Free Family Fun Day: New Year's Traditions
2026-01-10 12:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Happy New Year! How do people around the world celebrate the start of a new year? Come find out at Free Family Fun Day! Make your own resolutions, create a unique snowflake craft, and more!

Admission is free for everyone, thanks to our sponsor!

Free Family Fun Day: Valentine's Day
2026-02-14 12:00 - 15:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
It’s Valentine’s Day! Join us for an afternoon of fun as we explore the history of the holiday. Why do we send Valentines cards and where did Conversation Hearts come from? Find out at our event and enjoy a sweet treat on this special holiday! Highlights include a woven heart craft, themed scavenger hunt, story time, and more!
Admission is free for everyone, thanks to our sponsor!

History Break: "Colvill Smiled"
2026-02-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Why do Minnesotans love and admire Colonel William Colvill, Red Wing’s gigantic 6’5” Civil War hero? Join Steve Hoffbeck, a Minnesota-born-and-raised author, who will explore the life and times of William Colvill, with words from Colvill, and with heroic images from Hoffbeck’s newest book, “Colvill Smiled:” The Legend of the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Regiment at Gettysburg. All are welcome for this exciting History Break with a discussion and book-signing opportunity to follow! “Colvill Smiled” is available in the museum gift shop.

About the Speaker: Steve Hoffbeck is a self-described old but lively Minnesotan who grew up as a farmer’s son near Morgan. Hoffbeck is a former Professor of History at Minnesota State University Moorhead, and his first book, The Haymakers, was a Minnesota Book Award winner. He has presented illustrated history programs in every corner of Minnesota, including talks about baseball history, World War II, and legendary Minnesotans. Hoffbeck and his wife, Dianne, live in Barnesville, MN, and have four adult children and seven grandchildren. (Pictured below: Steve Hoffbeck at Rollag Steam Threshers Reunion, 2016)

Date Night @ GCHS
2026-02-26 18:00 - 20:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Tickets are now on sale for our Date Night event on Thursday, February 26th! Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased at the Goodhue County History Center or via phone at 651-388-6024.
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Switch up your date night routine with a wine tasting at GCHS! Grab your partner or a friend and join local Wine Stories blogger and columnist Ron Skjong to learn about local wines, and enjoy activities around the museum.

Highlights include:

Sample local wines
Light refreshments
Photo booth
Special exhibit: Goodhue County Couples

Free Family Fun Day: Women's History Month
2026-03-14 12:00 - 15:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Photo: Women posing in front of a train, July 1915

March is Women’s History Month! Come learn about incredible women in Goodhue County’s history at this month’s Free Family Fun Day. Enjoy a scavenger hunt, write notes of appreciation to women in your life, and more!
Admission is free for everyone, thanks to our sponsor!

History Break: Muus vs. Muus
2026-03-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
The Goodhue County Spectacle: The Muus vs. Muus Case that Made International Headlines

Join the translator and editor of Muus vs. Muus for a deep dive into the sensational 1880s divorce case that started in a local courthouse and became an international sensation. When Oline Muus filed her first lawsuit against her powerful husband in 1879, the private conflict of a marriage instantly became a public spectacle. Her husband, B.J. Muus, was not only the founder of St. Olaf College but also a prominent leader of the Norwegian Synod. Drawing from Goodhue County records, local newspaper coverage, and original court documents, this talk will examine how the case exposed the complex tensions within Norwegian-American immigrant life. We will explore the central struggle for women’s rights, the unyielding role of religion, and the cultural clash between a prominent couple that demanded attention on both sides of the Atlantic.

About the Speaker: Kari Lie Dorer is the King Olav V Chair in Scandinavian-American Studies, the Norwegian Department Chair, and Program Director of Nordic Studies at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

GCHS Book Club
2026-03-25 18:00 - 19:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Calling all bookworms! In 2026, the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday! Join GCHS for a quarterly book club that reflects on 250 years of history and storytelling, and sparks conversations about the nation’s future. Each meeting will focus on a different book! Our first book will be What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism by Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner. This event is free, and participants are asked to provide their own copy of the book. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to Bethany via phone or email (education@goodhistory.org) to ensure we have enough snacks. Thanks!

Synopsis: “At a moment of crisis over our national identity, venerated journalist Dan Rather has emerged as a voice of reason and integrity, reflecting on—and writing passionately about—what it means to be an American. Now, with this collection of original essays, he reminds us of the principles upon which the United States was founded. Looking at the freedoms that define us, from the vote to the press; the values that have transformed us, from empathy to inclusion to service; the institutions that sustain us, such as public education; and the traits that helped form our young country, such as the audacity to take on daunting challenges in science and medicine, Rather brings to bear his decades of experience on the frontlines of the world’s biggest stories. As a living witness to historical change, he offers up an intimate view of history, tracing where we have been in order to help us chart a way forward and heal our bitter divisions. With a fundamental sense of hope, What Unites Us is the book to inspire conversation and listening, and to remind us all how we are, finally, one.”

Free Family Fun Day: Earth Day
2026-04-11 12:00 - 15:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
We’re celebrating Earth Day with our friends from Clean River Partners! Come learn about native plants and how they can help improve our watershed! Clean River Partners will show us where and when to plant Minnesota native plants in the garden. Plus, enjoy hands-on demonstrations and see the impact native plants have on our soils and water!

Highlights include:

Hands-On Demonstrations
Earth Day Suncatcher Craft
Nature-Themed Scavenger Hunt
And More!

About Clean River Partners: Clean River Partners is a non-profit whose mission is to inspire people and organizations to value, protect, and improve the Cannon River Watershed’s land and water.

Admission is free thanks to our sponsors!

History Break: Mineral Springs Sanitorium
2026-04-15 12:00 - 13:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Join the creators of An Adventure in Living for a presentation and book signing! Books will be available for purchase at the event.

From 1915 to 1974, the Mineral Springs Sanatorium in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, was a healing destination for tuberculosis patients seeking respite from the once-incurable “Great White Plague.” Founded as a center for isolation and rest, Mineral Springs became a hub of medical innovation, eventually hosting the drug trials that conquered the tuberculosis threat and paved the way for the closure of TB sanatoriums.
Richly illustrated with historical photographs and other materials, this book traces the story of Mineral Springs, from the first visitors who came to Minnesota seeking relief in its health-giving air and water to the state-wide push to build, maintain, and support the sanatorium system and associated anti-tuberculosis efforts. It is a story of dedicated medical men and women and the tightly-knit community of patients that they served- patients for whom the sanatorium experience was not a death sentence, but, in the words of one Mineral Springs doctor, “an adventure in living.”

About the Author: Since embarking on a second career in 2015, historian Bruce William Colwell has researched, authored, and published eleven local histories. Colwell has a BA in history from Lawrence University, and a PhD in administration and policy studies from the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy. Prior to becoming a local historian, Colwell worked in higher education, amassing more than thirty years of administrative experience. He also served on the board of the Northfield Public Library and the Northfield Historical Society. A resident of Northfield for 30 years, Colwell now resides in Cannon Falls, where he has served the past six years as president of the Cannon Falls Public Library Board.

About the Editor & Designer: Mark Heiman has been involved in small press publishing for more than thirty years, specializing in books by local authors and subjects related to local history and traditional folkways. This is his fourth local history collaboration with Bruce Colwell. Mark lives in Northfield in the town’s oldest home.

Artist's Reception: Brent Beal
2026-04-16 14:00 - 16:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
All are welcome for an artist’s reception celebrating a display by local artist Brent Beal. Photorealism paintings of Red Wing’s landscapes will be on view in the lobby through the month of May!

Free Family Fun Day: National Inventors Month
2026-05-09 12:00 - 15:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Did you know that May is National Inventors Month? Join GCHS and the Red Wing Public Library to celebrate the creativity and contributions of inventors. Highlights include a scavenger hunt, interactive story time, sweet treat, and more!

Admission is free thanks to our sponsors!

Antiques & Collectibles Appraisal
2026-05-15 15:00 - 18:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
What’s it worth? Find out at this event featuring antiques expert and author Mark Moran, PBS Antiques Roadshow appraiser and active appraiser of antiques and fine art for more than 20 years. Each $20 registration covers one item appraised. Please indicate item to be appraised when registering. Time slots for appraisals will be filled in order of registrations received with the first time slot beginning at 3 PM and ending at 6 PM. When registering, you will be given a one hour window of time in which your item will be appraised. If registering online and “Waiting List” appears, please add your name to the waiting list and you’ll be contacted and added to the next hour. Items accepted for appraisals: fine art, small furniture, ceramics, glassware, vintage photographs, advertising, folk art, toys, metal ware, clocks, costume jewelry, musical instruments, lighting, books, and sports memorabilia. Items NOT accepted for appraisal include: all weapons
including swords and knives, traps, coins or paper money, fine jewelry or precious gems, Beanie Babies, and Nazi memorabilia. If you have questions about objects not listed or you’re interested in an appraisal house call for larger, fragile, or a lot of items, contact Community Education at 651-385-4565. This class is co-sponsored by Red Wing Community Education and The Goodhue County History Center and will be held at 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing.

*Please note- The museum does not appraise items, nor do they purchase items for their collection.*

Tickets must be purchased through Red Wing Community Education. Register online at https://redwing.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/home/ or call their office with questions at (651) 385-4565.

History Break: Rob Thomas
2026-05-20 12:00 - 13:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
One Family’s Journey on Minnesota’s Trail of Tears

Join Dakota Theatre Artist and White Bear Lake Area Historical Society Board President Rob Thomas as he takes you from 1862 to today through the eyes of his own family. Hear how his research was conducted into his ancestry and what tools and resources were accessed to gain the information, as well as personal stories from his family throughout the last 160 years. Rob’s family went from a village near Faribault, Minnesota to Morton, Mankato, Ft Snelling, Davenport, Iowa, Santee, Nebraska, and finally back to Minnesota once again.

About the Speaker: Rob Thomas (Wokiksuye Yuha Mani) currently serves as Development Director at History Theatre in St. Paul, MN. Rob served in various fundraising and executive leadership roles for theatres across the country. As a descendant of the Wahpekute Dakota, he’s also very active in the urban Native American community and conducts Sacred Sites tours for the MN Humanities Center. He currently serves on the boards of directors for the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society (Board President), Saint Paul Rotary, Quatrefoil Library, and Minnesota Citizens for the Arts (Membership Committee Chair).

Goodhue County History Detective
2026-05-30 - 2026-08-29 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
For Visitors ages 14 & under:
Be a History Detective this summer and explore local history! Pick up a free booklet at any participating museum or print your own using the link below. This summer, embark on a county-wide scavenger hunt across 5 museums! Find the answers at each museum and receive a stamp. Collect them all and turn in your booklet at the Goodhue County History Center in Red Wing to receive a prize! Plus, enter into a drawing for a grand prize!

Participating Museums:

Goodhue Area Historical Society
Goodhue County Historical Society
Kenyon Area Historical Society
Pine Island Area Historical Society
Zumbrota Area Historical Society

*Please Note: Some museums may have admission costs for children or adults.

2026 History Detective Booklet

File size: 13.51 MB
Created: 03-06-2026
Updated: 03-06-2026
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College Hill Walking Tour (New!)
2026-05-30 10:00 - 12:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
SOLD OUT- Additional tour date will be added soon!
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Why does College Avenue take you up College Hill, but there is no college? Join local historian and author, Todd Walsh, on a new walking tour that spans the history of a Red Wing neighborhood known for its picturesque views. Learn about early indigenous peoples who claimed the hill as sacred ground, colleges that have come and gone, and one of Minnesota’s first golf courses that shared space with local cattle! Plus, take in the homes of notable Red Wing residents who achieved recognition on the local, state, and national level. This 1.5-mile tour will begin and end at the Goodhue County History Center and will last 2 hours. Please be advised this tour requires a moderate level of physical activity. Participants should wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk up inclines and over uneven ground. In case of inclement weather, a program will be held at the museum instead.
Space is limited! Tickets must be purchased through Red Wing Community Education. Register online at https://redwing.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/home/ or call their office with questions at (651) 385-4565.

Find Our Fairy House!
2026-06-01 - 2026-09-07 | Masonic Lodge, 454 W 4th St, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Magic is returning to Red Wing this summer and GCHS is joining in on the fun! Take a look around downtown and see if you can spot our fairy house…or school, at a historic spot off East Avenue & West 4th Street. Then come explore the rural schoolroom inside our museum!

Check out the Red Wing Downtown Magic website for the 2026 Magic Map and more information on this fun time of year: https://magicmapredwing.my.canva.site/

Jordan Creek Walking Tour
2026-06-06 10:00 - 11:30 | Red Wing City Hall, 315 W 4th St, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Join GCHS on a walking tour of downtown Red Wing, following the historic route of the Jordan Creek. This waterway once divided the downtown area before being driven underground, where it still flows today. Tours will start outside of City Hall and explore the history of the Jordan and some of the historic buildings built on top of it, before ending at Levee Park. Put on your walking shoes and join us as we follow the Jordan’s path to the Mississippi River.
Space is limited! Tickets must be purchased through Red Wing Community Education. Register online at https://redwing.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/home/ or call their office with questions at (651) 385-4565.

Free Family Fun Day: First Responders
2026-06-13 12:00 - 15:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Photo: GCHS Collections, Red Wing Fire Department emergency vehicles parked outside of fire house in 1978
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Learn about the history of first responders in Goodhue County and meet some local responders! We’ll be joined by the Goodhue County Sheriff Department and members of Red Wing’s Police and Fire Departments for a fun afternoon with opportunities to touch a truck! More details are coming soon….

Admission is free thanks to our sponsors!

History Break: James Curry
2026-06-17 12:00 - 13:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Join James Curry for a discussion on his recent project, Soul Force! The exhibition Soul Force: The Movements of Memory explores the collaboration and connection between Black, Indigenous and Chicano communities and their movements for autonomy, self-determination and liberation in the post-civil rights era in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and the Nation. These three movements sought to address the societal and structural inequalities facing these diverse communities and neighborhoods with more immediacy. The North Side of Minneapolis is primarily where all three groups’ struggles intersected against the structural forces that sought to disenfranchise them.

About the Speaker: James Curry is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up in Brooklyn Park, MN and studied at The American Film Institute and earned his MFA in Film from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. In 2021, as an editor at KSTP, he and his team were awarded the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award for coverage of George Floyd’s murder, uprising and aftermath. He was also awarded the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship for Film in 2021 for his fiction and non-fiction work and in 2022 the Arthur C. McWatt Fellowship. During this fellowship he curated a social justice themed exhibit on Dakota County Black Pioneers. He has written a graphic novella comic based on his ancestor’s narratives with DC/Marvel illustrator Tom Nguyen called Hate Stings published in June 2023. He is chair of Building Remembrance for Reconciliation (BR4R.org) and has partnered with the Dakota County Historical Society on the development of a Black Heritage Trail in Hastings. In 2024 he was awarded a Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery Fellowship and curated his second exhibit there last summer called Soulforce: The Movements of Memory, based on Dr. Jimmy Patino’s work on Red, Brown and Black Power in the Twin Cities. Curry is currently in pre-production for his next non-fiction work that has received a grant from the Minnesota Center for Humanities for a documentary based on Soulforce.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Film Screening + Q&A
2026-06-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Join us for a film screening with Anderson Center Artist-In-Residence Melissa Hacker! Enjoy her documentary My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports, followed by audience Q & A. Light refreshments will be served.

intimate…heartfelt…The speakers remember how their parents made the decision, as wrenching
as Sophie’s choice, to part with their children, possibly forever, on the eve of war…
Janet Maslin, THE NEW YORK TIMES
A simple and eloquent documentary…While many may feel that they know all they need to about the Holocaust from movies like “Schindler’s List” and “Shoah,” this quiet film makes the horror vivid all over again. And it does so not by the use of gory images, but by showing the faces behind the statistics.
Hannah Brown, THE NEW YORK POST

About the Film:
The groundbreaking, first documentary film to tell the heart-wrenching story of the Kindertransports, My Knees Were Jumping premiered in 1996 at the Sundance Film Festival, and went on to screen in film festivals, museums, Community Centers and universities throughout the world, including a sold out limited theatrical run in New York City. In the nine months just prior to World War II close to 10,000 children were sent, without their parents, to Great Britain from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. These children were rescued by the Kindertransport movement. Most of the children never saw their parents again. Those courageous parents who had the strength to send their children off to an unknown fate soon boarded transports taking them to concentration camps.This is filmmaker Melissa Hacker’s first film, and she approaches this little known story of Holocaust era rescue from lived experience. Her mother, the Academy Award nominated costume designer Ruth Morley, née Birnholz (Taxi Driver, Annie Hall, The Hustler, The Miracle Worker, Tootsie, and many more classic American movies) fled Vienna on a Kindertransport in January 1939. The story of the Kindertransports is an extraordinary piece of history – untold far too long. The children who lived the trauma and terror of being uprooted from secure homes tell amazing stories. Into the darkness of the Holocaust it is important to add true tales that are life affirming.

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About Melissa:

Melissa Hacker is an award-winning filmmaker who made her directing debut with the documentary My Knees Were Jumping; Remembering the Kindertransports, which was short-listed for Academy Award nomination, seen in film festivals, museums, universities, on broadcast and streaming television worldwide and released theatrically in New York City. Melissa’s video Venus, filmed at the Josephinium Medical History Museum, was featured in the exhibit “Objects of Devotion and Desire: Medieval Relic to Contemporary Art,” and received accolades in the New York Times review. Melissa ‘s recent short film 256,000 miles from home has screened at the Goethe Institutes in London and Glasgow, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, and the Cleveland International Film Festival in April 2026. Melissa has spoken internationally on the Kindertransports, curated The Kindertransport Journey: Memory into History at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Glen Cove, consulted on the exhibit, Rescuing Children on the Brink of War at the Center for Jewish History in New York, and written for the catalog and provided film excerpts for Without a Home: Kindertransports from Vienna, at the Vienna Jewish Museum.
Melissa is currently directing Ex Libris, A Life in Bookplates, an animated documentary on her Austrian grandfather’s life and bookplate collection. Honors received include a Fulbright Artist-in-Residence award in Vienna, and residencies at Yaddo, Saltonstall, Millay and the Anderson Center at Tower View. Melissa is the Executive Director of the Kindertransport Association, a native New Yorker, and a wandering professor, most recently at Yangon Film School in Myanmar and Marymount Manhattan College in NYC.

Lawn Games Day with the Red Wing Public Library
2026-06-23 09:30 - 11:00 | Central Park, Downtown Red Wing, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
GCHS is teaming up with the Red Wing Public Library during their summer reading program! Families are welcome to stop by Central Park and join us in playing a variety of modern and historic lawn games! In case of bad weather, the back-up date will be Tuesday, July 7th.
Highlights:

Giant Jenga
Disc Golf
The Limbo
Croquet
Graces
And more!

GCHS Book Club: Mni Sota Makoce
2026-06-25 18:00 - 19:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Join us as we continue the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States! While we know that Minnesota was not part of the U.S. during the Revolutionary Era, we can consider the “Power of Place” and what was happening here in 1776. Archaeologists know that Native peoples have lived in the Red Wing area for 13,000 years! Our next book, Mni Sota Makoce, focuses on the Dakota homeland from the Dakota perspective!
This event is free & participants are asked to provide their own copy of the book. Light refreshments will be served! Please RSVP to Bethany via phone or email at education@goodhistory.org

Synopsis: Much of the focus on the Dakota people in Minnesota rests on the tragic events of the 1862 U.S.–Dakota War and the resulting exile that sent the majority of the Dakota to prisons and reservations beyond the state’s boundaries. But the true depth of the devastation of removal cannot be understood without a closer examination of the history of the Dakota people and their deep cultural connection to the land that is Minnesota. Drawing on oral history interviews, archival work, and painstaking comparisons of Dakota, French, and English sources, Mni Sota Makoce tells the detailed history of the Dakota people in their traditional homelands for at least hundreds of years prior to exile.
“Minnesota” is derived from the Dakota phrase Mni Sota Makoce, Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds—and the people’s roots here remain strong. Authors Gwen Westerman and Bruce White examine narratives of the people’s origins, their associations with the land, and the seasonal round through key players and place names. They consider Dakota interactions with Europeans and offer an in-depth “reading between the lines” of historical documents—some of them virtually unknown—and treaties made with the United States, uncovering misunderstandings and outright deceptions that helped lead to war in 1862.
Dakota history did not begin with the U.S.– Dakota War of 1862—nor did it end there. Mni Sota Makoce is, more than anything, a celebration of the Dakota people through their undisputed connection to this place, Minnesota, in the past, present, and future.

College Hill Walking Tour (New!)
2026-06-27 10:00 - 12:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Why does College Avenue take you up College Hill, but there is no college? Join local historian and author, Todd Walsh, on a new walking tour that spans the history of a Red Wing neighborhood known for its picturesque views. Learn about early indigenous peoples who claimed the hill as sacred ground, colleges that have come and gone, and one of Minnesota’s first golf courses that shared space with local cattle! Plus, take in the homes of notable Red Wing residents who achieved recognition on the local, state, and national level. This 1.5-mile tour will begin and end at the Goodhue County History Center and will last 2 hours. Please be advised this tour requires a moderate level of physical activity. Participants should wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk up inclines and over uneven ground. In case of inclement weather, a program will be held at the museum instead.
Space is limited! Tickets must be purchased through Red Wing Community Education. Register online at https://redwing.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/home/ or call their office with questions at (651) 385-4565.

History & Spirits Tour (New!)
2026-07-10 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-08-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Red Wing Depot, 418 Levee St, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Join Leah Buysse on a tour where Red Wing’s past walks beside you! Discover Red Wing through the stories of the people who shaped it—and still do. This tour blends factual history with the legends that have become part of our community’s heartbeat. Along the way, you’ll meet the “spirits” of Red Wing: the neighbors, friends, and prominent figures who continue to call this place home. It’s a celebration of heritage, humanity, and the threads that tie us together. This walking tour will last 1.5 hours and will begin at the Red Wing Depot. Please wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather as it will be entirely outside.

Tickets are $25 each and are available through Red Wing Community Education! Visit their website or call the office at 651-385-4565 for more information: https://redwing.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/home/

Free Family Fun Day: America 250 & Ice Cream Social
2026-07-11 12:00 - 15:00 | Goodhue County History Center, 1166 Oak Street, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
The United States turns 250 years old this year, and we’re celebrating with our annual ice cream social! What was happening in Minnesota in 1776? Find out by exploring our exhibits and interacting with a fur trade reenactment group! Plus, view displays of bicentennial (1976) and Independence Day items in the GCHS collection.

La Compagnie des Hivernants de la Riviere Saint Pierre (Winterers of the St Peters River) is a fur trade group based in the Twin Cities that recreates the life of the Voyageurs. They have paddled multiple historic routes in canoes, and have demonstrated trapping, hunting skills, fire starting, French Canadian culture, and more at historical sites across the Midwest.

Admission is free for everyone, thanks to our sponsors!
