Minnesota's Most Historic Towns

Minnesota's history spans Ojibwe and Dakota culture, the fur trade era, the Iron Range immigration wave, and the emergence of Minneapolis-Saint Paul as the upper Midwest's metropolitan center.

Grand Portage
The heart of the 18th-century North American fur trade — Grand Portage (the 8.5-mile portage around the Grand Portage of the Pigeon River, bypassing impassable rapids) was the junction between the canoe routes from Montreal and those into the interior. The North West Company's trading post (1784–1803) is reconstructed at Grand Portage National Monument — the Great Hall, the kitchen, the palisade, and the canoe warehouse give a vivid picture of the fur trade era. The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa operates the ferry to Isle Royale from here.

Ely
The gateway to the Boundary Waters — Ely has been the outfitting hub for BWCAW canoe trips since the 1920s. The International Wolf Center (the world's most visited wolf research and education center) and the North American Bear Center give Ely strong wildlife education resources. The Sommers Wilderness Base Camp of the BSA (the largest organized camp in the BWCAW) has operated since 1923.

Red Wing
A Mississippi River bluff town of extraordinary preservation — the Sheldon Theatre (1904 — the first publicly owned theatre in the US), the St. James Hotel (1875), the Goodhue County History Center, and the Red Wing Pottery (America's most collected stoneware pottery) make Red Wing one of Minnesota's finest historic destinations. The river bluffs above Red Wing give the finest views on the Minnesota section of the Great River Road.

Pipestone
The Sacred Pipe quarry of the Lakota and other Plains tribes — Pipestone National Monument preserves the pipestone quarries where Native Americans have quarried catlinite (a soft red stone) for ceremonial pipe bowls for 3,000+ years. The Yankton Sioux and Lakota are the primary quarry users; demonstrations of pipe carving are given by Native American artisans.