What did people do before electricity? Imagine you’re standing here in 1850, right in front of Saint Anthony Falls. The roar is deafening. The air vibrates with the raw power of the Mississippi River plunging over the precipice. This wasn’t just a scenic wonder. Saint Anthony Falls was Minneapolis’s energy source. Entrepreneurs, particularly from New England, were drawn here. They saw the potential of this natural powerhouse to drive the machinery of industry. The first commercial sawmill at the Falls was already operational, built in 1848 by Ard Godfrey. More mills followed, hungry to process the lumber from Minnesota’s vast forests. The river’s energy was harnessed through a system of dams and canals. The roar of the falls was soon accompanied by the rhythmic whirring of saw blades and the grind of millstones. Saint Anthony Falls wasn’t just a waterfall. It was the engine that propelled Minneapolis from a frontier outpost to a burgeoning industrial center.
Parker Hannifin Hydraulic Pump and Power Systems Division
What if I told you the hydraulic power you use every day, from the machinery in a factory to the