St. Anthony Falls Real Estate
Location- The community of St. Anthony is on the east side of the Mississippi River near St. Anthony Falls. However, St. Anthony Falls is located in Minneapolis between the Stone Arch Bridge and the Third Avenue Bridge in Hennepin County. |
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History- Known to the Dakota as MI-NI-RORA (curling waters) and Kadaicha (the severed rock) to the Ojibwa, St. Anthony Falls possessed religious significance for Native American tribes. Father Louis Hennepin was the first white person to encounter the waterfall and to give it it’s current name in 1680. During the 1700 and 1800s, explorers and settlers came to the region to view the falls. Entrepreneurs built lumber and flour mills to take advantage of the available water power. They created a dam, which in-turn supplied the mills with water. These dams eventually caused erosion by exposing the rock to freezing and thawing. The Falls suffered severe damage in October of 1869 when William Eastman and John Merriam bought Nicollet Island. They began excavating a tunnel through the sandstone near the waterfall - by doing this, the waterfall weakened. With the waterfall weakening it’s support, the falls broke through the limestone bed and into the Eastman Tunnel. The break was plugged with lumber, but soon another hold appeared. Although attempts were made at repairing the damaged areas, progressive deterioration of St. Anthony Falls continued. The Army Corps of Engineers built a dike, a timber apron, and two more dams to preserve the falls in 1876, then three years later more destruction was done to St. Anthony Falls due to logging companies running four and a half million feet of logs down the waterfalls, which damaged the reconstructed dike and apron. The Army Corps of Engineers withdrew their involvement from the falls in 1887. It wasn’t until 1937 when the Corps improved the falls and is to this day operating the northernmost lock and dam at St. Anthony Falls.
Recreation- St. Anthony Falls has a Milling Museum where the public can visit to learn more about the falls and it’s history. This year's Summer Music Series is celebrating their 22nd year outdoors at the Historic St. Anthony Main riverfront along the Mississippi River. This is a fun annual event for the whole family to enjoy.