History Center of Olmsted County

Let's Make History!

Did you know our favorite memory is YOU? At HCOC, we collect and preserve all aspects of Olmsted County history. Family photos, business histories, maps, agricultural tools, school yearbooks, architectural drawings, wedding dresses, the list goes on and on. Managing approximately 20,000 artifacts and hundreds of thousands of documents along with several historic structures requires a lot resources. We are incredibly grateful for your support! THANK YOU!

Here’s how your donation makes history: 

• $45, on average, helps us document and care for each artifact donated to us. People donate about 1,500 objects to the History Center per year. 
• $50 helps our certified archivist provide one-on-one assistance to each archive and research center visitor. On average, our archivist assists 430 researchers each year helping them explore the history of their family, business, farm, house, town, or neighborhood.
• $150 helps us produce an edition of our Home Grown History lecture series, where expert local and national historians speak live at the History Center or via Zoom (or both). 
• $175 goes a long way in helping us create one-of-kind exhibits that tell the story of Olmsted County's many communities. 
• $250 to $1000 will help us match grants to restore the historic George Stoppel Farmstead, including the Smokehouse, man-made caves, Stone House, and Bank Barn. The History Center is committed to restoring and activating this rare property as the chief historic site for telling the story of agricultural and immigration history in Southeastern Minnesota.

These are just a sampling of how your donation helps save and share the history of Rochester and Olmsted County.

By supporting the History Center you support its mission to give people of all ages and backgrounds access and opportunity to learn about the past through interpretive programs and exhibits, research, publications, and events.