Don’t know if this is ‘trivia’ or just, like, a history lesson but; my little village used to be a major name in rails. We were a major stop for industry and even travel, but certain politicians decided austerity was the way to go for some stupid reason and the town collapsed in almost a single generation because they didn’t update the infrastructure.

Granted it probably wouldn’t have lasted too much longer anyway because rail died in America, but still.

We have a street named after former mayor Harry Baals.

His son is trying to say it’s pronounced “Bails” but no one is going for it.

Minneapolis got the nickname Mill City because of how many flour mills it had. They were quite dangerous because the flour particles would ignite from any errant sparks. One mill blew up and was turned into a museum:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_City_Museum

The first Washburn A Mill, built by Cadwallader C. Washburn in 1874, was declared the largest flour mill in the world upon its completion, and contributed to the development of Minneapolis. On May 2, 1878, a spark ignited airborne flour dust within the mill, creating an explosion that demolished the Washburn A and killed 14 workers instantly. The ensuing fire resulted in the deaths of four more people, destroyed five other mills, and reduced Minneapolis’s milling capacity by one third. Known as the Great Mill Disaster, the explosion made national news and served as a focal point that led to reforms in the milling industry. In order to prevent the buildup of combustible flour dust, ventilation systems and other precautionary devices were installed in mills throughout the country.

We’ve got the shoe factory from Jumanji (1995) and the school from the book The Tommyknockers.