Old Government Flour Mill, erected in 1822 where Northwestern Flour Mill now stands, Minneapolis

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Artist: Benjamin Franklin Upton (American, 1818–1910)
Medium: Albumen print (printed c.1870)
Size: 6 1/16 x 8 1/4 in. (15.4 x 20.96 cm) (image)
Museum: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Rights: Public Domain Mark

This eight-part panorama provides a view of over 180 degrees, up and down the Mississippi River from what was then the town of Saint Anthony. The picture at the far right centers on a new church, now Our Lady of Lourdes located behind River Place. The next image to the left depicts most of Nicollet Island and, on the far side, the wooden suspension bridge that fed into downtown Minneapolis at Hennepin Avenue. Continuing to the left, the photographs capture Saint Anthony Falls, the milling district, and land on which the University of Minnesota would later build. To make the series, Upton set up his camera on the roof of the Winslow House, a hotel that had just opened but was demolished before the end of the nineteenth century.

Text: Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), CC BY 4.0.