Heritage Circle Tour: Coldspring
2024-10-24 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Coldspring, 17482 Granite West Road, Cold Spring, MN, 56320, United States
Join us at 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at Coldspring in Cold Spring, Minnesota, for the final Heritage Circle Tour of the year. Learn about the company, its history, current operations and future plans during this exciting tour with Josh Reitmeier, Director of Operations. Coldspring got its start in 1890 when Henry Alexander, a quarryman from Scotland, helped found the Rockville Granite Company. The company changed its name to the Cold Spring Granite Company in the 1920s after it moved to Cold Spring, a town west of Rockville. Coldspring is currently the largest granite-producing company in the nation. Following the tour, everyone is welcome to gather for lunch (pay-on-your own). Location TBD.
Heritage Circle Tours are members-only tours. They are a special benefit of membership support. Members play an important role in helping to preserve and share the history of Stearns County.
Questions? Contact Ann Marie at development@stearns-museum.org or call 320/253-8424.

Breakfast Club: Secrets of the Waite Park Car Shops Revealed! Barry Schreiber and Ray Schouviller
2024-11-13 09:00 - 10:00 | Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave S, St Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
Join us to learn about the Car Shops of Waite Park, where 100,000 boxcars and hundreds of cabooses were built for the Great Northern Railway between 1901 and 1986. Expert Ray Schouviller will share historic photos of the shops, share its history, and talk about why it shut down in the 1980s.
Event is FREE for members; $7 for nonmembers. Donuts and coffee will be served.

Hops & History: Stars of Stearns County
2024-11-21 17:00 - 19:00 | Iron Street Distillery, 539 East St. Germain Street, St. Cloud, MN, 56304, United States
Join SHM Archivist Grant Wilson as he talks about some of Stearns County’s most famous actors and singers, including June Marlowe (left), Gig Young, and Stephen Sommers. Grab a cocktail, sit back, and learn about the big stars this county has produced!
Meet at Iron Street Distillery in St. Cloud- program starts at 6pm.
FREE for Museum Members, non-members: $10.00

Gingerbread Architecture: the Sweet Elements of Design
2024-11-23 11:00 - 12:00 | 510 Art Lab, 510 Sinclair Lewis Ave, Sauk Centre, MN, 56378, United States
Tap your inner architect at this delicious all-ages, family-friendly workshop. Learn the basics of architecture and structural design with everyone’s favorite building materials – gingerbread and frosting. Learning couldn’t be more sweet! Taught by Evan Larson, AIA Principal/President/Project Architect at GLTArchitects, this hands-on interactive workshop shows you how to create your own scrumptious architectural masterpiece using gingerbread kits from Cold Spring Bakery. It’s sure to be a tasty treat!
Held at the 510 Art Lab in Sauk Centre, stick around following the class for an optional talk/tour courtesy of 510 Art Lab executive director, Emily Kramer. Class size is limited, so register today!
For more information, visit stearnshistorymuseum.org or contact the museum at 320-253-8424 or development@stearns-museum.org.

Special thanks to class sponsor, GLTArchitects!

Escape Room - 1984
2024-12-05 16:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-12 16:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-13 16:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-19 16:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-20 16:00 - 20:00 | Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave S, St Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
In our third annual Escape Room, Big Brother is watching. The past has been erased, and the future is bleak. It is up to you to find enough historic relics to make yourself remember. Otherwise, you will be trapped, and under surveillance, forever.
Slots at 4, 5, 6, and 7 pm. 6 people maximum per slot. $25/person, $20/members. Member code required.

Gingerbread Architecture: the Sweet Elements of Design
2024-12-07 11:00 - 12:00 | Fisher’s Club, 525 1st St. NW, Avon, 56310, United States
Tap your inner architect at this delicious all-ages, family-friendly workshop. Learn the basics of architecture and structural design with everyone’s favorite building materials – gingerbread and frosting. Learning couldn’t be more sweet! Taught by local preservation specialist and educational historian, Emily, this hands-on interactive workshop shows you how to create your own scrumptious architectural masterpiece using gingerbread kits from Cold Spring Bakery. It’s sure to be a tasty treat!
Held at Fisher’s Club in Avon, stick around following the class for an optional talk/tour courtesy of Fisher’s Club owner, Cristina Berg. Class size is limited, so register today!
For more information, visit stearnshistorymuseum.org or contact the museum at 320-253-8424 or development@stearns-museum.org.

Special thanks to class sponsor, GLTArchitects!

Breakfast Club- Michelle Skroh, SHM Registrar- "An Object's Life in a Museum"
2024-12-11 09:00 - 10:00 | Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave S, St Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
What happens to your treasure once it’s given to the museum? Join us to for an introduction to to the process of donating an object to the Stearns History Museum and how that object is then integrated into the museum’s 3D permanent collection.
Event starts at 9 am- Members Free, $7 for nonmembers. Get there early for coffee and donuts!

Escape Room - 1984
2024-12-14 13:00 - 17:00, 2024-12-21 13:00 - 17:00 | Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave S, St Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
In our third annual Escape Room, Big Brother is watching. The past has been erased, and the future is bleak. It is up to you to find enough historic relics to make yourself remember. Otherwise, you will be trapped, and under surveillance, forever.
Slots at 1, 2, 3, ad 4. 6 people maximum per slot. $25/person, $20/members. Member code required.

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, Cold Spring
2025-01-13 12:00 - 16:00 | Great River Regional Library, Cold Spring, 27 Red River Ave S., Cold Spring, MN, United States
The Stearns History Museum in partnership with the Great River Library System is offering a free community scanning event. Bring your family photos or other documents important to your family history to be scanned with professional equipment. You will go home with a digital copy of your materials.
Registration is required for this event. There is no limit on the amount of items that can be scanned, but scanning is constrained to the time slot that you sign up for. You will have a 30 minute time slot with 20 minutes for scanning. Limit one time slot per person.
Oversized materials and negatives do take longer to scan than other materials.
A flash drive is needed for this event, you are encouraged to bring your own but the museum will have flash drives available to purchase ($5).

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, Richmond
2025-01-13 16:00 - 20:00 | Great River Regional Library, Richmond, 63 Hall Ave SW, Richmond, MN, 56368, United States

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, Kimball
2025-01-15 10:00 - 13:00 | Great River Regional Library, Kimball, 51 Spruce Ave W., Kimball, MN, 55353, United States

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, Clearwater
2025-01-15 15:00 - 18:00 | Great River Regional Library, Clearwater, 740 Clearwater Center, Clearwater, MN, 55320, United States

Community Scan- Stearns History Museum
2025-01-18 10:00 - 16:00, 2025-01-22 10:00 - 15:30, 2025-02-01 10:00 - 16:00 | Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave S, St Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
The Stearns History Museum is offering a free community scanning event. Bring your family photos or other documents important to your family history to be scanned with professional equipment. You will go home with a digital copy of your materials. Registration is required for this event.
There is no limit on the amount of items that can be scanned, but scanning is constrained to the time slot that you sign up for. You will have a 30 minute time slot with 20 minutes for scanning. Limit one time slot per person.
Oversized materials and negatives do take longer to scan than other materials.
A flash drive is needed for this event, you are encouraged to bring your own but the museum will have flash drives available to purchase ($5).

St. Cloud Area Genealogists: Reading Gravestone Symbols
2025-01-21 19:00 - 20:00 | Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave S, St Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
St. Cloud – Have you ever seen a symbol on a tombstone and wondered if it had significant meaning? For centuries, designs appeared on tombstones, but during the Victorian era, these symbols flourished and often contributed to narratives about relationships, military service, occupations, economic status and social standing.

On Tuesday, Jan. 21, Joy Neighbors will present “The Silent Language of the Stones: Reading Gravestone Symbols” for the St. Cloud Area Genealogists (SCAG) at 7 p.m. This online event will be presented live for viewing remotely or watching with others at the Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave. S., St. Cloud.
Joy is a tombstone tourist with an avid interest in cemeteries, history and genealogy. She is the author of “The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide,” writes the cemetery culture blog “A Grave Interest” and speaks nationally about cemetery research. She edits the Indiana Genealogist, the quarterly journal of the Indiana Genealogical Society and works as the communication director with Cream of Kentucky Distilling.
The program is free to SCAG members; $7 for non-members. Non-members can pay at the door. The individual annual membership rate for SCAG is $25.

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, Melrose
2025-01-23 10:00 - 12:00 | Great River Regional Library, Melrose, 225 E. 1st St. N., Melrose, MN, 56352, United States

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, St. Cloud Public Library
2025-01-25 10:00 - 16:00 | Great River Regional Library, St. Cloud, 1300 West St. Germain St., Saint Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
The Stearns History Museum in partnership with the Great River Regional Library is offering a free community scanning event. Bring your family photos or other documents important to your family history to be scanned with professional equipment. You will go home with a digital copy of your materials. Registration is required for this event.
There is no limit on the amount of items that can be scanned, but scanning is constrained to the time slot that you sign up for. You will have a 30 minute time slot with 20 minutes for scanning. Limit one time slot per person.
Oversized materials and negatives do take longer to scan than other materials.
A flash drive is needed for this event, you are encouraged to bring your own but the St. Cloud Library will have flash drives available.

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, Albany
2025-01-28 15:00 - 19:00 | Great River Regional Library, Albany, 400 Railroad Ave, Albany, MN, 56307, United States

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, Belgrade
2025-01-31 09:00 - 12:00 | Great River Regional Library, Belgrade, 324 Washburn Ave, Belgrade, MN, 56312, United States

Community Scan- Great River Regional Library, Paynesville
2025-01-31 14:00 - 18:00 | Great River Regional Library, Paynesville, 119 Washburne Ave, Paynesville, MN, 56362, United States

Exploring History and Culture in Central MN: Cultural Competence through Park Land Development
2025-02-01 10:30 - 12:00 | Sherburne History Center, Becker, 10775 27th Ave SE, Becker, MN, 55308, United States
On Saturday, February 1st, Sherburne County Park Director, Gina Hugo, will discuss Cultural Competence Through Park Land Development-Two Inlets at Bdé Heḣáka-Omashkooz Zaaga’igaans Regional Park, at the Sherburne History Center in Becker. The following programs take place on Saturday, February 8th, at the Stearns History Museum in St. Cloud with Professor Ted Gordon and undergraduate research assistant Macy Ellis from CSB/SJU and on Saturday, February 15th, at the Benton County Historical Society in Sauk Rapids with the American Indian Center at SCSU. All programs start at 10:30 am and are free and open to the public.
For more information about the series and the upcoming programs, contact Ann Marie Johnson at the Stearns History Museum (320/253-8424 or development@stearns-museum.org).

Archives Explorer- Catalogs and Databases: Where to Start Your Research
2025-02-05 18:00 - 19:30 | Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave S, St Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
Patrons will learn how to navigate the SHM catalog as well as other databases for starting their historical research. We will start with the basics of searching and by the end, patrons will know how to effectively use the Minnesota State Historical Society, Library of Congress, National Archives, and Land Records Office databases.

This event is free- no registration required!

Exploring History and Culture in Central Minnesota: Native American Boarding School Impacts and Legacies
2025-02-08 10:30 - 12:00 | Stearns History Museum, 235 33rd Ave S, St Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
Native American Boarding Schools discussed at second program of Exploring History and Culture
in Central Minnesota 2025 event series on February 8th
(January 22, 2025) Join us on Saturday, February 8 th , for the second program in this year’s “Exploring
History and Culture in Central Minnesota” February event series featuring Native American history and
culture. Native American Boarding School Impacts and Legacies will be presented by Ted Gordon, Joe Farry
Professor of Public Policy and Civic Engagement; Macy Ellis, undergraduate research assistant; and Meg
Nelson, President of Indigenous Students Association at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s
University. The series, which is in its sixth year, engages with the history of communities that have been and
continue to be part of central Minnesota. A partnership project of the Stearns, Benton, and Sherburne
County historical societies, the three central Minnesota history museums are collaborating for the 2025
series with the American Indian Center at St. Cloud State University, College of Saint Benedict and Saint
John's University, and Sherburne County Parks.
The three-part series includes Sherburne County Park Director, Gina Hugo, presenting Cultural Competence
Through Park Land Development-Two Inlets at Bdé Heḣáka-Omashkooz Zaaga’igaans Regional Park at the Sherburne
History Center in Becker on February 1 st and a program from the American Indian Center at St. Cloud State
University on Saturday, February 15 th , at the Benton County Historical Society in Sauk Rapids. All programs
start at 10:30 am and are free and open to the public.
For more information about the series and the upcoming programs, contact Ann Marie Johnson at the
Stearns History Museum (320/253-8424 or development@stearns-museum.org).

Breakfast Club: Elizabeth Mboutchom, "Preserving Minnesota's Natural Heritage"
2025-02-12 09:00 - 22:00
Join Elizabeth Mboutchom, from the Northern Waters Land and Trust, as she talks about protection strategies in Minnesota crucial for preserving wildlife habitats and maintaining water quality. Learn how conservation efforts can secure the future of our natural heritage and help sustain our outdoor culture and economy.

Cost is $7, or FREE for Stearns History Museum Members
