ARCHIVED [15/04/24] Minneapolis River Walk: History Along the Mississippi

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ARCHIVED [15/04/24] Minneapolis River Walk: History Along the Mississippi

Minneapolis, Minnesota audio tour: ARCHIVED [15/04/24] Minneapolis River Walk: History Along the Mississippi
This is a 2.1mi walking tour
It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.
$7.99
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About the Tour

Welcome to Minneapolis, the home of Nerf Balls, the singer and songwriter Prince, and, yes, Zubaz pants. On this tour, we'll stroll along the Mississippi River and cross it on the Stone Arch Bridge. We'll end our walk on an island overlooking St. Anthony Falls.

Along the way, you’ll hear about:

  • The history of the milling industry in Minneapolis
  • The massive Washburn A Mill explosion of 1878
  • The 35W Bridge collapse of 2007
  • The secret history of Funkytown
  • An ugly mansion with 86 TVs
  • Cougar attacks
  • The untimely death of Tiny Tim
  • The hiring of a hitman in St. Paul
  • ”Untalented but adventurous” German artists, to quote the author Jonathan Raban
  • How long it takes a single drop of water to travel down the Mississippi – and how long it take a person to make the same journey

Whether you're passing through or are here to stay, we'll learn and laugh while we move through the city's past and present together.

PHOTO CREDITS: Meet Minneapolis (the good photos) Minnesota Historical Society (Mill City Museum photos), and the author (blurry, badly-lit route photos).

Please note, there is temporary construction just after the Stone Arch Bridge, so you'll need to go along Main Street for a short distance after the bridge, before reconnecting with the tour route.

Tour Producer

avatar

Frank Bures

11 tours

Frank Bures is an award-winning writer and essayist. His books include Pushing the River: An Epic Battle, a Lost History, a Near Death, and Other True Canoeing Stories, Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology, and The Geography of Madness: Penis Thieves, Voodoo Death, and the Search for the Meaning of the World's Strangest Syndromes, which Newsweek called one of the best travel books of the decade.

His work has appeared in Harper’s, The Atlantic, Outside, and other publications, and has been included or selected as “Notable” in the Best American Travel Writing, Best American Essays and Best American Sports Writing nineteen times.

Apart from giving tours of his hometown, Bures has tracked down genital thieves in Nigeria, gone on Sasquatch expeditions in the north woods and competed in the World Rock Skipping Championships on the Great Lakes. He has interviewed everyone from sitting U.S. Senators to Klingon Karaoke aficionados to plant psychics. He has lived in Italy, Tanzania, New Zealand and Wisconsin. He still speaks Italian and Swahili passably well, and used to be able to get by in Thai. Currently he lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters, not far from the Mississippi River, which he grew up on further to the south.

Preview Location

Location 1

Open Book Literary Center

Greetings! and welcome to Minneapolis, also known as the City of Lakes, or Mill City, or sometimes the “Mini Apple”. It’s the home of Prince, and the Minneapolis Sound, and The Minnesota Vikings, as well as the birthplace of RollerBlades, Nerf Balls, Cheerios and, for better o... Read More

How VoiceMap Works

Major Landmarks

  • The Stone Arch Bridge

  • The Guthrie

  • Open Book Literary Center

  • U.S. Bank Stadium

  • Mill Ruins Park

  • Water Power Park

  • St Anthony Main

  • Nicollet Island

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.
  1. Total distance
    3km
  2. Distance back to start location
    1km

Directions to Starting Point

Open Book Literary Center, 1011 S Washington Ave #200, Minneapolis, MN 55415

There's usually plenty of street parking and there's a lot at the Open Book Center. If no space is available in the lot or on the street out front, there's also a municipal parking lot right across the street from the nearby Guthrie Theater.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Open Book Literary Center, Gold Medal Park, The Guthrie Gift Shop, Mill City Museum, St. Anthony Falls Visitor Center, St. Anthony Main, Nicollet Island.

Best time of day

Anytime.

Precautions

If you stay long enough, you may not want to leave!

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App Store Review
“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”
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