Oct 13 2008
Spending Time in 1899: Historic Forestville
A three-and-a-half hour trip is stretching the bounds of a day trip for me, but when the opportunity arises, I try to take it. (See #5 of my tips for outings with kids.) A longer car trip is much more palatable on a sunny fall day, so I packed up the kids and we headed to southeastern Minnesota.
Historic Forestville is one of a handful of Minnesota Historical Sites that we hadn’t been to yet, and it had been on my to-visit list for quite a while. We headed east from Austin, through Spring Valley, and followed signs to the Forestville-Mystery Cave State Park. Following the signs to the park, we were met with a sign that declared “bridge out 3 miles ahead.” I called the site and was told I was on the right road; the bridge is no longer in service for cars, but we were on the proper side for parking and would be able to walk across the bridge to Forestville.
Once at the site, we checked in at the modern building and headed to benches in the shade to await the start of our tour. Tours were running every few minutes, whenever a group gathered. Our guide gave us a brief history of the village of Forestville, and told us that when we entered the buildings, we would be stepping back into the year 1899. We were then ushered into the Meighen (mee-en) Store, where the shopkeeper tried to sell us new boots since ours (sandals) all had holes in them, and asked if I had brought my shopping list, keeping in character while telling us of the wares in the store. He left time for us to browse and ask questions before ushering us into the attached house of Thomas Meighen. Here, a woman who was helping keep the house showed us the office and parlor of the house, and let the kids help clean the rugs with the fancy “new” Bissell carpet sweeper and play the organ while she pumped it.
From there, we moved into the kitchen, where fresh apple pie awaited us. The cook was great with the kids, pointing out things about the kitchen that are different from modern homes. Then we headed into the kitchen garden (which is different from the 3-acre winter garden) and were given a tour of the plants before going into the granary. Here the kids shelled and cracked corn, and then went out back to feed the chickens. We finished our tour in the barn, and the kids helped to mow the grass with the manual mower.
I had expected Forestville to be a larger village, thinking along the lines of Murphy’s Landing, so I was surprised that there were only a few buildings to tour. That didn’t matter, however, because the staff gave such an interesting tour, tailored to the interests and attention spans of my young children.
Historic Forestville has special events throughout the year, including an annual Fourth of July celebration, that would be interesting to attend, but the quiet fall tour was just right for us.
If you go to Historic Forestville, please be aware of these things: In addition to the admission fee, a Minnesota State Park permit is required, and can be purchased on the way into the park. Modern restrooms are located in the gift shop. Strollers would be best left in the car, as there isn’t room to navigate them through the buildings.
Do you have a favorite historic site or restored village?
That looks like it was a lot of fun, and your pictures are beautiful. What a neat place!
wow 3 hour car ride, 4 children, you ARE brave
Looks like your family had a blast! I was recently at a wedding this weekend at Fort Gibraltar http://www.fortgibraltar.com/index_eng.htm (built in 1810) it was very neat! All I can say is thank goodness for modern restrooms!
Oh and I added you to my list of tags in the blog tagging game!
What a lovely experience! The story – as shared by tour guides – makes all the difference in touring historical sites.
Now, how was that apple pie?
What a cool little town. Nice post and great pictures.
It looks like the perfect time of year to go with the leaves changing and the cool air! I must add this to my to-do list.
I hope to be more adventurous once my little one is a little older You’re a great roll model and wealth of info for that!
Great blog redesign btw! I remember when your blog was critiqued. It looks really good!
[...] 3.5 hour return trip another day, I decided to at least inquire about the cave tour. The man at the Forestville historical site said it was indeed kid-friendly, and when I saw the part about putting your child in a stroller [...]
[...] Historic Forestville is located in Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park, and a state park permit is required in addition to admission to the historic site. The community is set along a river, and you can walk across a historic Carnegie bridge to get to it from the parking lot. [...]
[...] described the Historic Forestville tour in a previous post, so I’ll just include a few new photos this time [...]
[...] in the summer, we headed to eastern Minnesota to revisit LARK Toys in Kellogg and Historic Forestville near [...]
[...] both are in Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park, Mystery Cave is a few miles away from Historic Forestville. A modern visitor center at the cave area welcomes visitors. We paid our admission, and since [...]
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[...] writes about family travel at Travels with Children. She’s taken her kids to both Mystery Cave and Historic Forestville (twice), and is hoping to return to the park on a camping trip this [...]