The aging ADM grain elevator rises over the Harris Machinery Co. building in Minneapolis, a reminder of the city’s long industrial relationship with grain milling and riverfront commerce. These concrete storage silos and metal-clad headhouses were once central to moving Midwestern grain through the milling district, part of an infrastructure network that fueled Minneapolis’s identity as the “Flour Milling Capital of the World.” Harris Machinery Co., a longtime supplier of industrial equipment, occupies the foreground, its brick façade contrasting with the weathered surfaces of the towering elevator. The structures together illustrate the layered industrial history of the city’s working riverfront.

The Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) headquarters in downtown Chicago, Illinois, represents the global reach of one of the world’s largest agricultural and food processing corporations. Founded in 1902, ADM moved its main offices to Chicago in 2014 after more than a century in Decatur, Illinois. The company plays a major role in grain trading, oilseed processing, and biofuels, influencing commodity markets and global food supply chains. Its Chicago location, near the Chicago River and the city’s historic financial district, reflects the enduring link between Midwest agriculture and the global commodities trade that has long defined Chicago’s economic identity.

The long abandoned massive concrete Archer-Daniels-Midland Delmar Elevator No. 7 in Minneapolis.