National Trust For Historic Preservation Names Pillsbury “A” Mill complex in Minneapolis, Minn., to Its 2011 List of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places®

Posted June 14, 2011 | Contact pr@savingplaces.org or 202-588-6141

Washington, D.C. (June 15, 2011) – Today, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Pillsbury “A” Mill Complex in Minneapolis, Minn. to its 2011 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This annual list highlights important examples of the nation’s architectural, cultural and natural heritage that are at risk of destruction or irreparable damage. Members of the public can show their support for saving the endangered places by texting “PLACES” to 25383 to donate $10, which will go towards saving historic places through National Trust outreach programs.

Long before the Pillsbury Dough Boy became an advertising icon, the company founded by Charles Alfred Pillsbury was known for its state-of-the-art Minneapolis flour mill complex on the banks of the Mississippi River. A masterpiece of industrial architecture and the largest and most advanced facility in the world at the time of its completion in 1881, the Pillsbury “A” Mill Complex set a new standard in both production and design. An industrial workhorse, the mill complex helped to make Minneapolis the flour milling capital of the world from 1880 to 1930.

The Pillsbury “A” Mill complex includes several structures and an extensive system of headraces, tailraces and drop shafts that generated power for the entire complex. Many large grain mills of the era suffered catastrophic fires, but the Pillsbury “A” Mill still survives intact.  The complex, a National Historic Landmark, is located within the locally and nationally designated St. Anthony Falls Historic District and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service.  A holistic and integrated strategic plan for sensitive re-development of the mill complex is the first step toward saving the historically significant East Bank milling district, an area that is a prominent feature of downtown Minneapolis.  

 “All across the country, jobs are being created and tax revenues generated by communities that choose to rehabilitate the remains of their industrial past,” said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “This incredibly significant complex of buildings with its prominent perch on the river offers enormous potential – not only for the rehabilitation of a landmark site, but also for development of green energy and sustainable design. Working together, the developers, city officials and preservationists have the opportunity to transform the ‘A’ Mill into a national model of innovation.”

The mill closed in 2003, and a local developer acquired all of the buildings and the surrounding site for a mixed-use complex that would couple historic rehabilitation with new construction. The developers worked closely with city officials on a creative plan that, though controversial, was eventually approved by the City of Minneapolis. Before construction could begin, however, the project financing failed, and in the fall of 2010, the property was foreclosed upon. It is now owned by a bank that has signed purchase agreements with two separate development firms. While applauding the fact that developers are interested in the property, local residents fear that the site will be broken up for piecemeal development, an outcome that could have negative consequences for the site’s historic buildings and landscape. Buildings that are more challenging to rehabilitate could sit vacant for years, deteriorating due to lack of maintenance and vandalism.

A comprehensive development strategy is needed on a project of this scale, to coordinate the interests and efforts of the private sector, government, preservation partners and other interested parties who will be critical to the project’s success.

Members of the public are invited to learn more about what they can do to support these and hundreds of other endangered sites, experience first-hand accounts of these places, and share stories and photos of their own at www.PreservationNation.org/Places.

The 2011 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places (in alphabetical order):

Bear Butte, Meade County, S.D. – Bear Butte, the 4,426-foot mountain called Mato Paha by the Lakota in the Black Hills of South Dakota, is sacred ground for as many as 17 Native American tribes. A place of prayer, meditation, and peace, this National Historic Landmark is threatened by proposed wind and oil energy development that will negatively impact the sacred site and further degrade the cultural landscape.

Belmead-on-the-James, Powhatan County, Va. – A little-known landmark of African American heritage, the 2,000-acre site along Virginia’s James River was transformed by Saint Katherine Drexel from a slave-holding plantation into a pair of innovative schools for African American and Native American students.  Closed in the 1970s, the historic buildings set in rolling hills and wooded glades of the riverfront campus, including a striking Gothic Revival manor house designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, are deteriorating and need emergency repairs. 

China Alley, Hanford, Calif. – In 1877, Chinese immigrants settled in this San Joaquin Valley town and found strength and community far from home in China Alley, a vibrant rural Chinatown. Today, most of its historic buildings are suffering from deterioration and disuse and are vulnerable to insensitive alteration as there is no local historic preservation staff or commission to enforce preservation protections.  

Fort Gaines, Dauphin Island, Ala. – A place of spectacular beauty and stirring history, Dauphin Island is home to Historic Fort Gaines, a nationally significant fortress that played a pivotal role in the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay. Today, Fort Gaines' shoreline is eroding as much as nine feet per year, and continued erosion threatens this significant historic treasure.

Greater Chaco Landscape, N.M. – Located across a broad swath of northwestern New Mexico are hundreds of Native American archaeological and cultural sites that help unlock the mysteries of the prehistoric Chacoan people.  These sacred sites, and the fragile prehistoric roads that connect them, are in jeopardy due to increased oil and gas exploration and extraction.

Isaac Manchester Farm, Avella, Pa. – For more than two centuries, this 400-acre farm—with a stately brick Georgian manor house and historic outbuildings—has been home to eight generations of one family. A remarkable time capsule of colonial farm life, Manchester Farm is threatened by longwall coal mining.

John Coltrane House, Dix Hills, N.Y. – One of America’s most widely acclaimed jazz artists, John Coltrane lived with his young family in a ranch house in Long Island, N.Y., until his untimely death in 1967. Today, the home where Coltrane wrote his iconic masterpiece, “A Love Supreme,” deteriorates due to lack of funds. Although a local group has taken ownership of the property and hopes to restore and interpret the site as an education center, the effort sorely needs broader attention and support.

National Soldiers Home Historic District, Milwaukee, Wis. – With its bucolic setting and diverse collection of historic buildings, Milwaukee’s Soldiers Home offered welcome refuge for generations of American veterans.  Today, the campus is threatened by a pattern of deferred maintenance, which has left historic buildings unused and on the verge of collapse.

Pillsbury A Mill, Minneapolis, Minn. – A masterpiece of industrial architecture and the largest and most advanced facility in the world at the time of its completion in 1881, the Pillsbury “A” Mill Complex stands vacant and is in danger of piecemeal development, which could strip this National Historic Landmark of its tremendous potential for re-use and rehabilitation.

Prentice Women’s Hospital, Chicago, Ill. – A concrete and glass cloverleaf-shaped icon, Prentice Women’s Hospital has added drama and interest to the Chicago skyline for nearly four decades.  Despite its cutting edge, progressive architecture, Prentice Hospital faces imminent demolition.

Sites Imperiled by State Actions, U.S. – In state legislatures across the country, cuts to preservation funding and incentives imperil hundreds of thousands of historic places. If key sources of funding and incentives are lost across the United States, thousands of irreplaceable sites and national treasures may suffer untold consequences. 

To download high resolution images of this year’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in advance of June 15, please contact pr@nthp.org. On or after June 15, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/about-us/press-center/ to register and download high resolution images and video.

America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places has identified more than 200 threatened one-of-a-kind historic treasures since 1988.  Whether these sites are urban districts or rural landscapes, Native American landmarks or 20th-century sports arenas, entire communities or single buildings, the list spotlights historic places across America that are threatened by neglect, insufficient funds, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy. The designation has been a powerful tool for raising awareness and rallying resources to save endangered sites from every region of the country.  At times, that attention has garnered public support to quickly rescue a treasured landmark; while in other instances, it has been the impetus of a long battle to save an important piece of our history. The list has been so successful in galvanizing preservation efforts across the country and rallying resources to save endangered places that, in just two decades, only a handful of sites have been lost. A one-time donation of $10.00 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance when you text to donate.