Minneapolis, Minn.

Updated July 10, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota and the seat of Hennepin County, is located in the southeast central part of the state on the Mississippi River. It is adjacent to its “twin city” of St. Paul.

In 1680, Father Louis Hennepin visited the future site of Minneapolis and gave the Falls of St. Anthony their name. Lt. Zebulon Pike made a treaty with the Sioux Indians in 1805–1806, by which they ceded to the whites much land, including the Falls of St. Anthony and the site of Minneapolis. Fort Snelling was built in 1819–1820, and in 1823 the government built a lumber and flour mill. Flour milling became the major industry of early Minneapolis and made the city the milling capital of the world. The town of St. Anthony was established on the east bank of the Mississippi in 1848, and the town of Minneapolis grew up on the opposite bank of the river. The name Minneapolis is a combination of the Dakota Sioux word “minna,” for water, and the Greek word “polis,” for city. Minneapolis was incorporated as a city in 1867, and in 1872 the city of St. Anthony (chartered in 1860) was annexed to it. After the spread of the railroads in the 1870s, Minneapolis became the gateway to the Northern Great Plains.

Minneapolis is a center of industry and commerce serving a large agricultural region. During the 20th century, manufacturing, food processing, milling, computers, health services, and graphic arts developed as Minneapolis's major industries. Fifteen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. The city is the headquarters of the Ninth Federal Reserve Bank.

The Twin Cities are known for their wide array of cultural attractions, and Minneapolis is home to many fine museums, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Center, and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus.

The Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, hosted the 2008 Republican National Convention.

See also Encyclopedia: Minneapolis.

Selected famous natives and residents:

• La Verne, Maxene, and Patti Andrews singers;
• James Arness actor;
• Lew Ayres actor;
• Patty Berg golfer;
• Virginia Bruce actress;
• J. Paul Getty oil executive;
• Peter Graves actor;
• George Roy Hill director;
• Cornell MacNeil baritone;
• Ralph Meeker actor;
• Bronko Nagurski football player;
• Westbrook Pegler columnist;
• Prince singer;
• Harrison Salisbury journalist;
• Charles Schulz cartoonist;
• Anne Tyler writer;
• Bud Wilkinson football coach;
• David Winfield baseball player.