Minnesota History

Olmsted County's creepy dolls are back  — and they know what you did last summer
Since 2019, the History Center of Olmsted County in Rochester has been getting Halloween fans in the spirit of the season with its Creepy Doll contest and exhibit. The dolls are out, and polls are open now for most disturbing specimen of 2022.
Parks officials say historic Minneapolis home gutted by fire can still be saved
The John H. Stevens House in Minneapolis has now apparently survived not only 170 years of Minnesota weather, but also repeated attempts to burn it down where it stands in wooded parkland at Minnehaha Falls Regional Park. 
A conversation with the new curator of U of M's LGBTQ archive library
A few decades ago, Jean-Nickolaus Tretter in Little Falls, Minn., started collecting documents and objects related to LGBT culture and communities. They were concerned those artifacts might be lost to history and with them an understanding of the history of LGBT communities.
Remembering Lynn Stauss — a heroic leader through unimaginable disaster
The former mayor of East Grand Forks, Lynn Stauss, died this week. On April 19, 1997, Strauss led the city through historic flooding and a fire. Current East Grand Forks mayor Steve Gander talked with Cathy Wurzer about Stauss and his legacy.
A State Fair classic: 125 years later, Hamline Church Dining Hall still cooking
The Hamline Church Dining Hall is a Minnesota State Fair tradition that continues to thrive amid the fried ice cream, falafel on a stick, pronto pups, turkey legs and other unusual eats. But it’s not just the food that keeps people coming back.