Saturday, April 14, 2018

Lake Superior Railroad Museum

Gabrielle Meyer Here:

We stumbled across the Lake Superior Railroad Museum about ten years ago in Duluth, Minnesota. It was a complete delight and we've been back several times. The Museum is housed in the historic Union Train Depot, which is a French Chateauesque building built in 1892. In 1910, seven railroads dispatched over 50 trains a day from there.

The depot served as a small Ellis Island to the immigrants who would arrive and wait for their connection in Duluth. During times of war the soldiers would march down Superior Street and board the trains there. The last train left in 1969 and four years later the building was restored and turned into a museum.

Along with the historic trains, the museum houses Depot Square, which is a 3/4 scale recreation of Duluth's downtown in 1910. You can peek in the windows and see what a store or office looked like in that era. There is a doctor's office, a drug store, a millinery, a general store and many more. There is also a working soda fountain, where you can buy a treat.

One of our favorite exhibits is a model train and town that is easily 20x30 feet and enclosed in glass. I'm always impressed with the attention to details in the little city. The kids love watching the trains go around and around--and I admit, I enjoy it, too.

We love exploring the dining car, snow plow train and an assortment of others. It's fun imagining what it would have been like to travel by train a hundred and fifty years ago.

I'm so thankful for museums!  

What about you? Do you have any trips or visits planned this summer? What are some of your favorite museums or historic sites that you enjoy visiting over and over?

Gabrielle Meyer lives in central Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi River with her husband and four children. As an employee of the Minnesota Historical Society, she fell in love with the rich history of her state and enjoys writing fictional stories inspired by real people and events.

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3 comments:

  1. That does sound fascinating. No plans as of yet for museum visits, but you authors are working on me with your posts of really interesting local places. I need to be more curious and find the treasures around my area. My curiosities lean toward great beaches, restaurants and flea markets. I'll have to explore what we have for historical sites as well.

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  2. Thank you for sharing your great post. My husband and I are planning a driving trip to Alaska. We are leaving June 1.

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  3. We're going to one of my favorites, the St. Louis Art Museum, some time this summer to see the "Sunken Cities" exhibit and will undoubtedly spend time at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park as well (can't pass it up). I volunteer at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum here in Lincoln, Nebraska. I was in Florida recently for a writing event and took in the Dali Museum, the Plant Museum, and the St. Petersburg History Museum, and the Morrill Museum of American Art. As you can tell, museums are a magnet for me. I also love to find small, county museums and museums that are little-known. Some real gems exist run by passionate history lovers and I like to support them.

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