Ottawa County Historical Museum

110 South Concord Street
Minneapolis, Kansas 67467
(785) 392-3621

Open Tuesday through Saturday
10AM - noon  &  1 - 5PM
free

Ottawa County Historical Museum Map

Minneapolis's Rock City

George Washington Carver at the Ottawa County Historical Museum
Ottawa County Historical Museum - Minneapolis, Kansas
Ottawa County Historical Museum

The Ottawa County Museum in Minneapolis, Kansas is a pleasant surprise. Although the Ottawa County Museum has its fair share of whatever the people in town wanted to donate, the museum has a lot more information about the artifacts than most local historical museums. Many of the artifacts are next to magazine articles or other labels with details of what they were or how they were used.

A large corner of the Ottawa County Museum is filled with exhibits about George Washington Carver, who lived in Minneapolis for several years as a boy. I particularly enjoyed listening to a recording of Carver from shortly before his death. His voice was high pitched, and I would have guessed that it was a woman speaking.

Other exhibits of particular interest include Silvisaurus condrayi, a Kansas dinosaur with many fossils in Ottawa County, and the story of Grace Bedell and the letter she sent to Presidential candidate Abe Lincoln suggesting that he grow a beard.

The curator of the Ottawa County Historical Museum, Jettie Condray, loves Kansas and Ottawa County history and added a lot to my enjoyment of the museum. I wish I could have stayed and talked with him longer.

Ottawa County Historical Museum
 

Kansas dinosaur display at Ottawa County Museum.
Display devoted to Silvisaurus condrayi a 16 feet long armored, Kansas dinosaur from the Cretaceous period

Dinosaur Egg from China
Dinosaur Egg

Ottawa County Museum George Washington Carver display.
George Washington Carver history

Ottawa County Historial Museum curator, Jettie Condray
Curator of the Ottawa County Historical Museum, Jettie Condray, is an expert on the life of
George Washington Carver in Kansas

Cast of George Washington Carver's hand.
George Washington Carver display includes a replica cast of Carver's left hand.

Ottawa County Historical Museum Map - Minneapolis, Kansas
Ottawa County Historical Museum Map

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