Dakota City Heritage Village - Farmington, Minnesota

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Dakota City Heritage Village - Farmington, Minnesota

This village of 22 building takes you through life in the early 1900’s in Dakota County.  Costumed interpreters will take you through the different things that occured in the homes and businesses of this historic village.  There are special events held throughout the year for you to enjoy.

You will learn how the residents met their need for water, food and interaction with other settlers.  You will see how they were dressed, what they used for tools for both work and cooking.

The village consists of the following buildings:
*  Depot - the transportation hub, where farm products went from the farms to the markets and people traveled in and out of town.
    * Fire Barn - houses the simple equipment used to fight fires in small towns of that era.
    * Jail - with its one cell, was often where hoboes riding the rails would spend the night.
    * District 96 Schoolhouse - recreates the one-room-school where rural citizens received their education.
    * Vermillion Presbyterian Church - depicts the spiritual and social center of the village.
    * Dakota Drug - with both the pharmacy exhibit and the soda fountain, where root beer and ice cream are available.
    * Vermillion Bank - where the village’s financial resources were kept.
    * General Store - the place where eggs could be traded for supplies and where news was exchanged.
    * Bandstand - the social gathering place when the band plays in the center of the village.
    * Post Office - where letters and mail-order catalogs were a link to the outside world.
    * Blacksmith Shop - depicting the fix-it shop of 1900, where horses were shoed, tools and vehicles were fixed, and hangers and hinges were made of iron.
    * Gibson Barbershop - the place to get shaves, haircuts, baths, and the news that wasn’t in the paper.
    * Dakota City Free Press - produces a newspaper using a linotype and 1900-era presses.
    * Law Office - where legal transactions and disputes of all types were handled by the country lawyer.
    * Village Hall - the seat of local government, where townspeople voted.
    * Library- where education beyond the country school often took place.  It contains books, newspapers, and magazines from the 19th and early 20th century.
    * Millinery - a 1900-era shop where women purchased hats, accessories, and placed orders with dressmakers.
    * Harris House - a typical 1900 two-story home.
    * McMenomy House - a 1900 Irish-American home in rural Dakota County (to open 2008).

Village tours are available May 1 to September 30¸ Monday through Saturday¸ for groups of 15 or more by appointment at a cost of $4.00 per person.

Call 651-460-8050 or E-mail info@DakotaCity.org for more information.