Minneapolis City Map Poster

About Minneapolis

Minneapolis is one of the country's most literate cities. The Minneapolis Public Library was created in 1885 with private donations. In 2014, it had 13 million visits and circulated nearly 16 million items among its 21 branches, which are located throughout the city. It has been ranked by "Reader's Digest" as America's Best Library and named a national treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The name Minneapolis is attributed to Charles Hoag, an early settler who is credited with coining Minnesota (land of water) over Minnehaha Falls in 1821; he may have been inspired by a similar-sounding Dakota word for water ("mni") or waterfall ("minne"). Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota (white water). Milkisota eventually became "Minnehaha".