Across the Mississippi from Minnesota's capital, St. Paul, is this handsome city with skyscrapers, lovely parks, and teeming industries. Minneapolis still has a frontier vigor; it is growing and brimming with confidence in itself and its future. Clean and modern, a north country fountainhead of culture, Minneapolis is also a university town, a river town, and a lake town.

A surprising array of nightlife, a revitalized downtown with many fine stores, a rich, year-round sports program, a symphony orchestra, and theaters provide an excellent opportunity to enjoy the niceties of city life. Minneapolis has one of the largest one-campus universities in the country and more than 400 churches and synagogues. Hunting and fishing, which are among the state's major tourist attractions, are easily accessible. The Minneapolis park system, with over a hundred parks, has been judged one of the best in the country. The city has also been a consistent winner of traffic safety awards.

Capital of Upper Midwest agriculture, with one of the largest cash grain markets in the world, Minneapolis is the processing and distribution center for a large sector of America's cattle lands and grainfields. Several of the largest milling companies in the world have their headquarters here. Graphic arts, electronics, medical technology, machinery, lumber, paper, and chemicals are also major industries.

Minneapolis was born when two mills were built to cut lumber and grind flour for the men of a nearby fort. Despite the fact that these were reservation lands and that cabins were torn down by army troops almost as soon as settlers built them, the community of St. Anthony developed at St. Anthony Falls around the twin mills. In 1885, the boundaries of the reservation were changed, and the squatters' claims became valid. The swiftly growing community took the new name of Minneapolis (Minne, a Sioux word for water, and polis, Greek for city).