The Mississippi River is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles (3,766 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the world's tenth-largest river by discharge flow, and the largest in North America.
Hastings is a city mostly in Dakota County, Minnesota, of which it is the county seat, with a portion in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. It is near the confluence of the Mississippi, Vermillion, and St. Croix Rivers. The population was 22,154 at the 2020 census. It is named for the first elected governor of Minnesota, Henry Hastings Sibley.
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.
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.
Minnehaha Park is a city park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and home to Minnehaha Falls and the lower reaches of Minnehaha Creek. Officially named Minnehaha Regional Park, it is part of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board system and lies within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service. The park was designed by landscape architect Horace W.S. Cleveland in 1883 as part of the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway system, and was part of the popular steamboat Upper Mississippi River "Fashionable Tour" in the 1800s.
Fort Snelling State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of Minnesota, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. For many centuries, the area of the modern park has been of importance to the Mdewakanton Dakota people who consider it the center of the Earth. The state park, which opened in 1962, is named for the historic Fort Snelling, which dates from 1820. The fort structure is maintained and operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. The bulk of the state park preserves the bottomland forest, rivers, and backwater lakes below the river bluffs. Both the state and historic fort structure are part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a National Park Service site.
The Mendota Bridge, in the US state of Minnesota carries State Highway 55 (MN 55) and MN 62 over the Minnesota River between Fort Snelling and Mendota Heights. It is the final bridge over the Minnesota River before the Minnesota flows into the Mississippi River at the "Meeting of the waters" or "Mendota" in the Dakota language. Traffic on the north end of the bridge may turn onto the Fort Road Bridge (MN 5) to cross the Mississippi River into Saint Paul, Minnesota. The skylines of both Minneapolis and Saint Paul can be seen simultaneously from the bridge.
The Lafayette Bridge is a bridge carrying U.S. Route 52 across the Mississippi River in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. At this point, US 52 is on the Lafayette Freeway. The bridge spans across railroad yards north of the Mississippi, the river itself, and industrial areas south of the Mississippi. The Lafayette Bridge is one of the longest Mississippi River bridges in the Twin Cities.
The Robert Street Bridge is a reinforced concrete multiple-arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The bridge is notable for its complex design that was required to accommodate river traffic, the St. Paul Union Pacific Vertical-lift Rail Bridge crossing underneath it at an angle, and roadways on the downtown side of St. Paul. The bridge is also notable for a monumental reinforced concrete rainbow arch. The rainbow arch not only provides 62 feet of headroom above the river, but also provides a strong aesthetic focus. It was built in 1924–1926 by Fegles Construction Company, Ltd. and designed by Toltz, King & Day. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The bridge as well as Robert Street itself are named after Captain Louis Roberts, a notable French Canadian river boat captain, businessman and early settler of Saint Paul, MN.
The Wabasha Street Bridge is a segmental bridge that spans the Mississippi River in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was named Wabasha Street Freedom Bridge in 2002, to commemorate the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks. It actually consists of two separate bridges, one for northbound and one for southbound traffic. The use of a concrete segmental box girder bridge provided a construction advantage because no falsework needed to be built beneath the bridge.
The Intercity Bridge, more commonly known as the Ford Parkway Bridge, is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Minneapolis, Minnesota and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It connects 46th Street in Minneapolis with Ford Parkway in Saint Paul. The bridge is historically significant as one of the largest reinforced concrete bridges ever built in Minnesota. It was built in 1925-1927 by James O. Heyworth, Inc. and was designed by Martin Sigvart Grytbak. The Intercity Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It is notable as one of the monumental concrete rib-arch bridges spanning the high river bluffs along the Mississippi River, along with the Franklin Avenue Bridge, the Third Avenue Bridge, the 10th Avenue Bridge, and the Robert Street Bridge.
The Lake Street–Marshall Avenue Bridge is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Minneapolis, Minnesota and St. Paul, Minnesota. It is oriented east-west and connects Lake Street in Minneapolis to Marshall Avenue in St. Paul. St. Paul residents often refer to it as the Marshall Avenue Bridge. The bridge was designed by Howard, Needles, Tammen, and Bergendoff.
Northern Pacific Bridge #9 is a deck truss bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, between the Seven Corners area and the University of Minnesota campus. It was built in 1924 and was designed by Frederick W. Cappelen. Railroad use of the bridge ended in 1981, and in 1999 the bridge was opened to bicycles and pedestrians. It replaced the former Northern Pacific "A Line" bridge.
The Hastings High Bridge was a continuous steel through truss bridge that spanned the Mississippi River in Hastings, Minnesota, United States. It was designed by Sverdrup and Parcel and was built in 1951 by Graus Construction Company of Hasting for $356,000. It was demolished in late 2013 when the current Hastings Bridge opened. It had been scheduled to be torn down and replaced by MNDot in 2019, but after the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, it was re-prioritized and construction started in 2010.
The Anoka–Champlin Mississippi River Bridge, also known as the Ferry Street Bridge, is a 10-span open spandrel concrete deck arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Anoka and Champlin, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1929 by the Minneapolis Bridge Company, replacing an 1884 bridge at the same site.
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.
The St. Paul Union Pacific Vertical-lift Rail Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge that spans the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is one of only three vertical-lift bridges along the Mississippi River, along with the Hastings Rail Bridge in Hastings, Minnesota, and the Wabash Bridge in Hannibal, Missouri. It was designed by Waddell & Harrington and built in 1913. In 1925, the north end of the bridge was raised about 16 feet (4.9 m) to tie in with tracks that served the St. Paul Union Depot yard. The vertical-lift span has 105-foot-high (32 m) towers, and the electrical lift system was built with a possible 45-foot (14 m) elevation. However, by 1973, the amount of lift was reduced to 37 feet (11 m) because of aging of the equipment.
Mendota Road Bridge is a stone arch bridge that spans the outlet of Pickerel Lake where it meets the Mississippi River just south of downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. It was built in 1894 by the city of St. Paul and was designed by the St. Paul City Engineer's Office.
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.
The Soo Line High Bridge, also known as the Arcola High Bridge, is a steel deck arch bridge over the St. Croix River between Stillwater, Minnesota and Somerset, Wisconsin, United States. It was designed by structural engineer C.A.P. Turner and built by the American Bridge Company from 1910 to 1911. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 for its national significance in the themes of engineering and transportation. It was nominated for its exceptional dimensions, beauty, innovative engineering techniques, and importance to transportation between Minnesota and Wisconsin.
