I know what you are thinking. But this isn't Poseidon, God of the Oceans. (Unless you were thinking something else. Like, "Get dressed, dude. This is the Police Station!") This is a figure carved from Carerra Marble in Italy on commission from the city of St. Louis Missouri to commmemorate the grandeur of the Mississippi River. That makes him the embodiment, so to speak, of Old Man River. And like the song says, he don't do nuthin. He don't pick cotton. He just keep rollin along. At least until that 'gator under his knee makes a move.
Why is he in Minneapolis, in the Municipal Building foyer?
Well the official story is that St. Louis couldn't afford him, so some civic minded Minneapolis movers and shakers had him crated up and set down in the City and County building. I have no historical material to support the idea that St. Louis didn't want this on their hands when they saw what their commission had bought them.
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