This 1905 era dam was owned by Northern States Power. It became obsolete and was too small of a project to be worth rebuilding by a major utility. The City of Granite Falls, which is located just a few miles upriver, already owns a small dam. They ran a study that showed that they could run both dams in tandem and improve the economics of both dams. The idea was that they could let water out of the upstream dam at peak periods, which would then generate power twice, once in Granite Falls, and a second time at Minnesota Falls. Since peak power sells at a higher rate per kilowatt-hour, they would recover thier investment far more quickly. And during non-peak times, the two dams would produce enough hydro power to satisfy the needs of 75% of the city of Granite Falls.

The area on the east side of the dam was once a small park area. Since work has started on the hydro project, the area is fenced off.

The west side of the river is the site of the abandoned town of Minnesota Falls. That town was essentially wiped out in the spring floods of 1881. A railroad bridge once crossed the river about a mile south of this location. That bride was also destroyed in the 1881 floods.