Jul 16 2008
World War II Day at Historic Fort Snelling
Historic Fort Snelling
- At Hwys 5 and 55 near the airport, St. Paul, MN.
- 612-726-1171.
- www.mnhs.org/places/sites/hfs/
$10 adults, $8 seniors and college students, $5 ages 6-17, 5 and under and MNHS members free. - Free parking.
- Partially stroller accessible.
- Restrooms available.
Although Fort Snelling usually depicts the 1850’s, on occasion they have special days from other time periods. On Father’s Day weekend, we went to learn about Fort Snelling in World War II.
What an interesting trip! The fur-trading days were gone, and Fort Snelling was now set up as it was in World War II, when it was the starting point for Minnesota’s soldiers on their journey to serve. Costumed interpreters took us through Japanese language school, taught us how to swing dance in the canteen, and had Tiddleywinks and Lincoln Logs set up for play. The kids went through an obstacle course and pretended to drive a Jeep.
I was amazed at how complete the transformation was, down to the 48-star flag and the WWII era communications. The kids liked playing the games and planting their “Victory Gardens,” and of course climbing up the big round tower.
The change at Fort Snelling was so complete that my husband was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see the blacksmith at work. We’ll have to go back another time to see that again.
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