Clio Logo
This is a contributing entry and appears exclusively within that tour.Learn More.
As you walk across the Hennepin Avenue bridge, you’re following the path of the first bridge to cross the Mississippi. Today’s Hennepin Avenue Bridge opened in 1990. Not only will this bring you back to the west bank of the river, it’s also a great opportunity to see the Grain Belt beer sign. You can see the foundations of the first two bridges beneath the railings in First Bridge Park.

The first suspension bridge across the Mississippi

The first suspension bridge across the Mississippi

The first suspension bridge across the Mississippi

The first suspension bridge across the Mississippi

The Hennepin Avenue Bridge today

The Hennepin Avenue Bridge today

Bridge construction may not seem like a celebratory moment these days, but when the first bridge opened in January 1855 it was a big event. If you attended on opening day,

  • You would have seen a parade of sleighs, heard a marching band, and felt a cannon blast in celebration as the group went across the Suspension Bridge. After the parade went through Minneapolis and back into St. Anthony, you could have enjoyed eating a celebratory dinner.

On an ordinary day, you had to pay a toll to cross. You were also required to keep only a moderate walking pace due to safety concerns (no running!).To cross, pedestrians paid three cents (five cents for a round trip); horses and mules cost fifteen cents each; single-horse carriages cost twenty-five cents; cows and oxen cost ten cents each; and pigs and sheep cost two cents each. 

In 1872 Minneapolis and St. Anthony merged and began work on a larger, sturdier bridge. By 1890 a steel arch bridge carried the streetcars and automobiles of a growing city and lasted 100 years.

Hage, Christopher and Rushika. Nicollet Island: History and Architecture. Minneapolis: Nodin Press, LLC, 2010.

Pennefeather, Shannon M. Mill City: A Visual History of the Minneapolis Mill District. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2003.

Reicher, Matt. Father Louis Hennepin Suspension Bridge, MNopedia. May 5th 2014. Accessed August 13th 2020. https://www.mnopedia.org/structure/father-louis-hennepin-suspension-bridge.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Minnesota Historical Society Collections

Minnesota Historical Society Collections