Stone Arch Bridge★5.0

How to Get There

From Minneapolis (0 mi): Take Washington Avenue South to Portland Avenue and continue to the Stone Arch Bridge at 100 Portland Ave, where the historic pedestrian bridge connects downtown Minneapolis with St. Anthony Main and offers panoramic views of St. Anthony Falls, the Mississippi River, and the Mill District.

Overview

The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis. It is the only arched bridge made of stone on the entire Mississippi River. It is the second oldest bridge on the river next to Eads Bridge. The bridge was built to connect the railway system to the new Union Depot, which at that time was planned to be built between Hennepin Avenue and Nicollet Avenue.

Located between the 3rd Avenue Bridge and the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge, the Stone Arch Bridge was built in 1883 by railroad tycoon James J. Hill for his Great Northern Railway, and accessed the former passenger station located about a mile to the west, on the west bank of the river.

The structure is now used as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 as a part of the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District. The bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1974.

The bridge offers views of the Minneapolis skyline, Pillsbury "A" Mill, the Mill City Museum, and many other places in the district, and is near both the restaurants of Main St SE and the Guthrie Theater.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Stone Arch Bridge (Minneapolis)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0