In the spring of 2001 the water roared from the north and the Mississippi river rose. The April spring floodwaters came through Minneapolis and made a great spectator show.

Running across the river south of the Hennepin Ave bridge you find the old Stone Arch Bridge.  The Union Station, home to the Chicago Northwestern and Great Northern railroads of a bygone era, has been demolished. The tracks to the station used to cross the river over the Stone Arch Bridge but now the tracks are gone also. I used to stand at the Union Station and look out the window, one foot on a steam valve of the radiator beneath the window. My father commuted to Chicago via rail and on Friday evening we would go to meet the train. If I leaned far over and pressed my 8 year old face to the glass, I could see the train approaching winding across the bridge. I then had enough time to dash down the grand staircase to the lower level and stand on the platform as the Chicago Northwestern "400" was announced on the PA system and pulled into the station.

Pedestrians and rubber wheel trolleys now use the bridge and the bridge has become an excellent vantage point for the view of the river.

Across Hennepin avenue to the south from the old site of the Union Station the post office still stands. The lower level used to have docks and rail and truck facilities for off loading the mail of the upper Midwest.

The St Anthony Falls area between the Hennepin Ave bridge and the Stone Arch bridge still has the upper lock for barge traffic. In the spring before the barges start coming up the river from St Louis and other river cities of the south, the gates are opened and the water roars through. Relieving some of the pressure on the St Anthony Falls and dam, the water cascades and the spray mist hangs above the falls and drifts to the spectators watching from above.

The Corp of Engineers has an observation post for no charge to give history of the area and show the workings of the lock. It is fun in the summer to watch the barge traffic, the paddle wheel excursion boats and all the recreational traffic of the river that use the lock.

Edited  Sunday, 22 August 2010