Hennepin History Museum

Originally the home of the Dakota and Ojibwe, Hennepin County began with the hopes and dreams of immigrants, New Englanders, and retired veterans. Why these entrepreneurs, farmers, laborers, craftsman, and vacationers decided to settle in what seemed to be a frigid, uninhabitable land is still a mystery, but their innovations and lineage are traced through the exhibits at Hennepin History Museum. The museum, located inside the historic George Christian mansion, hosts rotating exhibits and permanent collections that paint a picture of Midwestern life in the 19th and 20th centuries. From more recent decades, there are objects from Minneapolis Aquatennials and high-fashion clothes from downtown department stores such as Dayton's and Young-Quinlan. The Pillsbury Doughboy presides over it all, reminding guests of the importance of milling to the region's history.

Photographs, personal papers, and atlases round out the collection, whose contents are further illuminated during the museum’s frequent events. Experts and authors, for instance, deliver talks in the museum’s intimate fireside room, whose fireplace keeps guests warm and prevents them from huddling in the museum's historical bear-skin rugs. In another tucked-away area, researchers and amateur historians pore through the material in the library, which is open to visitors 5 days a week, and in the archives, which is open by appointment. They might find maps of the region from the start of the 20th Century or old pictures of homes in the neighborhood, all steeped in memories and history.