Minnesota Historical Society

The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit 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.

Although its focus is on Minnesota history it is not constrained by it. Its work on the North American fur trade has been recognized in Canada as well.^[1]

MNHS holds a collection of nearly 550,000 books, 37,000 maps, 250,000 photographs, 225,000 historical artifacts,^[2] 950,000 archaeological items,^[3] 38,000 cubic feet (1,100 m³) of manuscripts,^[4] 45,000 cubic feet (1,300 m³) of government records, 5,500 paintings, prints and drawings; and 1,300 moving image items.

State historic sites

The Minnesota Historical Society operates 31 historic sites and museums, 26 of which are open to the public. MNHS manages 14 sites directly and 10 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 two are self-guided sites with interpretive signage.^[3] 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.^[5]

Site name	Image	Location	Era of features	Year added to MNHS	Management[3]	Remarks
Alexander Ramsey House		St. Paul	1872–1964	1964	Direct	Home of Minnesota governor and U.S. Congressman Alexander Ramsey with original furnishings.[6] NRHP
Birch Coulee Battlefield		Morton	1862 !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.[7] NRHP.
Charles A. Lindbergh Historic Site		Charles A. Lindbergh State Park	1906–1920		Direct	House of U.S. Congressman Charles August Lindbergh and his son, aviator Charles Lindbergh.[8] National Historic Landmark[9]
Comstock House		Moorhead	1882		Partnership	Restored home of U.S. Congressman and businessman Solomon Comstock with its original furnishings.[10] NRHP
Folsom House		Taylors Falls	1854–1968	1968	Partnership	Restored home of businessman, politician, and historian W.H.C. Folsom with its original furnishings.[11] NRHP contributing property
Forest History Center		Grand Rapids	1900–1934		Direct	Recreated logging camp and exhibits on humankind's relationship with Minnesota's forests.[12]
Fort Renville		Lac qui Parle State Park	1822–1846	1973[13]	Preservation	Location of a fur trading post established by Joseph Renville.[14]
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.[15] NRHP
Grand Mound		International Falls	-3 !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.[16] National Historic Landmark[17]
Harkin Store		New Ulm	1870–1901	1973	Partnership	General store with much of the original inventory still on display.[18] NRHP
Historic Forestville		Forestville Mystery Cave State Park	1853–1899	1978	Direct	Restored town with living history reenactors.[19] 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.[20] A National Historic Landmark[21] and part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.[5]
James J. Hill House		St. Paul	1891–1921	1978	Direct	Mansion of railroad magnate James J. Hill.[22] National Historic Landmark[23]
Jeffers Petroglyphs		Jeffers	-1 !3000 BCE–1750	1966	Direct	Exposed rocks bear ancient Native American petroglyphs.[24] NRHP
Lac qui Parle Mission		Montevideo	1835–1854	1973[13]	Partnership	Reconstructed wooden church where missionaries worked to convert the Dakota.[25] 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.[26] NRHP
Marine Mill		Marine on St. Croix	1839–1895		Partnership	Ruins of Minnesota's first commercial sawmill.[27] NRHP
Mill City Museum		Minneapolis	1874–1965		Direct	Museum of the flour milling industry that built Minneapolis, within the ruins of the Washburn "A" Mill,[28] a National Historic Landmark.[29] Part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.[5]
Mille Lacs Indian Museum		Mille Lacs Indian Reservation	0 !Prehistory–present		Direct	Museum of the history and culture of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.[30]
Minnehaha Depot		Minneapolis	1875–1963	1964	Partnership	Former train station near Minnehaha Falls with "gingerbread" Victorian architecture. Operated by the Minnesota Transportation Museum.[31]
Minnesota History Center		St. Paul	0 !Prehistory–present		Direct	Minnesota Historical Society's headquarters, with permanent exhibits about Minnesota, changing exhibits about national history, and a library.[32]
Minnesota State Capitol		St. Paul	1905–present	1969	Direct	Tours and exhibits of the state's seat of government.[33] NRHP
Morrison Mounds		Battle Lake	-2 !690 BCE[34]	1968[16]	Preservation	Includes the oldest burial mound in Minnesota.[35] NRHP
North West Company Post		Pine City	1804		Direct	Recreated North West Company trading post and Ojibwe encampment.[36] 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.[37] National Historic Landmark[38]
Sibley Historic Site		Mendota	1838–1910		Partnership	Homes of Henry Hastings Sibley, Minnesota's first state governor, and fur trader Jean-Baptiste Faribault.[39] NRHP and part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.[5]
Split Rock Lighthouse		Split Rock Lighthouse State Park	1910–1969	1976	Direct	Clifftop lighthouse on Lake Superior restored to its 1920s appearance.[40] National Historic Landmark[17]
Stumne Mounds		Pine City		1968[16]	Preservation	Group of linear burial mounds near the Snake River.[34] NRHP
Traverse des Sioux		St. Peter	0 !Prehistory–1869	1981	Self-guiding	Site of a river ford, the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, and a former town.[41] NRHP
Upper Sioux Agency		Upper Sioux Agency State Park	1854–1862	1969[42]	Preservation	Location of a federal agency established to convert Dakotas to a Euro-American farming lifestyle, but destroyed in the Dakota War of 1862.[14] 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.[43] NRHP

Document depositories

• "Journals (Minnesota history v1-4; Collections, Biennial reports, Annals etc) and other documents of the Minnesota Historical Society". Minnesota Historical Society / Internet Archive. Retrieved November 24, 2012. 

These publications are described in more detail in an online format (without the downloadable document formats available above), at the MHC's own Digital History Books page (Retrieved November 24, 2012)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minnesota Historical Society.

• Minnesota Historical Society
• Placeography – wiki operated by the Minnesota Historical Society