Museum Guide News

The Dakota County Historical Society (DCHS) in South St. Paul, MN will guide you as you explore the fascinating history of our communities.

Tours, exhibits, camps, and our many interactive programs cover all manner of topics including the Civil War, the Dakota People, Minnesota as the original “Silicon Valley” of the world, traditional agriculture, food processing, and market gardening, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Vermillion River histories, quack medicine, politics, and much more. There is truly something for everyone at DCHS!

We operate three sites for you to explore while you are here.

The LeDuc Historic Estate, is as Civil War-era Gothic Revival home! https://dakotahistory.org/leduc-historic-estate Join us for fascinating and fun events that illuminate the lives of Civil War Brevet Brigadier General William LeDuc, Mary Bronson LeDuc, and their four children. Built in the mid-1860s, the LeDuc Estate in Hastings, MN is a beautiful example of the design work of Andrew Jackson Downing complete with residence, carriage house, and ice house.

The Lawshe Memorial Museum is for you to explore Dakota County's history!   https://dakotahistory.org/lawshe-memorial-museum The museum houses various exhibits and our archive and research library. In June 2025, we opened a new children's exhibit - The Curiosity Collection. This hands-on exhibit is great for children of all ages to explore a variety of topics that range from our organization's founding through Fred Lawshe and his early creations, to pre-historic history of the region and rural electrification, or the stockyards. In October 2025 we opened another new exhibit: "A Dream of the Future: 125 Years of Women's Hockey in Minnesota." The exhibit covers 125 years of women playing ice hockey in the state, from the early games at the turn of the century, to the University of Minnesota's 1915-1930s club years. Our major renovation was completed in 2022 and we open in January 2023 with many brand-new exhibits. These exhibits include Pioneering Black Families of Dakota County, Agriculture: Women's Healthcare in Dakota County, Women's Suffrage, the history of Lockheed Martin and predecessor companies, as well as highlighted artifacts from the South St. Paul Stockyards.  Visit the oldest Euro-American settlement in Minnesota where four distinctive limestone buildings grace the Minnesota River bluff across from Historic Fort Snelling. The site includes four of Minnesota's oldest buildings, including the homes of Henry Hastings Sibley and Jean-Baptiste Faribault. The Sibley Historic Site offers events, seasonal guided tours, and a museum shop.

Sibley Historic Site has the oldest Euro-American settlement in Minnesota https://dakotahistory.org/sibley-historic-site where four distinctive limestone buildings grace the Minnesota River bluff across from Historic Fort Snelling. These buildings mark the American Fur Company's control over the region's Dakota trade between 1825 and 1853, when Mendota was a major center of the region's fur trade. The Sibley Historic Site is on the southern bluff of the Minnesota River upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi, an area called Bdote by the Dakota people.

We look forward to welcoming you this year! Please look online for more detailed information and learn mor about Dakota Counties rich history! 651-552-7548. https://dakotahistory.org/