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Project Draft Minneapolis

Working Draft

The Pillsbury "A" Mill is situated along Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was created in 1881, and for 40 years was the largest flour mill in the world. . It was operated by Pillsbury and used two of the most powerful direct-drive waterwheels ever built, each putting out 1,200 horsepower (895 kW). After its construction the “A” mill was surrounded by a steam plant, a machine shop, and mammoth elevators thus dwarfing the appearance of the colossal mill. Today the mill still stands on the east side of the Mississippi River. In 1879 after five years of secret planning, Charles A Pillsbury announced to the public that he would build the largest and most advanced mill the world had ever seen. He had gone to mills all over the world, searching for the best technique for milling flour on a large scale. Despite the convention of the time, Pillsbury decided that he wanted his new mill to be designed by an architect to make the building visually appealing. An architect named LeRoy S. Buffington with the loose advice of several engineers carried out design. Construction started in 1880 and was finished in 1881 under a contractor named George McMullen. The mill was built to put out 5,000 barrels a day when a 500-barrel mill was considered large, it attracted a lot of attention from many people who thought that there was no practical need for a mill to ever exist due to the demand of flour in the day. For some years the mill was not run at its intended capacity. Part of the building was used for a warehouse and for other purposes. Due to vibrations of milling machines and pour design in 1905 the mill was fortified and certain sections were rebuilt. To this day the walls bow 22 inches on the top. Unlike other similarly large mills in the area, most notably the Washburn “A” Mill, the Pillsbury “A” Mill never exploded or caught fire. And as a result still contains its original wood frame. As the years progressed mill output picked up due to technological advances in the milling industry. However other larger mills were created elsewhere and the sparkle that once surround the great mill left. In 2003 production in the mill ceased and the mill lay empty.

Since the building has ceased operation as a mill plans are in place to convert it into a loft-style apartment complex containing 759 to 1,095 housing units. Some of the neighboring concrete grain elevators will be demolished in the project. On the outside the Pillsbury “A” Mill is a rectangular structure 175 feet by 115 feet. The foundations are of Platteville limestone. The exterior wall thickness varies from 8’-0” thick at the basement to 2’-0” thick at the top of the building. The outside walls are of load bearing stone with heavy timber framing on the interior. (Timber was added after the completion of the building.) There are six chimneys on the roof of the build. The roof itself is flat with gravel. When it was still milling all seven floors and the basement had a purpose. In the basement there held a transformer vault, water inlets, and an electrical room. On the first floor there was a small floor mounted sifter, a larger ceiling hung sifter, and a pressure tank. On the second floor there were conveyer belts and a staff lunchroom. Third floor contained more belts and bins. Fourth floor held a dust collector, centrifugal machine, gyration shifter, grinder, scale, and a packing bin. Fifth floor there held a sifter, separator, and a centrifugal machine. Sixth floor held flour bins. The seventh floor was an electrical room. While the area remains largely industrial, increasingly the buildings along the river have been adapted for other uses, including artists who have set up studios in the area. In August of 1997, the "A" Mill was connected to the mysterious death of an artist whose studio adjoined the Mill. The mill was periodically fumigated with methyl bromide. The Hennepin County medical examiner ruled that the artist, whose body was found in his studio, died of methyl bromide poisoning. The artist’s widow and other artists have brought suit in connection with the death and reported illnesses. Before methyl bromide, cyanide was used to fumigate the mills for bacteria. It has since been made illegal. Only mills with wooden frames need to be fumigated so that bacteria don’t grow in the wood.

Working Bibliography

A. http://www.tholt.com/pillsa.html

B. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=279&ResourceType=Building

C. http://www.kjerickson.org/photos1.htm

D. http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/mn/fires/minneapolis-mill-fire1881.htm