Historic Walking Tour of St. Anthony Falls from the UMN Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Use this document from the University of Minnesota Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences to soak up a little history while you enjoy a walk along the river:

https://www.esci.umn.edu/courses/1001/1001_kirkby/SAFL/WEBSITEPAGES/PDF%20and%20Word%20Tours/A%20Historic%20Walking%20Tour%20of%20St.Anthony%20Falls.pdf

Excerpt from the document:

This self-guided tour, the most comprehensive on this site, identifies forty historic sites around the area. Some of these sites are now mill ruins; others have become apartments and restaurants. Speaking to the size of the packet, this tour is about three miles long, so prepare appropriately (i.e. dress warm in winter or have plenty of water bottles in summer). The tour will not give you an overview of the history of the falls, which you can learn from both signs you will pass on the trail and this website. However, it will identify and give a little history about the many historical sites around the falls, along with some background on the geology of the falls itself. 

The tour begins and ends at Father Hennepin Park, located near the intersection of Main Street SE and Sixth Avenue SE. Main Street has metered parking, and the tour will take about two hours to complete. However, you can find free parking in the Marcy Holmes residential neighborhood a few blocks to the west.