Take In 9 Historic Minnesota Sites For Free On Saturday

UNDATED (WJON News) -- You can take in some Minnesota history for free on Saturday. The Minnesota Historical Society is offering free admission to their 9 year-round sites.

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The historical society started doing free days last year and has continued it for 2025. Minnesota History Center Museum Manager Annie Johnson says it a good way to try out some of their sites:

"I think, you know we hear from a lot of visitors how it really gets them a chance to try places they might not have already seen, kind of gets the word out about our great network of historic sites and a lot of our sites and museums offer special programming on those days that can help attract new audiences as well."

She says the free days are an effort to get more people interested in Minnesota history:

"Well, we're offering these free admission days as part of an effort to increase access to Minnesota history. It's part of our mission to create powerful engagement with history and really make that accessible to the citizens of our state."

Johnson says they saw about 4,000 people take adavantage of the free admission days in 2024. There are over 20 sites in the Minnesota Historical Society's network but only 9 are available during the winter for Saturday's free day.

Johnson says they expanded the free days from two dates last year to four dates in 2025. The next free admission day is April 26th and more sites will be available then, and the last two free admission days have not been revealed yet.  The 9 sites available on Saturday are:

Historic Fort Snelling
Minnesota State Capital
James J. Hill House in St. Paul
Mill City Museum in Minneapolis
Minnesota History Center in St. Paul
Forest History Center in Grand Rapids
Jeffers Petroglyphs in Comfrey
Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post in Onamia
Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors

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