Suspension Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 44°59′07″N93°15′50″W / 44.98528°N 93.26389°W |
Crosses | Mississippi River |
Locale | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Characteristics | |
Design | Suspension bridge |
Total length | 620 feet (190 m) |
History | |
Construction start | May 5, 1854 |
Construction end | December 5, 1854 |
Opened | January 23, 1855 |
Replaced by | Hennepin Avenue Bridge |
Statistics | |
Toll |
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Location | |
The Hennepin Avenue Bridge [a] was a bridge spanning the Mississippi River at Hennepin Avenue from the Minneapolis Bank to Nicollet Island. Built and completed in 1854 and opened in 1855, it was the first bridge to span the Mississippi.
In the 1850s, the rock ledge above the Falls of St. Anthony was the only place where the Mississippi could be crossed in the area. [1] In the winter months a thick layer of ice made travel easy. The high waters of spring and summer, however, made passage over the river slow and unsafe. [2] Dakota would occasionally take travelers across in canoes. [1] In 1847, businessman Franklin Steele and his friend John Stevens established a rope ferry from Nicollet Island to the western side of the river to help travelers cross. [1] While the ferry helped initially, an increase in traffic necessitated new construction. In 1851, a bridge was built from St. Anthony to Nicollet Island to make the trek to the island easier for travelers. A short time later Steele and local business leaders took steps to build a bridge that would reach both sides of the river. [2]
On March 4, 1852, Steele and his associates were granted a charter by the Territorial Legislature to build a bridge. The group formed the Mississippi Bridge Company and soon after began planning for a new bridge along the same path as the rope ferry. They hired engineer Thomas W. Griffith to head the construction project. Griffith and his team began work on a suspension-style bridge on May 5, 1854. [3] The cost of the completed bridge was $36,000 ($1.18 million in 2023). [4] The span of the bridge was 620 feet, and the cables dropped 47 feet from their towers. [1] The design was "of a modern character" and compared to the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge. [5]
The bridge was finished on December 5, 1854, and opened to the public on January 23, 1855. [1] It was the first bridge to be built across the Mississippi River. [1] [6] [3] [4] The first railroad bridge would be completed the following year in Davenport, Iowa. [7]
A grand celebration marked the opening. At one o'clock a large parade formed in front of the St. Charles Hotel in Saint Anthony, complete with sleighs filled with people, banners, and a marching band. Their route took them over a smaller bridge to Nicollet Island, where they were welcomed by a cannon blast as they stepped onto the bridge. After crossing the river, the parade moved through the business district of the municipality of Minneapolis and returned to St. Anthony. A celebratory dinner followed. [3] [2]
The bridge began its life as a toll bridge, costing 25¢ ($8.18 in 2023) per team of horses and ($1.64 in 2023) per pedestrian. [1]
The rapid growth of St. Anthony and Minneapolis meant that a new bridge would soon be needed. When the work began in 1854 there were roughly 450 inhabitants in Minneapolis and nearly a thousand in St. Anthony. By 1860 the cities' populations had grown to 2500 and 3200, respectively. [2]
In 1866, the Mississippi Bridge Company's charter expired and Hennepin County assumed control of the bridge, purchasing it for $37,500 ($780,341 in 2023). [8] The toll requirement continued until the bonds sold to buy the bridge were paid off in 1872. [8]
When St. Anthony officials agreed to merge their city with Minneapolis, the county-owned bridge was turned over to the new city. [8] Now a single entity, its connection over the river became even more important. Calls to build a new bridge to handle increased traffic multiplied almost immediately. A second suspension bridge was built directly to the north of the first one. Thomas Griffith was once again hired to serve as engineer. [2] On February 22, 1877, the second Hennepin suspension bridge opened. [9] [10] The bridge was demolished soon after the second bridge opened. [2]
Hennepin County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named for the 17th-century explorer Louis Hennepin. It extends from Minneapolis to the suburbs and outlying cities in the western part of the county. Its natural areas are covered by extensive woods, hills, and lakes. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565. It is Minnesota's most populous county and the 34th-most populous county in the U.S.; more than one in five Minnesotans live in Hennepin County. It is included in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul–Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located at the northeastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. Throughout the mid-to-late 1800s, various dams were built atop the east and west faces of the falls to support the milling industry that spurred the growth of the city of Minneapolis. In 1880, the central face of the falls was reinforced with a sloping timber apron to stop the upstream erosion of the falls. In the 1950s, the apron was rebuilt with concrete, which makes up the most visible portion of the falls today. A series of locks were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s to extend navigation to points upstream.
Louis Hennepin, OFM was a Belgian Catholic priest and missionary best known for his activities in North America. A member of the Recollects, a minor branch of the Franciscans, he travelled to New France and proselytised to several Native American tribes.
Nicollet Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Richfield, Bloomington, and Burnsville in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It passes through a number of locally well-known neighborhoods and districts, notably Eat Street in south Minneapolis and the traffic-restricted Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.
The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the only arched bridge made of stone on the entire Mississippi River. It is the second oldest bridge on the river next to Eads Bridge. The bridge was built to connect the railway system to the new Union Depot, which at that time was planned to be built between Hennepin Avenue and Nicollet Avenue. The bridge was completed in 1883, costing $650,000 at the time. 117 Portland Avenue is the general address of the historic complex.
The Hennepin Avenue Bridge is the structure that carries Hennepin County State Aid Highway 52, Hennepin Avenue, across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at Nicollet Island. Officially, it is the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge, in honor of the 17th-century explorer Louis Hennepin, who was the first European to see the Saint Anthony Falls, a short distance downriver. It is the fourth bridge on the site.
Minneapolis is officially defined by its city council as divided into 83 neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are historically grouped into 11 communities. Informally, there are city areas with colloquial labels. Residents may also group themselves by their city street suffixes: North, Northeast, South, and Southeast.
Nicollet Island is an island in the Mississippi River just north of Saint Anthony Falls in central Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the United States Census Bureau the island has a land area of 194,407 square metres (0.075 sq mi) and a 2000 census population of 144 persons. The island makes up a large part of the city-designated Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood. The island is named for cartographer Joseph Nicollet, who mapped the Upper Mississippi in the 1830s.
The Plymouth Avenue Bridge is a segmental bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. It was built in 1983 and was designed by Van Doren-Hazard-Stallings. The construction of this bridge was unique, for it was the first segmental concrete girder bridge built in Minnesota. This method of design uses a "form traveler" that shapes the concrete as it is built out from the piers. This avoided the use of falsework and avoided impeding river traffic. The concrete is also engineered to be salt-resistant by the use of post-tensioning. Tubes run through the concrete structure carrying strands of cable. With tension on the cables, the structure is designed to be under compression. This prevents cracks and hinders the intrusion of salt water. Since then, other bridges in Minnesota have used this construction method, including the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge in Minneapolis, the Wabasha Street Bridge in downtown St. Paul, and the Wakota Bridge in South St. Paul.
Broadway Avenue Bridge is a girder bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Designed by Norman C. Davis and Shawn Pierson Bruns of Van Doren-Hazard-Stallings, it was built in 1987. The bridge has a rather streamlined shape, but its piers are more ornate. The piers have two flat columns that taper together, with a base that extends out to the full width of the bridge.
Merriam Street Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the east channel of the Mississippi River between Nicollet Island and the east bank of the river in Minneapolis. The bridge was originally built in 1887 by King Iron Bridge Company as one of the four spans of the Broadway Avenue Bridge. When the Broadway Avenue Bridge was reconstructed in 1987, one span was preserved and moved to Nicollet Island. The truss span is actually decorative; the bridge is supported by a beam from underneath.
Hennepin Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs from Lakewood Cemetery, north through the Uptown District of Southwest Minneapolis, through the Virginia Triangle, the former "Bottleneck" area west of Loring Park. It then goes through the North Loop in the city center, to Northeast Minneapolis and the city's eastern boundary, where it becomes Larpenteur Avenue as it enters Lauderdale in Ramsey County at Highway 280. Hennepin Avenue is a Minneapolis city street south/west of Washington Avenue, and is designated as Hennepin County Road 52 from Washington Avenue to the county line.
Northeast is a defined community in the U.S. city of Minneapolis that is composed of 13 smaller neighborhoods whose street addresses end in "NE". Unofficially it also includes the neighborhoods of the University community which have "NE" addresses, and the entirety of the Old Saint Anthony business district, which sits on the dividing line of "NE" and "SE" addresses. In the wider community, this business district, which is the oldest settlement in the city, is often identified as the heart of Northeast, in part because it lies across the Mississippi River from Downtown Minneapolis. Northeast is sometimes referred to as "Nordeast", reflecting the history of northern and eastern European immigrants and their language influence.
Nicollet Island/East Bank is a neighborhood in the University community of Minneapolis. It is a part of Minneapolis City Council Ward 3, represented by Michael Rainville.
The Gateway District of Minneapolis is centered at the convergence of Hennepin Avenue, Nicollet Avenue, and Washington Avenue. Its borders are not officially designated or recognized, but are visible as the Mississippi River to the northeast, Cedar Lake Trail and the railroad tracks to the northwest, Fifth Avenue South to the southeast. and Fourth Street South to the southwest. The district includes a significant part of the Downtown West neighborhood and abuts the North Loop.
Minneapolis is the largest city by population in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The origin and growth of the city was spurred by the proximity of Fort Snelling, the first major United States military presence in the area, and by its location on Saint Anthony Falls, which provided power for sawmills and flour mills.
Franklin Steele was an early settler of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, of Scottish descent, Steele worked in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, post office as a young man, where he once met President James Buchanan.
The Martin Olav Sabo Post Office is the central post office for the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. Located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, the facility extends west to east from Hennepin Avenue Bridge to the Third Avenue Bridge and north to south from the West River Parkway on the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway to First Street. Its ZIP code is 55401.
The following are all the contributing resources to the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, thus these properties are on the NRHP. The "period of significance" of the District was 1858–1941. The district's archaeological record is considered to be one of the most-endangered historic sites in Minnesota.
The Eastman tunnel, also called the Hennepin Island tunnel, was a 2,000-foot-long (600 m) underground passage in Saint Anthony, Minnesota, dug beneath the Mississippi River riverbed between 1868 and 1869 to create a tailrace so water-powered business could be located upstream of Saint Anthony Falls on Nicollet Island. The tunnel ran downstream from Nicollet Island, beneath Hennepin Island, and exited below Saint Anthony Falls.