31-805: The following are all the contributing resources to the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District in Minneapolis , Minnesota , United States . The District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places , thus these properties are on the NRHP. The "period of significance" of the District was 1858–1941. The district's archaeological record is considered to be one of the most-endangered historic sites in Minnesota. The City Beautiful idea of progress
62-425: A historic district . It can be any property, structure or object that adds to the historic integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, either local or federal, significant. Definitions vary but, in general, they maintain the same characteristics. Another key aspect of a contributing property is historic integrity. Significant alterations to a property can sever its physical connections with
93-550: A historic district fall into one of two types of property: contributing and non-contributing. A contributing property, such as a 19th-century mansion, helps make a historic district historic, while a non-contributing property, such as a modern medical clinic, does not. The contributing properties are key to a historic district's historic associations, historic architectural qualities, or archaeological qualities. A property can change from contributing to non-contributing and vice-versa if significant alterations take place. According to
124-609: A historic home can damage its historic integrity and render it non-contributing. In some cases, damage to the historic integrity of a structure is reversible, while other times the historic nature of a building has been so "severely compromised" as to be irreversible. For example, in the East Grove Street District in Bloomington, Illinois , contributing properties include the Queen Anne -style George H. Cox House (1886) and
155-407: A predominantly middle and working class neighborhood. Plans for redeveloping Nicollet Island were to demolish the houses for a park. The Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment agency started buying properties in 1968. Residents wanted the houses to remain. In an epic struggle the residents won in 1983. The falls was the leading US flour milling center from 1880 to 1930. In the following decline many of
186-544: A project was being considered to extend West River Parkway along the west side of the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis. Scott Anfinson, then the municipal county highway archaeologist for the Minnesota Historical Society , developed a plan to assess archaeological sites along the riverfront. A number of test excavations along the route revealed a wide variety of sites containing items of interest. In
217-468: Is classified as one of four property types : building, object, structure, or site. The line between contributing and non-contributing can be fuzzy. In particular, American historic districts nominated to the National Register of Historic Places before 1980 have few records of the non-contributing structures. State Historic Preservation Offices conduct surveys to determine the historical character of structures in historic districts. Districts nominated to
248-530: Is now the St. Anthony Falls Historic District but are not contributing resources to the District. Contributing resources In the law regulating historic districts in the United States , a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district significant. Government agencies, at
279-549: The Arts and Crafts -style H.W. Kelley House (1906), and non-contributing properties include the Italianate -style George Brand House (1886), whose original exterior has been covered with a sun room and asbestos siding, and a 1950s physician's office built in a style radically different from the surrounding neighborhood. Mill Ruins Park Mill Ruins Park is a park in downtown Minneapolis , Minnesota , United States , standing on
310-628: The Georgetown neighborhood in Washington, D.C. a historic district and protected. By 1965, 51 American communities had adopted preservation ordinances. In 1976 the National Historic Preservation Act was passed by Congress. By 1998, more than 2,300 U.S. towns, cities and villages had enacted historic preservation ordinances. Contributing properties are defined through historic district or historic preservation zoning laws, usually at
341-728: The Louisiana Constitution led to the 1937 creation of the Vieux Carre Commission, which was charged with protecting and preserving the French Quarter in the city of New Orleans . The city passed a local ordinance that set standards to regulate changes within the quarter. Other sources, such as the Columbia Law Review in 1963, indicate differing dates for the preservation ordinances in both Charleston and New Orleans. The Columbia Law Review gave dates of 1925 for
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#1732848450247372-522: The National Park Service , the first instance of law dealing with contributing properties in local historic districts was enacted in 1931 by the city of Charleston, South Carolina ; it designated the " Old and Historic District ." The ordinance declared that buildings in the district could not have changes made to architectural features that were visible from the street. By the mid-1930s, other U.S. cities followed Charleston's lead. An amendment to
403-643: The Bassett's Creek area, for example, the foundations of two sawmills and the remains of a railroad roundhouse were found, while near Hennepin Avenue , the investigation found the footings of the Great Northern Railway Union Depot and the tower bases of the first and second Hennepin Avenue Bridges . In the milling district, archaeologists found clues suggesting that there were still extensive remains of
434-461: The Historic District, and the NRHP nomination was amended in 1991 with much more narrative on the significance plus over four times the entities. A lot of the additions were the archeological remains and the individual houses on Nicollet Island. Note that from the falls downstream the river flows substantially to the south east. In this article "south" will mean downstream and "east" is toward
465-586: The National Register of Historic Places after 1980 usually list those structures considered non-contributing. As a general rule, a contributing property helps make a historic district historic. A well-preserved 19th-century mansion will generally contribute to a district, while a modern gas station generally will not. Historic buildings identified as contributing properties can become non-contributing properties within historic districts if major alterations have taken place. Sometimes, an act as simple as re- siding
496-465: The New Orleans laws and 1924 for Charleston. The same publication claimed that these two cities were the only cities with historic district zoning until Alexandria, Virginia adopted an ordinance in 1946. The National Park Service appears to refute this. In 1939, the city of San Antonio, Texas , enacted an ordinance to protect the area of La Villita, the original Mexican village marketplace. In 1941
527-572: The St. Anthony Falls Historic District, and it was added to the NRHP in 1971. The original filing included 21 existing structures. Minneapolis had decided the riverfront and its history was an amenity that could attract people. In 1980, the Minneapolis Park Board proposed extending the West River Parkway from Plymouth Ave. through the mill district. That triggered a section 106 review. The review found numerous archaeological remains in
558-541: The US was built (for arc lights). Two major hydroelectric plants were built (1894/1911 and 1908) with a third plant (1895) just downstream. One of these plants is still operating. Other industries have also been powered by the falls. Minneapolis developed around these industries. A major part of the District is the remains of these industries (some literally archeological remains). The upstream end of Nicollet Island had historic houses of varying architectural styles, and developed as
589-530: The authority of local design controls on buildings within historic districts was being challenged in court. In City of New Orleans vs Pergament (198 La. 852, 5 So. 2d 129 (1941)), Louisiana state appellate courts ruled that the design and demolition controls were valid within defined historic districts. Beginning in the mid-1950s, controls that once applied only to buildings within historic districts were extended to individual landmark structures. The United States Congress adopted legislation in 1950 that declared
620-455: The east bank the mighty Pillsbury A mill ended waterpower use 1955, had limited specialty flour milling after 1975, and ended milling in 2003. Three of the four Main Street historic buildings went from commercial to industrial to empty or storage. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 promoted historic preservation and created the National Register of Historic Places . Minneapolis created
651-448: The east bank. (In some other sources "east" is downstream.) Use of waterpower at the falls goes back to an 1821 sawmill and an 1823 grist mill, both built by Ft. Snelling . As soon as the area was opened up to white settlement. the land was claimed to get the waterpower rights. The falls was a major saw mill center, then from 1880 to 1930 had the largest flour production in the US . In 1881 the third central station hydroelectric plant in
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#1732848450247682-465: The flour mills had been torn down, with gravel storage on many of the sites. Waterpower use ended 1960. A few mills operated into the 1960s, with the end of milling, at the Washburn A mill about 1965. In 1969 four of the former flour mills remained standing. For all the historic buildings, use became abandonment, warehousing, light industry, or in one case animal rendering. Second St. had railroad tracks. On
713-570: The foundations of the mills and waterpower system. The first round of archaeological surveys in the 1980s was intended to save the ruins from destruction as a result of road construction projects. Later, in the 1990s, the focus shifted from environmental impact assessment to exposing ruins for their interpretive value. As the ruins were made visible to the public, the goal was to create assets for education, tourism, and commercial development. The excavations for Mill Ruins Park began in 1998 and continued through 2001. The process also involved stabilizing
744-437: The local level. Zoning ordinances pertaining to historic districts are designed to maintain a district's historic character by controlling demolition and alteration to existing properties. In historic preservation law, a contributing property is any building, structure, object or site within the boundaries of the district that contributes to its historic associations, historic architectural qualities or archaeological qualities of
775-458: The mill area, particularly under gravel piles on the river side of the power canal. Remains were also found between the falls and Plymouth Ave. A great deal of public money has been spent in the Historic District, both on public entities, like the Mill City Museum and Mill Ruins Park , but also (including tax credits) on private redevelopment of historic structures. A lot was learned about
806-473: The past, lowering its historic integrity. Contributing properties are integral parts of the historic context and character of a historic district. A property listed as a contributing member of a historic district meets National Register criteria and qualifies for all benefits afforded a property or site listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. Each property within a National Register historic district — contributing or non-contributing —
837-526: The remains of the Washburn "A" Mill , which had burned in 1991. The Washburn "A" Mill became part of the Mill City Museum . Along with the remains of about 20 flour mills and other industrial buildings, the park also contains two stone piers and several iron girder piers that held a trestle for the Minneapolis Eastern Railroad. The tailraces from the waterpower canal are also clearly visible, and
868-509: The state, national, and local level in the United States, have differing definitions of what constitutes a contributing property but there are common characteristics. Local laws often regulate the changes that can be made to contributing structures within designated historic districts. The first local ordinances dealing with the alteration of buildings within historic districts was enacted in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931. Properties within
899-516: The west bank mills were demolished in the 1930s. Into the 1960s most of the rest of the west bank mills were demolished or abandoned. Mills were demolished to the ground surface, leaving foundations, drop shafts, tailraces, headraces and sometimes turbines intact. Abandonment of the riverfront meant those remains were not destroyed by new development. Many of these sites are part of the Mill Ruins Park . These historic properties are, or were, in what
930-544: The west side of Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River and running from 3rd Ave. S. to about 9th Ave. S. The park interprets the history of flour milling in Minneapolis and shows the ruins of several flour mills that were abandoned. The park is the result of an archaeological study of the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In 1983,
961-606: Was to replace old buildings with grander new buildings (like the Minneapolis Post Office, the Great Northern Railroad Depot (1912-1978) and the Pillsbury Library). The Gateway clearance in downtown Minneapolis tore down the now revered Metropolitan Building in 1961. That raised thoughts of historic preservation (thoughts that didn't include the industrial falls area). By then on the west bank most of