Meeker County Museum at the G.A.R. Hall

A look at two spinning wheels at the Meeker County Museum and the stories they tell.

Litchfield’s “Big Hunt” was a popular fall event that was held at least a dozen times from 1871 through 1891.

For several months after the US-Dakota War of 1862, fear of continued hostilities between the Dakota and settlers remained. As a result, several forts and a military presence could be found across parts of Minnesota. This included Meeker County, specifically at the Pipe Lake Fort in Cedar Mills Township. Among the horseshoes, belt buckles, nails, and even pieces of a stove is a small copper shield engraved with the name of HJ Lasher.

If you were to look at a map of Danielson Township, you would find the sole community of Rosendale. About a mile and a half west of Rosendale was School District # 50, often called the Rosendale School.

Upstairs in the museum are what at first glance might appear to be regular chairs. One is a child’s highchair and the other a simple,...

In the early afternoon of July 25, 1909, a memorable sight appeared in Grove City as between 200 and 300 members of the 3 rd Battalion,...

Little remains of the hamlet of Crow River today, but there was once a creamery, blacksmith shop, church, and the Crow River Store, also...

The artifacts in the Meeker County Museum come in all shapes and sizes, but by far the largest artifact is the log cabin. The cabin was...

In August 1887, a newspaper correspondent known as Henry from The Advance Sun  out of Red Wing, Minnesota, paid a visit to Litchfield...

Just over ninety years ago, in May 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced the start of the Rural Electrification...

Memorial Day was started by the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) in 1868, just three years after the end of the US Civil War. It was...

Among the collection at the Meeker County Museum is this beautiful wedding dress worn by Martha Louise Fullerton when she married Tipton...

For over four decades, a significant portion of the musical landscape of Litchfield was overseen by one man, Ole A Olson, also known as...

What’s in a name? The name of a place can often tell you a great deal about the people, time, and geographical location of an area. The...

“While we are building churches and school-houses, planting town parks and town pumps, let us not forget the Public Library.” Meeker...

In celebration of Women’s History Month, biographies of many of the wives of the G.A.R. members are on display at the G.A.R. Hall....

If you know some of the local history, the name Albert Van Spence might be familiar to you. But what became of his children?

The practice of having a loved one’s lock of hair has been around for centuries. Sometimes hair was given as a love token.

While looking through a stack of old newspapers at the Museum, we came across the very first issue of The School Mirror , the paper for...

We all know winters in Minnesota can be rough. Most of us had heard, or perhaps told, stories of past winters with gale-force winds and...