The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) is a private, non-profit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehood. The Society is named in the Minnesota Constitution. It is headquartered in the Minnesota History Center in downtown St. Paul.
MHS 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 (1,100 m3) of manuscripts, 45,000 cubic feet (1,300 m3) of government records, 5,500 paintings, prints and drawings; and 1,300 moving image items.
The Minnesota Historical Society operates 31 historic sites and museums, 26 of which are open to the public. MHS manages 14 sites directly and eight in partnerships where the society maintains the resources and provides funding. Five sites are being held for preservation but are closed to public access, and three are self-guided sites with interpretive signage.[1] Seven of the sites are National Historic Landmarks and 16 others are on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Seven sites lie within Minnesota state parks, and three are elements of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.[2]
| Site name | Image | Location | Era of features | Year added to MHS | Management[1] | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Ramsey House | St. Paul | 1872–1964 | 1964 | Direct | Home of Minnesota governor and U.S. Congressman Alexander Ramsey with original furnishings.[3] NRHP | |
| Birch Coulee Battlefield | Morton | September 2, 1862 | Self-guided | Site of the Battle of Birch Coulee, the deadliest battle for U.S. troops in the Dakota War of 1862.[4] NRHP. | ||
| Charles A. Lindbergh House | Charles A. Lindbergh State Park | 1906–1920 | Direct | House of U.S. Congressman Charles August Lindbergh and his son, aviator Charles Lindbergh.[5] National Historic Landmark[6] | ||
| Comstock House | Moorhead | 1882 | Partnership | Restored home of U.S. Congressman and businessman Solomon Comstock with its original furnishings.[7] NRHP | ||
| Folsom House | Taylors Falls | 1854–1968 | 1968 | Partnership | Restored home of businessman, politician, and historian W.H.C. Folsom with its original furnishings.[8] | |
| Forest History Center | Grand Rapids | 1900–1934 | Direct | Recreated logging camp and exhibits on humankind's relationship with Minnesota's forests.[9] | ||
| Fort Renville | Lac qui Parle State Park | 1822–1846 | Preservation | Location of a fur trading post established by Joseph Renville.[10] | ||
| Fort Ridgely | Fort Ridgely State Park | 1853–1867 | Partnership | Fort built to keep the peace around a Dakota reservation, but attacked twice during the Dakota War of 1862.[11] NRHP | ||
| Grand Mound | International Falls | 200 BCE–1400 | 1971 | Preservation | Five burial mounds include the largest prehistoric structure remaining in the Upper Midwest, 25 feet (7.6 m) high and 100 feet (30 m) in diameter.[12] National Historic Landmark[13] | |
| Harkin Store | New Ulm | 1870–1901 | 1973 | Partnership | General store with much of the original inventory still on display.[14] NRHP | |
| Historic Forestville | Forestville Mystery Cave State Park | 1853–1899 | 1978 | Direct | Restored town with living history reenactors.[15] NRHP | |
| Historic Fort Snelling | Fort Snelling State Park | 1820–1946 | Direct | 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.[16] A National Historic Landmark[17] and part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.[2] | ||
| James J. Hill House | St. Paul | 1891–1921 | 1978 | Direct | Mansion of railroad magnate James J. Hill.[18] National Historic Landmark[19] | |
| Jeffers Petroglyphs | Jeffers | 3000 BCE–1750 | 1966 | Direct | Exposed rocks bear ancient Native American petroglyphs.[20] NRHP | |
| Lac qui Parle Mission | Montevideo | 1835–1854 | Partnership | Reconstructed wooden church where missionaries worked to convert the Dakota.[21] NRHP | ||
| Lower Sioux Agency | Lower Sioux Indian Reservation | 1853– | Partnership | Museum depicting the lives of Dakota people before and after the Dakota War of 1862.[22] NRHP | ||
| Marine Mill | Marine on St. Croix | 1839–1895 | Self-guided | Ruins of Minnesota's first commercial sawmill.[23] NRHP | ||
| Mill City Museum | Minneapolis | 1874–1965 | Museum of the flour milling industry that built Minneapolis, within the ruins of the Washburn "A" Mill,[24] a National Historic Landmark.[25] Part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.[2] | |||
| Mille Lacs Indian Museum | Mille Lacs Indian Reservation | Prehistory–present | Direct | Museum of the history and culture of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.[26] | ||
| Minnehaha Depot | Minneapolis | 1875–1963 | 1964 | Partnership | Former train station near Minnehaha Falls with "gingerbread" Victorian architecture. Operated by the Minnesota Transportation Museum.[27] | |
| Minnesota History Center | St. Paul | Prehistory–present | Direct | Minnesota Historical Society's headquarters, with permanent exhibits about Minnesota, changing exhibits about national history, and a library.[28] | ||
| Minnesota State Capitol | St. Paul | 1905–present | 1969 | Direct | Tours and exhibits of the state's seat of government.[29] NRHP | |
| Morrison Mounds | Battle Lake | 690 BCE[30] | 1968[12] | Preservation | Includes the oldest burial mound in Minnesota.[31] NRHP | |
| North West Company Post | Pine City | 1804 | Direct | Recreated North West Company trading post and Ojibwe encampment.[32] NRHP | ||
| Oliver H. Kelley Farm | Elk River | 1850–1901 | 1961 | Direct | Frontier farmstead of Oliver Hudson Kelley, one of the founders of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.[33] National Historic Landmark[34] | |
| Sibley House Historic Site | Mendota | 1838–1910 | Direct | Homes of Henry Hastings Sibley, Minnesota's first state governor, and fur trader Jean-Baptiste Faribault.[35] NRHP and part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.[2] | ||
| Split Rock Lighthouse | Split Rock Lighthouse State Park | 1910–1969 | 1976 | Direct | Clifftop lighthouse on Lake Superior restored to its 1920s appearance.[36] National Historic Landmark[13] | |
| Stumne Mounds | Pine City | 1968[12] | Preservation | Group of linear burial mounds near the Snake River.[30] NRHP | ||
| Traverse des Sioux | St. Peter | Prehistory–1869 | 1981 | Self-guiding | Site of a river ford, the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, and a former town.[37] NRHP | |
| Upper Sioux Agency | Upper Sioux Agency State Park | 1854–1862 | 1969[38] | Preservation | Location of a federal agency established to convert Dakotas to a Euro-American farming lifestyle, but destroyed in the Dakota War of 1862.[10] NRHP | |
| W.W. Mayo House | Le Sueur | 1859– | Partnership | 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.[39] NRHP |