This building dates to 1877 and is one of Lanesboro’s oldest. It’s probably been more things and served more people in more ways than any other building in town. Boomtown saloon. Anna Page’s Millinery. Chinese laundry. St. Patrick’s Church Social Hall. VFW Post. State Trail Visitor Center. The fact that it’s now a museum (since 1984) is an excellent fit—this place certainly has a history!

Starting in 1868 the Southern Minnesota Railroad began bringing lots of people to Lanesboro, a collection of newly-arriving settlers, tourists from back east, and immigrants mostly from Ireland and Norway. This brick building, near the train depot, perched on the banks of the Root River, very early became the “Redmond Saloon,” no doubt a lively welcoming place for all those arrivals. Apartments were also available upstairs.

Two decades later owners and business models changed. Anna Page opened a millinery (or hat) shop on the ground floor. In 1902 Charles Lee, an immigrant from Canton, China, turned the basement into Lanesboro’s first (and only) Chinese laundry. Twenty years all that was gone, too, replaced for the next three decades by the social hall of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. In the early 1960s, after a period when the building stood mostly vacant (except for the Boy Scouts who occasionally held meetings and stored canoes upstairs), VFW Post 3888 moved in.

Today this building is home of the Lanesboro History Museum, serving its community by saving and sharing colorful stories and treasures of the town’s past and people. Make sure to check out the Museum’s vintage phone booth outside the front door, a favorite photo-spot. Dial its phone to hear more fun stories—you won’t even need a dime!