Water has been an important factor in how many cities have formed. The city of Minneapolis is one particular case to analyze. One must look at historical geography to understand how physical geography has had an impact on economic geography.
The city of Minneapolis was built in 1856 as a town. Fort Snelling nearby had attracted people before. The city was incorporated in 1867. What made Minneapolis grow was its water resources. Industry grew around St. Anthony Falls, the highest waterfall along the Mississippi river.
This waterfall provided a very important source of hydropower. With plenty of timber in Minnesota, sawmills operated from water power. With railroad service, grain and other goods would be shipped into Minneapolis. Flour mills would flourish in Minneapolis. One flour mill made enough flour to make 12 million loaves of bread per day. Companies like Pillsbury and General Mills would form. Minneapolis would get a nickname from this, "the mill city".
Water played a very important part in Minneapolis' history. It was with water that hydropower was used to power the mills, and helped Minneapolis grow.
Minneapolis is also home to 6 lakes. It has developed the nickname "city of lakes" for this very reason. The cities lakes are very important sources of recreation for many residents. Activities such as fishing, swimming, ice skating, and boating are among the forms of recreation that residents can do at these lakes.These lakes formed as a result of glaciers melting and retreating. The melting and retreating of glaciers left behind lakes in Minneapolis, as well as the rest of Minnesota. It also carved out how the Mississippi river would flow through the rocks and soil. Minneapolis' name comes from the Dakota work "mni" and the Greek word "polis", literally translating to Water City.
Minneapolis can be thought of as the Water City. Water has played an important role for the Twin Cities. This aspect of physical geography has historically been important to the economy, and helped the city grow.
Sources: http://www1.umn.edu/marp/dig/site3.html
http://www.fromsitetostory.org/tcm/tcmintro.asp
http://www.fromsitetostory.org/sources/papers/mnarch49/49a-concl.asp
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