29 Minneapolis Fun Facts: Things To Know About The 'Lake City'

Minneapolis is a large city that is located in the American state of Minnesota.

The city is full of beautiful landscapes and structures. It is also known to be the most populous city in Minnesota.

The city is home to the great Mall Of America, Mississippi River, more than 20 lakes, beautiful parks, and St. Anthony Falls. Lake Superior, which is the largest freshwater lake in the world, and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the largest urban sculpture garden in the country, both are located in this city. Read on to know more about Minneapolis.

Famous Places To Visit

Minneapolis is a famous and populous city located in the American state of Minnesota. The city is full of life, beautiful landscapes, and building structures.

One of the Great Lakes of Minnesota, actually the largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Superior is located in Minneapolis, with miles of rocky shorelines.

The Metrodome in Minneapolis, Hubert H. Humphrey, has been the only stadium in the United States to host an NCAA Final Four Basketball Championship, a Super Bowl, and a World Series.

Hennepin Avenue is named after an early explorer and Franciscan missionary, Father Louis Hennepin, but ironically, today, it's famous for bars, restaurants, and theaters.

The world's largest four-faced chiming clock actually resides in Minneapolis. The clock tower which is in Minneapolis City Hall is even larger than Big Ben.

The clock tower of Minneapolis City Hall is 345 ft (105 m) tall and its clock face is 24.3 ft (7.4 m) in diameter. The numbers are certainly larger than Big Ben.

Minnehaha Park or Minnehaha Regional Park is a park in the city that houses the lower reaches of the renowned Minnehaha Creek and the beautiful Minnehaha Falls.

The Mill City Museum with its rustic look got its name from one of Minneapolis' many nicknames, the 'Mill City'.

The first fire the site suffered was back in 1878 and the second occurred in 1991. However, instead of demolishing the building, firefighters saved it and it later became the Mill City Museum.

St. Anthony Falls, located at the northeastern edge of the city, is the only major natural waterfall of the Mississippi River.

The Minneapolis Skyway which spans about 7 mi (11.3 km) and 69 blocks is an indoor walkway system for pedestrians that links many buildings in downtown Minneapolis.

Food, Culture, Language, And Religion

Minneapolis is a cultural city with people of many religions. The city is full of incredible artistry, craftsmanship, and museums that celebrate its beautiful cultural heritage.

The oldest sketch comedy theater in the country is Brave New Workshop. It's not only located in Minneapolis, but Al Franken also used to perform there before 'Saturday Night Live'.

Sound 80, the city's recording studio created the first commercial digital audio recording and also has recorded various renowned singers, like Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens.

Wild rice is extremely popular in Minneapolis and in fact, it's the state grain of Minnesota. You can use it to make many dishes, such as porridge from native-harvested wild rice, or a vegan wild rice burger.

Minneapolis food has a Scandinavian favoring side as the city provides some of the best gravlax, lefse, and many other Scandinavian foods.

Evidence of Native Americans living along the Minneapolis front of the Mississippi River has been found and dates back to more than 12,000 years ago.

Minneapolis is diverse owing to immigrants from all over the world, including Scandinavian and Nordic Europeans, Southeast Asians, Latinx, or French Canadians choosing to live here.

In the early '90s, many Somalis lost their homes in the civil war, so as the country issued visas to these refugees, a large group of Somalis built their homes in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

Prince was born in Minneapolis and raised in the city. He is not only still celebrated as a local from the city to this day, but also pioneered the famous music genre 'Minneapolis sound'.

The world's very first Internet Cat Video Festival was held at Minneapolis' Walker Art Center in 2012 and around 10000 people attended the event.

America's largest urban sculpture garden is the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden which spans across 11 acres (4.5 ha) of land and houses over 40 permanent public art installations.

History Of Minneapolis

Minneapolis has a rich history that led to its cultural, industrial, and diverse present. The past this city has endured has dictated how beautiful the city is today.

Many top products that we use today were invented in Minneapolis. Things like Bisquick, Scotch tape, pop-up toasters, and the bundt pan were invented in the city.

The phrase 'holy cow!' was coined for the first time in Minneapolis. A Minneapolis sports announcer, Halsey Hall used the phrase during a game for a home run.

The North Loop neighborhood in Minneapolis was made dedicated to the industrial area of that time. Later, owing to its popularity, trendy buildings were built.

A brewery, Grain Belt Beer Brewery, which is nationally known, was built from the ground up and has been a staple of Minneapolis for more than 125 years.

The University of Minnesota was established in 1851 in the Chute’s Square of today in Minneapolis. It was one of the first higher education schools that included women.

Back in the 1870s-80s, America's two largest mills were the Pillsbury Company Mill and the Washburn Crosby Company Mill and they shared a historical rivalry between them.

Minneapolis is called Mill City owing to its flour mills. The city's first-ever commercial flour mill opened back in 1854. By 1864, 15 mills in the city were producing 1.25 million flour barrels (175 million kg) each year and by 1916, the city was producing more than 18 million flour barrels each year.

The Midtown Global Market was built in the '20s owing to the fact that people wanted a place where immigrant communities could flourish in their entrepreneurial and communal characteristics.

The first-ever bridge that spanned the Mississippi River was the Hennepin Avenue Bridge which opened as a wooden suspension bridge back in 1855.

In 1904, Theodore Wirth, a European florist was appointed as the Minneapolis Park Board superintendent. He made true to his words as he put a park within six blocks of every resident.

FAQs

Q: What is Minneapolis' nickname?

A: Minneapolis' nicknames are 'Twin Cities', 'City of Lakes', 'Mini Apple', and 'Mill City'.

Q: Why is it called Twin Cities?

A: Two cities on both sides of the river existed for 20 years before they merged to become Minneapolis. People called them the twin cities.

Q: What is Minneapolis known for?

A: Minneapolis is known for its beautiful landscapes and tourist attractions.

Q: How far is St. Paul from Minneapolis?

A: St. Paul is about 1.2 mi (1.9 km) from Minneapolis.

Q: How long is the flight from Minneapolis to Hawaii?

A: The fastest flight from Minneapolis to Hawaii takes about nine hours.

Q: How did it get its name?

A: The name comes from 'minne', a Sioux word which means 'water' and 'polis' a Greek word which means 'city'.

Q: How much snow is in Minneapolis?

A: Minneapolis gets 6.4-6.8 in (16.2-17.3 cm) of snow on average in a year.