In April, Curator Barb Redepenning attended a Blandin Community Leadership Program in Grand Rapids, Minnesota along with 23 other individuals who live or work in Lac qui Parle County. One of the ideas they emphasized was that the entire county should work together to make a better community for all. One of the ways we can do that is to share the history of our county with other towns in Lac qui Parle County. The Lac qui Parle County Historical Society’s Vision Statement says: “To discover, collect, preserve, conserve and disseminate any materials which help to establish, illustrate, or interpret the history of the Lac qui Parle County and its environs and their place in history of the State of Minnesota. To create interest in the past, to operate the museum and historical sites owned and managed by the Society.”
We have already done this by setting up a small booth at Nassau’s 75th Anniversary that shared some Nassau photographs and artifacts. Another way we sharing our history is by loaning some of our Dawson items to the Dawson Bank Museum located on Dawson’s Main Street. We enjoy working with Dennis Anderson and the Dawson Bank Museum. It is a great way to share our history and to utilize a building that was added to the Minnesota National Historic Registry in 1982. The bank is a well-preserved example of a 19th-century Richardsonian Romanesque bank. It was built in 1892 for Christopher M. Anderson, an influential early pioneer and civic leader in Lac qui Parle County. Although the Dawson Bank Museum in not owned or managed by the LqP County Historical Society, the board feels it gives us a great opportunity to share some of the history of Lac qui Parle County and the history of Dawson.
