Community Corner
Viewfinder: A Walk Through Historic Mendota
Henry Sibley House Historic Site walking tours give visitors a glimpse into the rich past of the city of Mendota.
Visitors got a taste of frontier life for both saints and sinners Sunday in a City of Mendota walking tour.
A regular summer feature of the Sibley House Historic Site, the tour took visitors from the Hypolite Dupuis house to St. Peter's Church and on to the Mendota Jail.
The tour featured St. Peter's—the oldest church in continuous use in Minnesota—built in 1853 under the direction of a Father Augustin Ravoux. Visitors also got a rare peak inside the tiny two-cell Mendota Jail, built in 1915 mostly as a place to hold local drunks until they had sobbered up.
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Sibley House Historic Site holds several walking tours of both Mendota and river history each summer, as well as the more well-known tours of the homes of Henry Hastings Sibley and Jean Baptiste Faribault and buildings connected with the American Fur Company.
Sunday's was the last City of Mendota walking tour of the season, but history buffs can reap a bushel of local lore during Harvest Weekend at the Sibley House Historic Site and Fort Snelling.
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Harvest Weekend runs Sept. 3-5 at Sibley House and features a full schedule of events, including guided tours of the historic sites, historic games, crafts and demonstrations. Visitors can also see period foods, cooking demonstrations and take home 19th century recipes.
For more information visits event.mnhs.org or call 651-452-1596.