August 12, 1893 was described as a beautiful day in Philadelphia, sunny and mild, for the people of Philadelphia the day was also a half holiday. The good weather, half a day off and perhaps the presence of the new Vice-President Adlai Stevenson all combined to produce the largest crowd to watch the launch of a ship to date at the William Cramp & Sons shipyard, over 20,000 people were in attendance.

At 2:30 a bottle champaign was broken on the bow of the new cruiser by Miss Lizzie Washburn and the words "I christen thee Minneapolis" were spoken. Soon thereafter the ship began to slide down the ways. The audience cheered, whistles blew, including the one onboard USS New York which was standing out on the river, and canons were fired as the new ship slipped into the Delaware River and took to the water for the first time.