Minnesota - Historic Prairies Region Attractions

The End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum features a model railroad display with an authentic reproduction of the Currie railroad yards as it was around the turn of the century. Other exhibits include a restored schoolhouse, water tower and general store.

Fort Ridgely State Park near Fairfax includes the remains of Fort Ridgley which was built in 1853. Camping, hiking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing are available.

The Minnesota Machinery Museum is a five building complex with farm machinery, stories and artifacts on display. Visitors can tour the farm home kitchen, parlor, bedroom, a turn-of-the-century blacksmith shop, and general store. Vintage automobiles, restored gas engines, and tractors dating back to 1912 are also on display.

The Jeffers Petroglyphs Historic Site features American Indians carvings called petroglyphs, of humans, deer, elk, buffalo, turtles, thunderbirds, atlatls and arrows to tell a story that spans 5,000 years.

The Jackson County Historical Museum in Lakefield features displays on the history of the area.

Blue Mounds State Park supports the bison herd that graze on the prairie grasses. The interpretive center was once the home of author Frederick Manfred and features natural history exhibits including wildlife, geology and history.

The Lower Sioux Agency was established by the US government in 1853 as an administrative center. The Agency became the scene of the first organized attack in the 1862 US-Dakota War. The Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site presents Dakota life before the reservation era and shows how the reservation system changed traditional Dakota ways of living.

Two sod houses located northeast of Sanborn are from the 1880s and represent the rich and poor settler, present the lifestyle of author Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family.

Exhibits at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum are housed in an 1898 depot in Walnut Grove. They include an 1880's school chapel and an onion-domed house. The Kelton Doll Collection, including more than 250 dolls from the 1870's to modern times is displayed. Memorabilia from stars on "Little House on the Prairie" TV series are also featured.

Nobles County Pioneer Village in Worthington contains 40 buildings that reflect life as it was in the late 19th and early 20th C.