The New Student's Reference Work/Minneapolis

Min′neap′olis, the largest city of Minnesota, is situated on both sides of the Mississippi, about seven miles from St. Paul, though the interval between is so built up as to make them really one city. The name is from the Sioux word minne, meaning water, and the Greek word polis for city. The Falls of St. Anthony, with a descent of 50 feet, furnish the water-power which has built up the city. The Mississippi is crossed by 12 bridges. Minneapolis is one of the most enterprising and important of the younger cities of the United States. The population advanced from 46,887 in 1880 to 261,974 in 1905 and to 335,396 in 1914.

The basis of growth is found in the city's location with reference to the great wheat and lumber interests of the northwest. It is the greatest primary wheat-market of the world. The annual wheat product of Minnesota is more than 70,000,000 bushels. More than half of this is here manufactured into flour, while not only the product of Minnesota, but a large part of the yield of the great fields of the Dakotas finds a market here. A single one of the city's great flouring-mills has a capacity of 15,000 barrels per day, and the aggregate capacity of its 22 flouring mills is 84,000 barrels daily. The elevators have a storage capacity of about 40,000,000 bushels. The great timber industry of the upper Mississippi valley finds its chief market and manufacturing center in Minneapolis. All the great trunk-lines of railroads in the northwest run to or through Minneapolis and three electric systems carry both passengers and freight. Among the notable buildings are the court house and city hall, the chamber of commerce, the Guaranty and Andrus buildings, the lumber exchange, the corn and flour exchanges, the library and the art museum. Here are located the University of Minnesota, Augsburg Theological Seminary and several other seminaries and professional schools.

The public schools are of high grade, efficiently organized and well-equipped. It is notable that a larger proportion of the pupils attend high school than in any other city. Population 301,408.