The Grain Merchants: An Illustrated History of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange

About this book

In the fall of 1881 just one year after Minneapolis surpassed St. Louis as the nations leading producer of flour twenty-one prominent businessmen met in the basement of a fledging bank to create one of the Mill Citys most enduring commercial enterprises. Known originally as the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce the Minneapolis Grain Exchange provided a market for most of the grains grown in the rich dark soil of the Upper Midwest particularly the much-prized spring wheat. Throughout the decades buyers and sellers on the trading floor engaged in elaborate rituals that helped move farmers grain to the consumers table. As its members traded thousands then millions then billions of dollars in cash grains and futures the exchange grew into one of the premier grain markets in the world. Its been 125 years since the citys first generation of business leadersmillers and manufacturers bankers and railroad menfounded the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. What began as an essential element in the making of modern Minneapolis as well as personal and philanthropic fortune continues to play a vital role in the citys and the regions economic success.