Minnesota History Center

What a totally fun place! Staff is very friendly and the place is again is awesome!

Super friendly staff! I stopped in here today to do some research on my husband’s family. Need to come back because there are 5 boxes filled with paperwork, photos and audio interviews. The building is really lovely. The parking is a little high though.

This review is for the library portion of the museum. And if you go expecting/​needing assistance, pity you. We made a special trip to this city and state to do genealogical research. Multiple emails were very friendly and helpful, but alas, the in-​person staff — not so much. It was clear they were unwilling to help and judging from the people we encountered, incapable as well. Time for a new crew.

In the months long process of planning a trip to Minnesota, a stop at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul was always on my list. Little did I know what a gold mine for photo opportunities it would be!
The $ 11 admission fee was peanuts when compared to the endless enjoyment as I went from one exhibit to the next. We started off in the Then Now Wow exhibit and learned a bit about Minnesota in general. I may have had way too much fun pulling apart the insides of the big bison model or putting together the giant Minnesota state puzzle (I may have had some help from a few children). The Open House exhibit was an interesting way to learn about the different groups of people living in the same space. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t take several pictures while walking through the various scenes of the Greatest Generation exhibit (for example the television store, the soda fountain, the C-​47 plane, a classic movie theater). Weather Permitting offered insight and experience of being in a basement during a tornado that left me slightly terrified. Grainland was another exhibit geared for kids but that did not stop me from exploring.
Even the building itself was a beautiful and very open space. It’s a great place for locals, families, kids, visitors and definitely a great place to entertain your inner child. We spent three hours there and I could have easily spent the whole day.

Somehow I missed all those school field trips to this place and even well in to early adulthood I thought this place was nothing more than an archive of moldering documents and microfische.
Nope!
An amazing museum of the first rank that celebrates Minnesota history with a flourish!

The place to be for your multigenerational entertainment needs.
I bought a membership here last spring when one of those coupon sites was practically giving them away and good play MHS, bc I’m hooked for life. I’ve got a bucket list with 26 historical sites to visit. But we’ll be regulars at MHC for a long time.
Huge exhibits in a beautiful building to keep both the kiddos and the grandparents entertained for hours. Who wants to know more about the grasshopper plague? Beaver pelts? The changing population of a neighborhood in St Paul over a hundred years? The inside of a buffalo?
A café featuring local foods at bargain prices. My Dad had walleye for the first time ever.
I bought a slew of award winning MN maple syrup in the gift shop to hand out as teacher gifts this year.

During a recent visit to Minneapolis I was able to check out the Minnesota History Center and I can honestly say I was very pleased with my visit. During our visit the rotating exhibits featured content on Canada during the War of 1812, a Minneapolis 70s Music Picture Showcase, and a 50’s, 60’s, & 70’s Toy Show.
Overall, the curation and setup of the history center is well done but it is lacking a significant amount of visitor interaction within the exhibits. The content that is being presented in both the typical and special showcases are very interesting but much of it left me wanting more. Personally, I found the mining and the greatest generation portion the most interesting. Again, I feel that this was due to the fact that these collections were very interactive and allowed visitors to experience the information in a unique manner.
I would recommend visiting this museum but I have heard there are several divergent options throughout the Twin Cities so I cannot say that this is the best. On a positive note, they do offer free admission for teachers which I found beneficial.

What a great place to learn more about Minnesota!!! The exhibits are really engaging and great fro kids and adults alike. The current special exhibit is about Toys — too awesome for words!!!

I have to be honest. I had a 2 for 1 coupon so don’t feel too bad wasting money on this visit with my girlfriend. We both agreed that the Mill City Museum is way better with it’s unique elevator ride. The museum is only on the 3^rd floor and library is probably just for research use. So, I can only recommend their special exhibit on TOYS with your hungry hippos, trouble, as well as other toys/​games. For the other exhibits, I felt I was going to fall asleep. Some interactive ones which may be amusing but we finished here in 1.5 hours. Plus, parking was $ 5 which I recommend that you first try the meter parking at the museum before entering the flat-​rate parking lot. We made that mistake but it’s only $ 5. On Sundays, the meters are free so you are better to wait if you don’t mind. We just didn’t check it out and found an available one when walking up to the museum.

We have visited a few times in the past year and now have our own family membership. My husband and I enjoyed the exhibit on Prohibition and my kids enjoy running around the grain bin play area. It’s a beautiful museum and we are lucky to have it in our own city. A great place to learn and have fun.

I’ve lived in the Twin Cities my entire life and it only took an exhibit about the Prohibition to finally get me in the door.
The History Museum provides an interactive and welcoming environment to learning about Minnesota History. I’ll be honest, my eyes and ears tend to glaze over when learning about history, so I was thoroughly impressed with the quality and approachability of the exhibits. As Minnesotans, we love to talk about the weather. There is a full exhibit devoted to extreme weather! If interaction is your learning style, try going into the tornado simulation to feel what it’s like to live through a twister. (Note to parents, both the tornado and airplane parachuting simulations are not sugar coated for the kiddos. The noise and vibrations make the simulations feel pretty real.) The WWII exhibit explores how Minnesotans were effected by the war. From food shortages to the SPAM manufacturing plant, everything ties back to MN. Have you ever been to Worthington, MN? Meander your way through the old train car and feel free to lie down on the bed in the one room house. .. yes, I felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder. For those of you who have to touch everything, go take a stab at coal mining and starting up an old wind-​up Ford truck!
Even though the Prohibition exhibit is now closed, I am looking forward to seeing the the next exhibit. The History Museum is a great place for young ones, old ones, and in-​between ones to learn about history in a dynamic, fun and intriguing way. If you are looking for a deal, head over between 5 – 8 PM on Tuesday nights for FREE admission!

Great exhibits, beautiful building. Its a bit spendy at $ 11 a person but its so worth it.

Like many of the Twin Cities museums, the History museum is awesome. I took my family here for a day trip and they loved it. We ended up spending 4 hours here, seriously. Very interesting stuff.
The Then Now Wow exhibit, advertised towards children seriously rocks. You can interact with everything in the exhibit which follows all of Minnesota’s history, from petting beaver fur to living the life of a miner to assembling the innards of a buffalo, it is all Minnesota and it is all very fun. I suggest you see this before it goes, if it does. It’s just that great.
I was super excited for the Prohibition exhibit, which turned out excellent as well. There was a lot of old loot from the days where drinking was illegal, some advertisement hilarious in modern days and otherwise a whole lot of information that definitely takes some time to read through. Best part, mug shots with Al Capone.
The long-​term exhibits are also worth checking out.
I’ve seen other exhibits, such as the Beatles exhibit (so cool!), and they are all put together really well. There are free nights on Tuesday nights from 5−8pm. Could be a fun date!
But seriously, even if you don’t like history, you’ll like this place!

Every time I’ve been to the MN history Center I’ve been impressed by their exhibits, the current feature of prohibition was one of the best! At first I was surprised to see elementary age kids there but then the exhibits are really made for all ages. There’s a dance floor with the markings for learning the Charleston steps, a photo booth for taking your bootlegger mug shot, trivia iPads… Tons of interactive components. On top of that if you want to read all the signs, different sides of prohibition are presented keeping even the most knowledgeable audiences engaged. We had two hours just in that exhibit and it flew by! If you want to see the whole museum, you’ll need more time!

It was cool! Great exhibits. Nice people working. We are glad we went!

I go to the library at the MHC all the time — for family history research. The staff there is all really great. They spend whatever time you need with you, and are always polite, pleasant, and professional. I would suggest checking their website to see what the library hours are before you get there. They change the hours and days the library is open on a regular basis, as the MN government keeps cutting their budget.

A magnificent facility. Beautiful structures and grounds. If it’s any indication there was a wedding party there when I visited and I gather it’s a popular spot for weddings. Fascinating exhibits on the Minnesota members of the Greatest Generation, the weather, the industry, and the people of the upper mid-​west. This should definintely be on the «must-​see» list for any first-​time visitors to the area.

This was my first time at the History Center even though I consider myself a history nerd. I went specifically for the Civil War exhibit. I was impressed by the building itself as it offers great views of St. Paul all around. The exhibit was enjoyable. They have really interesting artifacts and tell the story of Minnesotans in the Civil War. It was nice to get a regional perspective. I went later in the afternoon and unfortunately did not get to enjoy the other exhibits. I will definitely be back though.

Got a deal for tickets here, so we bought some and packed up the kid. It was really interactive, not boring at all, and we had a great time checking out the old time ships, learning about MN, and seeing the tepee.
I totally recommend this place if you have kids — it’s way more fun than it sounds!

This place made me realize I was really in love. I brought J to the action figure exhibit a few years back and realized after willingly seeing that thing and learning about the history of action figures, it must be love.
The History Center does an amazing display of their exhibits specifically the toy one as well as some of the other exhibits. The other one that stood out was the history of music. I remember picking up the headphones and hearing; «Pure Energy» by Information Society who is from Mpls. Who knew? I didn’t. Learned something new no matter how trivial.
$ 10.00 for admission is not that far fetched. We defintely got our money’s worth and it’s free to the public on Tuesdays from 5 – 8 pm.
It’s close and a nice way to spend an afternoon or longer depending on the exhibit. I remember being there for awhile learning about GI Joe and the other action cronies.