Built in 1883 for James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railway, the Stone Arch Bridge curves across the Mississippi on 23 graceful stone arches — the only bridge of its kind on the entire river. Today its trains are joggers, cyclists and sunset-watchers, and the view it frames — St. Anthony Falls foaming below, the downtown skyline rising behind — is Minneapolis’s signature postcard.
The bridge anchors the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Trail, a 1.8-mile loop linking the Mill City Museum, the Mill Ruins Park, the Guthrie Theater’s cantilevered “Endless Bridge” and the cafés of St. Anthony Main. Summer brings the Stone Arch Bridge Festival of the arts to its riverbanks.
Cross it at golden hour, when the limestone glows honey-colored and the falls turn to lace. This is Minneapolis at its most cinematic.
