Are you a country mouse or a city mouse? Perhaps a little bit of both? Take these tours at the 2014 AASLH Annual Meeting and enjoy the best of both worlds!
Minnesota Farm Tour
Friday, September 19
8 am–1 pm
Cost: $55
Agriculture is a central story in Minnesota’s past, and much of what is now the Twin Cities used to be farmland. This tour features two farms that survived as public resources, and just as their histories are different, so are their current operations. The Gibbs Farm dates to the territorial era, but is remarkable for the story of Jane Gibbs and her relationships with Dakota Indians—come hear their joint story as told at the Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakota Life. Oliver Kelley was one of the founders of the National Grange, and Grange members first preserved his farmstead in the 1930s. His farm is now a National Landmark and living history site portraying a farm in the 1860s. The tour includes lunch.
St. Paul’s Summit Avenue
Wednesday, September 17
1–4:30 pm
Cost: $45
St. Paul is home to the country’s best preserved Victorian residential boulevard. This tour will include a walking tour of Summit Avenue as well a behind-the-scenes tour of James J. Hill House, a 36,500-square-foot Gilded Age mansion. The tour will conclude with refreshments on the terrace of the Hill House.
Tour fee in addition to Annual Meeting registration fees.
