Before you even enter the building of the Redwood County Historical Museum, you have already stepped into history.

The museum, on the west edge of Redwood Falls, occupies what was once the county poor farm. The main structure is the multi-room Spanish-style home that provided living quarters. It was constructed in 1908 at a cost of $16,450.

“This was a temporary stop to get people back on their feet,” said Alice Hunt, museum director. The men would work, often for a farmer, and the women would garden. The field in front of the building was a garden. “The women would work in it when the men were gone during the day,” Hunt said. “They would do the canning and preserving of the food.”

In 1935, an old Redwood Falls mansion where relief families were housed caught fire. The salvaged lumber was used to build six small buildings on the county farm property, and relief families moved into them. The buildings had no electricity or running water, and were “little more than shacks,” according to one history. In response to the charge that some of the occupants were not poor but rather freeloaders, the houses were put on auction. One still stands on the grounds, just east of the main building.

Eventually, many of the occupants of the main building were older people who were supported by the county. The “poor farm” designation disappeared and the facility was known as a rest home.

“After a while some of those older people were bed-ridden, and the county had to put a nurse in to take care of them,” Hunt said. In 1958, it became a nursing home.

When the state eventually stepped in and said they had to have an elevator since there were second floor rooms, an addition was put on to accommodate it, and the building lost some of its historical value, Hunt said. In time, maintaining the building for human occupancy became too expensive. Hunt said that the city built government-subsidized housing into which the ambulatory residents moved, and Charlie Gilfillan got the Good Samaritans to build Sunwood Nursing Home, to which the bed patients were moved. That was in the early 1960s.

History revived

The facility stood empty until 1976 when the historic building became home to Redwood County history. A museum started by Redwood Falls Federated Women’s Clubs in a bank basement in 1968 helped to reactivate the dormant Redwood County Historical Society. When the bank needed its basement, the now-energized society and the county board agreed that the former poor farm would be an excellent place to display Redwood County’s rich history.

That history is so rich, and people have been so generous in donating, that there are more than enough items to fill the 30 rooms, each of which has its own theme.

“Everything is donated,” Hunt said. “We don’t take anything on loan. Everything here belongs to the Historical Society.”

As museum director, Hunt has to be a bit selective in accepting donations. “We try to find space for things that are going to be history, if they aren’t now,” she said. “I have some A&W; drive-in stuff, and you don’t see A&Ws; now.”

Hunt has been director for eight years. She had been helping out at the museum, and stepped in when the previous director died. Her training has been on-the-job.

“When I get an item I don’t know what it’s called, I have my Sears & Roebuck catalogs that are old. I refer back to them to find out what something is called.”

Those catalogs are in the Sears Room, which is dedicated to retailing giant Richard Sears, who by chance got his start in Redwood Falls. Sears was the North Redwood railroad depot agent from 1884-86. He acquired an unclaimed shipment of watches in 1886, and re-sold them. That was the seed that eventually developed into the mail order catalog business, Sears & Roebuck.

Hunt relies on more than her catalogs for identification. Patrons also help. Hunt was puzzled by one donated item that looked like a little brass pot. With it was a perforated stone on a metal handle. It was not pictured in any catalog. She was stumped until a museum-goer recognized it as a lighting pot. The pot held fuel. The stone soaked up fuel, was set ablaze, and, like a giant match, was used to light the fireplace fire.

Something for everyone

The variety of displays offers something of interest to everyone. Here is an abbreviated tour.

C.P. Gibson donated to the Society his 56-piece stuffed bird collection. It became the center of an exhibit that includes an impressive variety of birds, including snowy owl, loon, great gray owl, great horned owl, golden eagle and turkey vulture. There are two additional rooms of wildlife exhibits, one featuring horns and antlers, the other displaying hides and fish.

The Religion Room contains an intricately carved altar that is nine feet tall. It was the first altar at St. Catherine Catholic Church, brought over from Ireland by Father Geoffrey O’Sullivan.

The Military Room has uniforms dating back to the American Civil War. A recent donation came from Isidore Kalk, whose husband, Norman, had been a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II. The items include his German-issued dog tag showing he was housed in Stalag VII-A.

Bernard Ederer made many friends among Native Americans. They gifted him with numerous Indian artifacts on display in the Ederer Room.

Mildred Kennedy’s great-aunt, Phebe LaBaron, traveled the world, collecting hand fans wherever she went. She had them framed, and Kennedy donated the collection. The display includes a carved sandalwood fan with rare feathers and a 1902 wedding fan.

The Medical Rooms include a complete dental station from the office of Dr. S.P. Inglis. Hunt worked at that station for 28 years. Along with lots of old equipment sits one piece of “modern” record keeping — the first Apple Macintosh computer.

Baby buggies, dairy equipment, bridal gowns, fur coats, furniture, toys, hats and old band uniforms are on display. There is a lovely collection of old quilts, and an Easy Brand washing machine with a copper tub and three plungers that went up and down to agitate the laundry. It was built around 1940. Even older is a Mackenzie Piano Harp. They were manufactured by James Mackenzie in Minneapolis in the late 1890s. According to an internet site, only about 30 are known to survive today.

In addition to all of the rooms, the walls of the hallway are lined with photographs. Hunt said that Society member Gary Revier has been instrumental in reproducing and framing old photographs and newspaper articles. Among the collections are Redwood County schools and train depots.

The museum has a variety of artifacts unified by a common thread — they are either a part of Redwood County history or were collected by a Redwood County resident.

The museum is open May to October on Saturday and Sunday 1-4 p.m., otherwise by appointment only. For appointments or guided tours, call (507) 627-7260 or (507) 637-2828. There is a small admission fee. Only the first floor is handicap accessible.