Minneapolis, Minnesota City Guide
For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Minneapolis, Minnesota Travel Guide has been your connection to Minneapolis's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.
Brief History of Minneapolis
The earliest inhabitants of the Minneapolis region were the Dakota Sioux. These native people thrived along the Mississippi River and the many lakes in the region. The French arrived in the region in 1680; but it wasn’t until the American Fort Snelling was put up in 1819 that the city began to experience notable growth. For roughly two centuries, Minneapolis grew prosperous from the many flour and woolen mills, iron works and a railroad machine shop; all of which were operated by hydropower from the St. Anthony Falls, the largest waterfall in the Mississippi River. Within the last fifty years, Minneapolis has undergone a large rebuilding project in which the city’s skyline has been significantly altered. Many of the old historic buildings have been replaced by hundreds of modern buildings. This tragic architectural loss has prompted larger efforts to preserve the historically and architecturally noteworthy buildings of the city of Minneapolis.
