River, Railroad and Industry

River, Railroad and Industry. . , Marshall Street Brickyards , Construction of the Northern Pacific Railway tracks in 1864 created a new seam across the former prairie landscape of the St. Anthony Township. By the 1890s, spurs reached to a network of small factories including the Bousfield Wooden Ware Company near Lowry Avenue and to brickyards along Marshall Street N.E., Extensive gray drift clay deposits underlie the Northtown area. The first brick made in Hennepin County was reportedly manufactured on a farm near Columbia Park. By the 1880s, many tracts of former Marshall Street farmland were opened to brickyards. The clay was well suited for burning common and cream-colored brick, fireproof brick, and drain tile., By 1917, four of the city's sixteen brick dealers were located on Marshall Street; products were shipped across the Northwest. Rail spurs connected yards with their kilns, drying houses and offices. Other yards were located across the river in North Minneapolis., The Minnesota Brick Co. occupied 50 acres from 32nd to 28th Avenues. The firm announced in 1917 that old methods of manufacture would be replaced with the latest equipment to ensure a high quality product at "extremely low cost.", Sawmills, brickyards, and industry: Northland Pine Company sawmill at Plant B in 1914; Ingenhutt farmhouse is circled. The Minneapolis General Electric Co. had just built its steam plant on the southern edge of the Ingenhutt property., By 1893, Gertrude Ingenhutt sold the northern portion of her farm to the Carpenter Bros. Lumber Co. The firm's new planing mill was completed in 1894 and was one of six new mills in the city that year; most were on the west side of the river., Marshall Street brickyard owners in 1914 included Jane Jagger, Flour City, J.S. Bower's St. Anthony Brickyard, and the Minneapolis Clay Brick Company., Northland Pine Lumber Co. bought the mill in 1910. Depletion of the region's pine forests after 1900 later led to the closing of this and many other Minneapolis sawmills., Looking upriver, ca. 1940. Lowry Bridge is at left., Marshall Street brickyards in the Minneapolis City Directory, 1916.,

"It is not easy to measure the value of this business to Minneapolis, nor to recapitulate all the benefits it has conferred." , "The Marvels of Electricity," Minneapolis Tribune, April 30, 1911.

, Minneapolis General Electric Company Riverside Station , In 1922, Hudson's Dictionary of Minneapolis and Vicinity observed that Minneapolis was the best "electrically equipped city in America." The Riverside Station steam plant, by then part of the Northern States Power Company, was the core of the firm's facilities. NSP also included the St. Croix Falls Water Power Plant in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and the Main Street Water Power and Distributing Station in Minneapolis., The Minneapolis General Electric company built its new coal-fired plant in 1911 at 29th Avenue and Marshall Street N.E., following an explosion and fire that destroyed the Main Street Station., Construction on the nine-acre former brickyard site began immediately, and was accomplished in 190 days by 1,200 workers. A river channel was dredged, and nine miles of transmission lines connected the three buildings of the original complex. The million-dollar plant was planned for the anticipated future demands of the city's industries and businesses, but also for the growing domestic consumer market. "Time-saving devices," including vacuum cleaners, washing machines and irons were among household equipment promoted by Minneapolis General Electric. They advised women to adopt convenient appliances, noting "the happy woman who has availed herself of her electric hand-maiden during the day will have plenty of time to array herself in her best and sally forth in her electric brougham in the afternoon." The latter referred to the electric automobiles and trucks that the company predicted would soon be successful because of advances in electric batteries., In 1912, H.M. Byllesby and Company purchased the Minneapolis General Electric Company, and incorporated Northern States Power (NSP) in 1916. This view of Riverside Station was taken in 1922., Riverside Station, with Gould (Viterra) Elevator at left, looking northeast, 1923., The plant has been expanded a number of times, with seven generating units on line by 1938. The plant area now occupies the riverfront from Marshall Terrace Park (1915) at 28th Avenue N.E. to St. Anthony Parkway. In 1998, NSP merged with New Century Energies to form Xcel Energy. At the time, the Riverside Plant was the country's oldest, continuously-operating coal-burning facility. In the same year Xcel Energy began a two-year project to convert the Riverside plant from coal to natural gas., New Industries , Local industry was reinvigorated by post-World War II demand for metal goods and other defense products. The Foley Manufacturing Company was called "one of the most beautiful and modern industrial plants in the Midwest" when it opened in 1948. The plant overlooked Columbia Golf Course and was designed by Chicago architect Edward Sessions. In addition to producing millions of canteens for the war effort, the company was noted for its Foley Food Mill, which became known around the world. A utensil for mashing, ricing, or pureeing cooked vegetables and fruits, it is still in production., Foley Manufacturing Company plant, 1948., Foley Food Mill recipes and suggestions.