities are developed in competition: St Antony received the municipal constitution in 1860, Minneapolis in 1867. In 1872 the two towns were united. Then the great development began.
