Download tour
Pictures: Past and Present
These images provide a look at the falls in the past and the present. They provide a glimpse into what the area use to look like. All the black and white images came from the Minnesota Historical Society's archives. If you drag your mouse over the images below, you will see what the same area looks like today.
The Stone Arch Bridge, with Spirit Island in the foreground/ Stone Arch Bridge Today
Spirit Island being dismantled/ Present Location of Spirit Island
The original government mill for Fort Snelling / The same area today.
The Stone Arch Bridge from above the Tenth Avenue Bridge/ The Stone Arch Bridge today
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory 1941 / St. Anthony Falls Laboratory 2011
Sketch of Cataract, Holly, Union, and Artic Mills ca. 1861 / Ruins of those mills 2011
West Side Mills / Mill Ruins Park
Working on the West Side canal beneath First Avenue 1890 / Canal covering today 2011
The corner of Washington Avenue and Second Avenue looking east toward Saint Anthony Falls 1857 (Photographer: Benjamin Franklin Upton) / Corner of Washington Avenue and Second Avenue 2011
View down Hennepin Ave. toward second suspension bridge with giant lamp (see "Hyrdoelectricity" link under "History of St. Anthony Falls") 1884 / View down Hennepin Ave. from the corner of Hennepin and Fourth Street, with fourth suspension bridge in background 2011
Second Hennepin Ave. Suspension Bridge 1880 (Photographer: Jacoby) / Fourth Hennepin Ave. Suspension Bridge 2011