General Mills Research Laboratories

General Mills, Inc. was founded in Minneapolis in 1928 by James Ford Bell and the merger of several milling companies. In 1930 General Mills paid $4000 for the initial land they bought at 2008/2010 E. Hennepin Ave. for the site of their research laboratories. The initial building was constructed by the August Cederstrand Company and completed in August of 1930. Later that same month, an open house was held to showcase the milling industry’s first research laboratory right here at 2008/2010 E. Hennepin Ave.

The number of staff at the 2010 Research Laboratories grew from 8 in 1930 to 202 in 1945. General Mills continued acquiring land, constructing buildings and expanding their laboratories at this site until deciding in 1951 that they would need 1000+ acres to adequately accommodate their anticipated growth. They opened their headquarters in Golden Valley in 1958.

The Washburn Crosby Company, a forerunner of General Mills, created Betty Crocker in 1921 as a pen name for its consumer response department. Wheaties was introduced by the Washburn Crosby Company in 1924 after being accidentally discovered by a Minneapolis health clinician three years earlier. Kix, the first ready-to-eat puffed cereal, was introduced in 1937 and Cheerioats was introduced in 1941, changing its name to Cheerios in 1945. In 1953, the mechanical division invented the Ryan Flight Recorder, otherwise known as the “black box”. This site was one of the first in the nation to receive Superfund monies and is largely remediated today.

The Como History Group brochure created for a tour of the 2010 E Hennepin Ave site can be found here. The text of the brochure can be found on this web page.

General Mills company archives