Kensington Area Heritage Society l Osakis Area Heritage Center
Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum l Spruce Hill Lutheran Church l Evansville Art Center
Solem Church Preservation Association l Evansville Historical Foundation
Brandon History Center l Runestone Museum

A new history networking group has formed in Douglas County. Known as P.A.N.D.A., “Preserving Ancestry ~ Network and Development Alliance”, the group includes the Historical Society, the historic Spruce Hill Church, the Osakis Heritage Center, the Brandon History Center, the Evansville Historical Foundation, the Kensington Area Heritage Society, the Evansville Arts Coalition, the Runestone Museum and the Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum.

Ambassadors from each group will work together in preserving and publicizing the history of Douglas County and beyond, offering programs of special interest during the year.

Douglas County has a unique mix of history, including its lakes, businesses, townships and villages, churches, cemeteries and schools. Each individual history venue included in P.A.N.D.A. offers its own list of annual activities and events. Continue to check this website calendar of events for dates and times.

Kensington Area Heritage Society
The Kensington Area Heritage Society - museum/research center  is being developed in the former creamery facility. The Heritage Society is open by appointment (320) 965-2573.  


- Co-op Creamery - Kensington

The Kensington Rune Stone, discovered in 1898 a  few miles from town, tells the story of  the Norse travelling in the area in 1362.  Exhibits, tours  and  research forums are scheduled throughout the year.

Contact
Kensington Area Heritage Society
19 Central Ave.North
P. O. Box 54
Kensington, MN. 56343

Phone: 320-965-2573
www.kahsoc.org
Contact Administration:
kahs@runestone.net

Osakis Area Heritage Center
The Osakis Area Heritage Center is an incorporated non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to discover, preserve and share the history of Osakis and the surrounding area. Located in the downtown Osakis Information Center, 11 E. Main St., the all-volunteer Heritage Center is supported by donations and membership dues.


- Osakis Information Center - Osakis

The research collection includes family files, cemetery maps, town maps, county histories, photo files, scrapbooks, and high school and charter school yearbooks. Microfilm copies of the Osakis Review newspaper, 1891 to 2005, are available plus hardbound copies of the newspaper.

Limited research help is available during regular hours of the Osakis Information Center, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hours are extended in summer. Volunteers will do research at a cost of $20 per hour. Please limit written requests to a single request per letter. If you do your own research, copy charges apply, with an expected donation for the use of the materials.
Phone (320) 859-3777.

Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum
Minnesota has a rich and colorful maritime and resorting tradition reaching back nearly a century and a half, and the Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum preserves those lake traditions and legacies for future generations to enjoy.

The museum exhibits include beautiful classic wood and fiberglass boats, Minnesota wood boat builder history, resorting, fishing club and grand hotel exhibits, antique fishing equipment and other memorabilia. The MLMM also offers a variety of education classes for all ages. Call the museum for dates and times or visit the website.

Hours - Open May 15th - October 15th
- Tuesday thru Friday  9:00 - 5:00 PM - Saturday 9:00 - 4:00 PM - Sunday Noon - 4:00 PM - Closed Mondays Contact Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum P.O. Box 1216 205 3rd Ave. W Alexandria, MN 56308 Phone: 320-759-1114 Fax: 320-759-1101 www.mnlakesmaritime.org Contact Administration: boat@mnlakesmaritime.org

Spruce Hill Lutheran Church
The Spruce Hill Lutheran Church began as a log structure built in 1881. It had seats of wooden planks set on stumps, its pulpit an upright log. The need for a larger church became evident and the present building was completed in 1902. In 1913 a horse barn was added.

Membership dwindled through the years, and in 1967 the church merged with Miltona Faith. In 1994, it was deeded to the Douglas County Historical Society, who is now in charge of its operation.

Traditional Easter and Christmas services, and a mid-summer hymn fest are held each year. The church is used for funerals, weddings and other events approved by the Board of Directors. Bequests from estates of Emil Warberg, Esther Rosell, Lloyd and Esther Engstrand, and donations from various sources provide the funds for its upkeep.

Send any requests or correspondence regarding Spruce Hill Church to the Douglas County Historical Society, (320) 762-0382 or contact us via email.

Evansville Art Center
The Evansville Art Center is owned and operated by the Evansville Arts Coalition, a group of volunteers who enjoy the arts & appreciate how art enhances the quality of life in rural Minnesota. EAC was formed as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in January, 1996.

EAC activities are supported by the generous donations of our many friends of the arts, our valuable members & volunteers, corporate sponsors, area businesses, and the receipt of grants from the Lake Region Arts Council, MN State Arts Board, the Evansville Historical Foundation, Runestone Electric's Operation Round-Up, First Security Bank of Evansville, Bremer Banks, Tastefully Simple, and Otter Tail Power Company.

Hours
- Friday 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM - Saturday 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM - 1/2 hour before any Thursday evening event To arrange a special appointment time call 218-948-2377 or 218-948-2836. Contact Evansville Art Center 111 Main Street Evansville, MN 56326 Phone: 218-948-2377 or 218-948-2836

Solem Church Preservation Association
Solem Church Preservation Association formed in 2008 as the dwindling congregation of this Lutheran Church found it could no longer stay active with regular Sunday worship services. The church had its official beginning in 1876 and its early services were held in Norwegian. 

An interesting historical note: the Olof Ohman family lot (Lot #1) is in the Solem Cemetery which surrounds the church. Olof discovered the Runestone on his farm in 1898.  The Ohman Farm and today’s Runestone Park is one mile east and across the fields from the church. Rich history has followed the church through its 132 active years as a congregation.

The Preservation Association is actively seeking funds and fundraising events to continue the maintenance of the church. The church building is available after May 15, 2009 for baptisms, weddings and reunions.

The sanctuary can be rented for $250 per event and the fellowship hall and kitchen may be rented for $100. No food may be prepared in the kitchen, only served. Indoor bathrooms are available.

Contact Peggy Huntley at (320) 986-2478 for more information.   

Evansville Historical Foundation
In 1984 Alf R. Thompson, an independent oil producer and philanthropist, founded  the Evansville Historical Foundation located on the original Thompson homestead at 304 South Gran Street in Evansville.  Mr. Thompson was born in this house and after the last residents left the home in 1987 it was remodeled, decorated, and dedicated in July, 1988. 
 
The site consists of seven buildings.  One of the buildings - The Thompson House - serves as an office and research center for the Historical Foundation and also houses the offices of the Mound Grove Cemetery Association and Pioneer Heritage Conservation Trust.

The Evansville Historical Foundation Pioneer Village, in addition to the Thompson home site, features an exhibit hall (the former Johanson house), Eagle Lake Town Hall and annex, a country school, (former Douglas County District 90 moved to the EHF site), a log cabin built in 1892, (moved to the EHF site), a root cellar & dugout, the former P.G. Johnson home, which is dedicated to church artifacts, an authentic replica of a pioneer church, and a Catholic prayer house which originally stood on the grounds of Seven Dolors Cemetery in Millerville, MN.    

The Evansville Historical Foundation has also been well endowed to continue blessing the citizens of Evansville from now on. 

Brandon History Center
The Brandon History Center is located in the historic Brandon Auditorium, completed by the WPA in 1936. Today the Brandon Auditorium may be used for receptions, parties, anniversaries, dances, reunions, civic events and more.

The Brandon History Center is open to the public by appointment. The history center’s board of directors and members sponsor fundraising events throughout the year.

Call Chris Korkowski at (320) 834-4505 for more information.

Runestone Museum
Since its founding in 1958, the Runestone Museum has been dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of Douglas Counties and its communities and the people who make this area their home. The museum’s namesake is the Kensington Runestone, a 202-pound stone containing a runic inscription telling of a Norse crusade to Minnesota in 1362.

Though the stone is the centerpiece of the museum, it is but one of the thousands of artifacts in the collection that create educational and entertaining exhibits for visitors.

Contact the museum at (320) 763-3160 for more information or visit their website: www.runestonemuseum.org.