Mill City Museum

05/21/2026

Please note that Mill City Museum is closed on Monday, 5/25 for Memorial Day.

05/15/2026

ca.1930 Sanborn Insurance map showing the density of industrial buildings that once lined both sides of Canal Street (now West River Parkway) in the Milling District along the Mississippi River. The Washburn A Mill (now Mill City Museum) is the blue-shaded building in the lower right-center.

Today, the foundations of the mill buildings along the north side of the street form the basis of Mill Ruins Park.

Historic Sanborn map from the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections.
Current map from Google satellite view.

05/01/2026

"The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts, all on a summer's day
The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts, and with them ran away..because they were baked with CERESOTA FLOUR"

Flour trade card. Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company, 1902
Hennepin County Library collections.

04/24/2026

Join us on Friday, May 1 from 6:00-8:30pm for "Pot Likker: Food, Memory, and the Art of Nourishment" with Chef Lachelle Cunningham, an "invitation to slow down, create, eat, and connect."

Info and tickets here:

This intimate, hands-on gathering brings together food, storytelling, and art to explore how everyday cooking carries memory, culture, and care.

04/16/2026

"Gold Medal Flour building at night"
1970's

The view from this vantage point looks a lot different today, with the Aloft Minneapolis boutique hotel dominating the foreground along Washington Ave, and condos and newer development replacing the railroad tracks and warehouses of the 1970's.

Source: Hennepin County Library Digital Collections (Minneapolis Community Planning & Economic Development collection)

04/02/2026

Please note that Mill City Museum will be closed, Sunday, April 5.

03/27/2026

Then & Now: West Side Water Power Canal and Trestle construction, looking east

1st Street South (now West River Parkway) was once densely packed with mills, with a water power canal running below the street and a railroad trestle rising above it. The foundation of the Holly Mill (building on immediate left) can still be seen today, and the Washburn A Mill (current home of Mill City Museum) is peeking out of the center of the historic photo.
The 1885 map shows the approximate location the photo was taken from, and some of the many mills that crowded the west bank of the Mississippi River.

Historic photo: ca. 1885, Hennepin History Museum collection
Current photo: 2106, Google Street View
Map: 1885, Sanborn Map Company, via Hennepin County Library access

03/15/2026

Mill City Museum will be closed tomorrow, March 15.

03/07/2026

We're hiring! Paid internship Are you currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student, or have graduated within the past 12 months? Then our paid summer internship may be for you. See link for more info.

jobs

03/05/2026

Women with Taste: A Celebration

Celebrate Women’s History Month at Mill City Museum with an evening full of food, stories, music and fun on March 12. The night will feature a panel discussion with influential women from the Twin Cities food scene moderated by Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl. The celebration starts at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $60/$48 MNHS Members.

Link to tickets:

Join us for this series celebrating women who have changed the way we think about food in Minnesota.