33 Facts About Minneapolis

1.

Minneapolis has its origins in timber and as the flour milling capital of the world.

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2.

Minneapolis has one of the most extensive public park systems in the US; many of these parks are connected by the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway.

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3.

Minneapolis is the birthplace of General Mills, Pillsbury Company, and the Target Corporation.

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4.

Minneapolis incorporated as a city in 1867 and in 1872, it merged with the city of St Anthony on the river's east bank.

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5.

Minneapolis developed around Saint Anthony Falls, the highest waterfall on the Mississippi River, which was used as a source of energy.

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6.

In 1886, when Martha Ripley founded Maternity Hospital for both married and unmarried mothers, Minneapolis made changes to rectify discrimination against unmarried women.

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7.

In 1910, a Minneapolis developer wrote restrictive covenants based on race and ethnicity into his deeds.

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8.

Minneapolis has a long history of structural racism and has some of the United States' largest racial disparities in housing, income, health care, and education.

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9.

In 1910, when less than one percent of Minneapolis residents were non-White, the city was fairly well integrated.

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10.

Minneapolis contended with White supremacy, participated in desegregation and engaged with the civil rights movement; in 1968, the American Indian Movement was founded in Minneapolis.

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11.

Between 1958 and 1963, as part of urban renewal in America, Minneapolis demolished roughly 40 percent of downtown, including the Gateway District and its significant architecture, such as the Metropolitan Building.

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12.

Minneapolis is sited above an artesian aquifer and on flat terrain.

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13.

Minneapolis is divided into eleven communities, each containing several neighborhoods, of which there are 83.

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14.

Minneapolis was the first major city in the United States to make this change.

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15.

Minneapolis has cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers, as is typical in a continental climate.

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16.

In 2015, the Brookings Institution characterized Minneapolis as a re-emerging immigrant gateway where about 10 percent of residents were born outside the US.

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17.

Population of Minneapolis grew until 1950, when the census peaked at 521, 718—the only time it has exceeded a half million.

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18.

Black family in Minneapolis earns less than half as much per year as a White family.

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19.

Indigenous Dakota people, the original inhabitants of the Minneapolis area, believed in the Great Spirit and were surprised not all European settlers were religious.

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20.

American companies with US offices in Minneapolis include Accenture, Bellisio Foods, Canadian Pacific, Coloplast, RBC and Voya Financial.

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21.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis serves Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, and parts of Wisconsin and Michigan; it has the smallest population of the 12 regional banks in the Federal Reserve System.

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22.

Minneapolis has hosted theatrical performances since the end of the American Civil War.

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23.

Minneapolis was founded in 1963 by Sir Tyrone Guthrie as a prototype alternative to Broadway, and it produces a wide variety of shows throughout the year.

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24.

Minneapolis purchased and renovated the Orpheum, State, and Pantages Theatres, vaudeville and film houses on Hennepin Avenue that are now used for concerts and plays.

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25.

The Minneapolis Foundation invests and administers over 1, 000 charitable funds.

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26.

Several Minneapolis-based chefs have won regional James Beard Foundation Awards Among her five wins and eleven nominations, writer Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl won the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award in 2020.

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27.

Minneapolis is currently a majority holding for the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, an affiliate of the Democratic Party.

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28.

At the federal level, Minneapolis is within Minnesota's 5th congressional district, which since 2018 has been represented by Democrat Ilhan Omar, one of the first two practicing Muslim women and the first Somali-American in Congress.

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29.

Minneapolis has a separation ordinance that directs local law-enforcement officers not to "take any law enforcement action" for the sole purpose of finding undocumented immigrants, nor to ask an individual about his or her immigration status.

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30.

In 2020, KSTP-TV News' 5 Investigates unit found Minneapolis had paid millions of dollars in settlements because officers had lied about use of force, dishonesty for which officers are rarely disciplined.

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31.

Nineteen FM and AM radio stations are licensed to Minneapolis, including one from the University of Minnesota and one from the public schools.

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32.

Movies filmed in Minneapolis include Airport, The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), Ice Castles (1978), Foolin' Around (1980), Take This Job and Shove It (1981), Purple Rain (1984), That Was Then, This Is Now (1985), The Mighty Ducks (1992), Untamed Heart (1993), Little Big League (1994), Beautiful Girls (1996), Jingle All the Way (1996), Fargo (1996), and Young Adult (2011).

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33.

Minneapolis has two light rail lines and one commuter rail line.

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