Minneapolis' Center of Sorrow

Last week was a difficult one for the Stone Arch Bridge area of Minneapolis, where a tragedy and a mishap had thrown a pall over an otherwise idyllic location.  Any peruser of my picture posts will know I like to frequent this area for photos.  The recent events brought me back to the area and as I looked around, I realized there has been "negative energy" in every direction.  Let's review.

1.) We'll start with the the most recent and surreal mishap.

On Thursday, August 15, a PedalPub turned over making a "high speed" turn between 1st Street and 5th Avenue.  Remarkably, there were no fatalities, but two people were taken by stretcher to the Hennepin County Medical Center for their injuries.  Reactions have been mixed. 

2.) The turned over PedalPub was a crushed beer can throw away from the scene of a true tragedy.

Darron Luhrsen, 26, drove his Pontiac Sunfire through a fence just a few yards north of the Upper St. Anthony Lock & Dam and the Stone Arch Bridge on Monday, August 12. Authorities are still investigating, but driving a Pontiac Sunfire could have been a contributing factor.

3.) The Stone Arch Bridge isn't just a witness to tragedy, but has also been a participant, as evidenced by this Romeo and Juliet couple on May 14, 2013.  An 18-year-old boy and his 16-year-old girlfriend from western Wisconsin went missing and then days later jumped from the bridge.

4.) Within four days of this joint suicide, a special education teacher in Roseville, jumped from the Hennepin Avenue Bridge after being released from his arrest for DUI.

5.) Captain Greybeard's family hasn't been immune to the negative vibes emanating from the Stone Arch Bridge region.  A few years ago, my father-in-law (FIL) and his wife visited us for a long weekend.  One of the MANY activities that weekend was a Segway tour around the Mill City ruins.  We started on the east side of the river, crossed the Stone Arch Bridge, and traveled around the ruins and up the west River Road.

All was well for the first half of the tour.  We got a little bit of the area's flour mill history and successfully negotiated around the walkers, runners, bikers, and steep grades by the river side.  We took a break at the Mill City ruins, where we had a snack of a cookie and drink (non-alcoholic).  We re-mounted and headed north on the River Road.  I was toward the back of the group when I heard my FIL's wife say in playful warning, "it looks like you're getting a little close there."  I didn't think much of the comment until I saw an older man get pitched headlong onto the grass next to the sidewalk.  My first thought was a shocked "oh geez," until I realized it was my FIL, and then it was a horrified "OH JEEZ!"  Apparently my wife and he had traded paint and both had fallen from their mounts.  Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, outside of their prides, and a large, purple bruise my FIL told us about later.

6.) Perhaps the most famous of Minneapolis' recent tragedies happened on August 1, 2007 when the 35W bridge collapsed during rush hour traffic.

Almost 200 people were hurt during the accident, including 13 who died.  Last year, there was a five year anniversary commemorating the event.  An intense thunderstorm had moved into the city at the same time.

7.) On the east side of the river is a small artist haven known as the Soap Factory.  The location got its name from its original use back in the 19th century.  The process of making soap, like sausage, is not an appealing one.

The Soap Factory was, of course, an old soap factory, pumping out suds during the soap boom of the 1880s. And you know what soap’s made from, right? Animal carcasses. Thousands of them. The flow of bloody skins through the factory rivaled the current of the great river next door, and at the turn of the century, the building’s appetite for flesh made it a repository for stray dogs that the city paid to be rounded up and strangled. Not gruesome enough for you? Consider, then, that before the warehouse was built, the site was home to a small business that produced artificial limbs for soldiers wounded in the Civil War. That’s some creepy stuff.

This isn't necessarily "Native American burial ground" kind of stuff, but it has lead to the Soap Factory being listed as one of the top haunted locations in Minnesota.  Anything with entities "bordering on the demonic" is enough for me to stay away from it.

8.) Finally, we'll wrap up our pleasant retrospective with the event that got the Mill City Ruins it's name.  On May 2, 1878, the Washburn Mill A exploded when flour dust was ignited by two dry millstones running together and creating a spark, killing 18 workers at two mills.  Two University of MN professors were able to prove this with experiments - probably one of the first instances of forensic crime solving in Minnesota.  This wouldn't be the last time the mill faced disaster.  It was rebuilt in 1885, then caught fire in 1921.  It was made obsolete and shutdown in 1965. Less than 30 years later, in 1991, when the location was used by squatters and homeless people, it caught fire again.

Today, the area where Washburn Mill A stood, and its ruins still stand, has been converted to high-end condos and the mill is part of a museum that shows the history of the area.  In spite of the tragedies, the Stone Arch Bridge region is a beautiful place to walk around, take photos, and people watch.  This will always be a place where I can go to unwind.