Minnesota Historical Society

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The Minnesota Historical Society is a private, non-profit educational and cultural instutution dedicated to preserving the history of the state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849 and is named in the Minnesota Constitution.

The society owns and operates 26 museums and historic sites, some within the Minnesota state parks. It currently holds a collection of nearly 550,000 books, 37,000 maps, 250,000 photographs, 165,000 historical artifacts, 800,000 archaeological items, 38,000 cubic feet (1100 m³) of manuscripts, 45,000 cubic feet (1300 m³) of government records, 5,500 paintings, prints and drawings, and 1,300 moving image items. These are stored in the $76.4 million History Center located in Minnesota's capital, St. Paul.

[edit] State Historic Sites

Site Name	Image	Location	Era of features	Year added to MHS	Remarks
Birch Coulee Battlefield [1]		Morton	September 2, 1862		Interprets the deadliest battle for U.S. troops in the Dakota War of 1862.
Comstock House [2]		Moorhead	1882		The restored home of Congressman and businessman Solomon Comstock with its original furnishings.
Folsom House [3]		Taylors Falls	1854-1968	1968	The restored home of businessman, politician, and historian W.H.C. Folsom with its original furnishings.
Forest History Center [4]		Grand Rapids	1900-1934		Recreated logging camp and exhibits on humankind's relationship with Minnesota's forests.
Fort Ridgely [5]		Fort Ridgely State Park	1853-1867		A fort built to keep the peace around a Dakota reservation, but attacked twice during the Dakota War of 1862.
Harkin Store [6]		New Ulm	1870-1901	1973	An intact general store with much of the original inventory still on display.
Historic Forestville [7]		Forestville Mystery Cave State Park	1853-1899	1978	A restored town with living history reenactors.
Historic Fort Snelling [8]		Fort Snelling State Park	1820-1946		Portions of the fort have been restored to their original frontier appearance, while later additions served as barracks for soldiers training during World War II.
Oliver H. Kelley Farm [9]		Elk River	1850-1901	1961	A working frontier farmstead.
James J. Hill House [10]		St. Paul	1891-1921	1978	The mansion of railroad magnate James J. Hill.
Jeffers Petroglyphs [11]		Jeffers	3000 BCE-1750	1966	Exposed rocks bear ancient Native American petroglyphs.
Lac qui Parle Mission [12]		Lac qui Parle State Park	1835-1854		A reconstructed wooden church where missionaries worked to convert the Dakota.
Charles A. Lindbergh House [13]		Charles A. Lindbergh State Park	1906-1920		House of Congressman Charles August Lindbergh and his son, aviator Charles Lindbergh.
Lower Sioux Agency [14]		Lower Sioux Indian Reservation	1853-		Depicts the lives of Dakota people before and after the Dakota War of 1862.
Marine Mill [15]		Marine on St. Croix	1839-1895		Ruins of Minnesota's first commercial sawmill.
Dr. William W. Mayo House [16]		Le Sueur	1859-		Home built by William Worrall Mayo, founder of the Mayo Clinic, and later home of Carson Nesbit Cosgrove, founder of the Green Giant food company.
Mille Lacs Indian Museum [17]		Mille Lacs Indian Reservation	Prehistory-present		Presents the history and culture of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
Mill City Museum [18]		Minneapolis	1874-1965		Presents the flour milling industry that built Minneapolis, within the ruins of the Washburn "A" Mill.
Minnehaha Depot [19]		Minneapolis	1875-	1964	A former train station near Minnehaha Falls with "gingerbread" Victorian architecture.
Minnesota History Center [20]		St. Paul	Prehistory-present		The Minnesota Historical Society's headquarters, with permanent and traveling museum exhibits and a library.
Minnesota State Capitol [21]		St. Paul	1905-present	1969	Tours and exhibits of the state's seat of government.
North West Company Fur Post [22]		Pine City	1804		A recreated North West Company trading post and Ojibwe encampment.
Alexander Ramsey House [23]		St. Paul	1872-1964	1964	Home of Congressman and Minnesota governor Alexander Ramsey with original furnishings.
Sibley House Historic Site [24]		Mendota	1838-1910		Homes of Henry Hastings Sibley, Minnesota's first state governor, and fur trader Jean-Baptiste Faribault.
Split Rock Lighthouse [25]		Split Rock Lighthouse State Park	1910-1969	1976	Lighthouse on the Lake Superior shore restored to its 1920s appearance.
Traverse des Sioux [26]		St. Peter	Prehistory-1869	1981	Site of a river ford, the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, and a former town.

[edit] External links

• Minnesota Historical Society website

v • d • e Museums in Minnesota Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Area American Swedish Institute · The Bakken · Bandana Square · Historic Fort Snelling · James J. Hill House · Mill City Museum · Minneapolis Institute of Arts · Minneapolis Sculpture Garden · Minnesota Center for Book Arts · Minnesota Children's Museum · Minnesota Streetcar Museum · Minnesota Historical Society · Minnesota Transportation Museum · Museum of Lake Minnetonka · The Museum of Russian Art · Oliver H. Kelley Homestead · Pavek Museum of Broadcasting · Science Museum of Minnesota · Walker Art Center · Weisman Art Museum Duluth Glensheen Historic Estate · Great Lakes Aquarium · Great Lakes Floating Maritime Museum · Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center · Lake Superior Railroad Museum · Tweed Museum of Art · William A Irvin Floating Ship Museum Elsewhere 3M Museum (Two Harbors) · Hjemkomst Center (Moorhead) · Minnesota Music Hall of Fame (New Ulm) · Two Harbors Light (Two Harbors) · United States Hockey Hall of Fame (Eveleth)