Minneapolis was first settled on the banks of the
Mississippi River at St.Anthony Falls.
The Falls drew settlers from Fort Snelling,
who came upriver to harness the water-power for
lumber mills. The settlement that grew on the west bank was
"St.Anthony", later joined with the east bank to
become Minneapolis.
There was always been a bridge connecting the east and
west bank via Nicollet Island, near St.Anthony Falls.
The Hennepin Avenue suspension bridge stands there today.
The first few streets adjacent to the river on the east
bank were called the Gateway district. Between 1880 and
urban renewal in the 1950s, they were filled with bars,
flop houses, and brothels.
The IDS and metrodome might be recognizable
to non-residents, but I don't have close-up pictures of them
here. You can see them in the skyline
pictures, though. Other buildings pictured here include
the Basillica of St.Mary, the
Orpheum and State theaters, and the Milwaukee Road depot.