Pillsbury, Betty Crocker and Minneapolis’ Flour Milling Empire

Take a walk down the bread aisle of a grocery store and you’ll find yourself surrounded by household names: Betty Crocker cake mixes, Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, General Mills Cocoa Puffs.

These brands share a common history: They all were born in Minneapolis, once considered the “Flour Milling Capital of the World.” 

At the industry’s peak in 1916, the city’s flour mills produced around 18.5 million barrels of flour annually — enough to make 12 million loaves of bread daily, according to the Minneapolis Historical Society. 

But after World War I, the city’s flour milling business declined. Today, the ruins of flour mills in the Mill District offer a glimpse into the city’s former flour milling empire. 

“A number of factors contributed to Minneapolis becoming the flour milling capital of the world,” Dave Stevens, Mill City Museum site manager, said. “One is just the basics of some favorable geography here.”

The state’s prairie lands helped supply the massive amount of wheat required for flour milling. 

In particular, the Red River Valley, which stretches from northwestern Minnesota to Canada, was a vital source of wheat for the demanding flour mills. Considered one of the flattest places on earth, its terrain, coupled with its fertile soil, made it ideal for mechanized agriculture.

In 1873, the bankruptcy of the Northern Pacific Railway led to plots of land in the valley being sold for just 15 cents. Investors took advantage of the valley’s perfect conditions, creating enormous farms that were over 3,000 acres. These “bonanza farms” connected to Minneapolis through rail networks that cheapened the supply line for both farmers and millers, according to Stevens. 

And for power, the flour mills relied on St. Anthony Falls. Stretching almost 50 feet tall, the landmark is the only natural waterfall on the Mississippi River and was the heartbeat of Minneapolis’ flour milling industry. 

But favorable geography wasn’t the only factor that gave rise to Minneapolis’ dominance. Technological innovations also allowed mills to produce flour that became popular among consumers. 

“The spring wheat that you could grow in the Upper Midwest easily using the technologies of the day made kind of a lousy flour,” Stevens said.

Flour milled from spring wheat was brown, speckled, and tended to spoil quickly. Beyond the local region, there wasn’t a strong market for the product. As a solution, the Washburn-Crosby Company (later General Mills) adapted a Hungarian process called gradual reduction. 

The new flour was not only a beautiful white color but was also high in gluten, making it excellent for baking bread. And, it helped put Minneapolis flour on the map. 

“All of a sudden, Minneapolis, which was sort of lagging in the market, was prized by bakers around the country — and soon all over the world when they broke into the European market in 1880,” Stevens said. 

By 1916, Minneapolis reached the zenith of its flour milling, producing over 20% of all U.S. flour, according to the Minneapolis Historical Society. 

This was in part due to European wartime demand, which was huge business for the Minneapolis flour millers, with some even donating flour to Europe to aid in the war efforts. 

The growth of the flour milling industry was also tied to the city’s population boom. Within 20 years, the population of Minneapolis had grown from 13,000 in 1870 to almost 165,000, according to the Minneapolis Historical Society.

Immigrants were part of this growing population and were an important part of the labor force. 

“It was definitely a mix of both native-born and immigrant laborers,” Stevens said. “There were a lot of Scandinavian immigrants from Norway and Sweden that worked here, but also some Eastern European immigrants.”

Minneapolis flour milling began to decline after World War I. 

“With electricity becoming more widely available, the advantage that Minneapolis had of the energy from St. Anthony Falls wasn’t as much of an advantage,” Stevens said. 

Additionally, changes in railroad rates and tariffs transformed the nature of the flour milling industry. 

Before, it was cheaper to mill wheat closer to where the wheat was grown. But with such a small profit margin, it became more advantageous to mill wheat closer to population centers. Combined with farmers diversifying their produce and plant diseases ravaging crops, Minneapolis was no longer the epicenter of national flour milling. 

In 1930, Buffalo, New York, surpassed Minneapolis in annual flour production, producing 11 million barrels of flour annually.

In order to adapt, Minneapolis flour milling companies expanded their products and introduced competitive advertising strategies. 

“These companies realized, ‘The future of our business is not going to be in milling flour. The future is going to be creating packaged foods that are convenient,’” said John Crippen, executive director at Hennepin History Museum. 

For example, the Minneapolis-based Washburn-Crosby Company released Wheaties in 1924 as a response to the industry’s decline and a national trend to consume more daily fiber. The company’s transition towards packaged products, including the iconic Betty Crocker cake mixes, allowed it to survive as one of America’s biggest food corporations. 

And in order to distinguish themselves from other brands, milling companies turned to advertising. 

The Washburn-Crosby Company, later General Mills, purchased a local radio station and renamed it to WCCO after their company’s initials. They aired the first jingle in radio history, “Have You Tried Wheaties,” sung by a barbershop quartet. 

Nonetheless, the flour milling industry eventually moved away from Minneapolis. The Washburn A Mill, one of the largest in the nation, closed in 1965. And in 2003, the Pillsbury A mill became the last riverfront mill to shut down, according to the Minneapolis Historical Society. 

Now, only one industrial flour mill operates in the city — a small fraction of the 25 mills active during the industry’s peak. 

While some Minneapolis flour mills remain abandoned, others have been repurposed. 

The Pillsbury A Mill has transformed into an artist complex and the Crown Roller Mill has become office space. 

And the Washburn A Mill is now a museum. 

Through taking a freight elevator up its iconic “Flour Tower,” visitors can imagine what working in a flour mill was like. 

“There are projections, and then you hear the voices of people, and these are real people that worked in the Washburn A Mill in the last 10 years or so that the mill operated,” Stevens said. 

At the end of the ride, the Flour Tower drops visitors off at the top of the museum, giving them a spectacular view of St. Anthony Falls. 

Souvenirs like the Washburn-Crosby Company logo mug, marked by the phrase “Gold Medal Flour,” remind tourists of the flour mill’s nationwide legacy. 

“It had profound changes for the Midwest,” Stevens said. “It was the Minneapolis millers that really created a national [and] international market for highly refined white flour on an industrial scale.”