The company known today as General Mills…
1866 CE
The company known today as General Mills originated in the Minneapolis Milling Company, founded in 1856 by Illinois Congressman Robert Smith, which had leased power rights to mills operating along Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River.
Cadwallader C. Washburn had acquired the company shortly after its founding and had hired his brother, William D. Washburn to assist in the company's development.
In 1866, the Washburns get into the business themselves, building the Washburn "B" Mill at the falls.
At the time, the building is considered to be so large and output so vast that it cannot possibly sustain itself.