By Marie Wittenberg 

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 8, our newly remodeled museum will be open again for an open house. It will also open regularly on the first Thursday of the month from 12:30-2 p.m. and the third Tuesday evening from 7-8 p.m. The museum is in the lower level of Eden Prairie City Center, 8080 Mitchell Road.

As is widely known, the archives of the museum (photos and documents) are the most used area. We have new cabinets, a photo collage documenting Eden Prairie from its beginning with the early settlers up to the demise of the most treasured Flying Red Horse!

Our records were proclaimed by the state historical representative as the best in the state, paid or unpaid. Well worth a stop to see.

Also for sale are a number of books. Helen Holden Anderson’s book is being reprinted. “Eden Prairie Pioneers,” which I wrote, has a collection of most of the stories and pictures of old Eden Prairie. The late Ernie Shuldhiess’ “Picture This Eden Prairie” as well as his “Eden Prairie Book of Days,” Mary Jane Anderson’s book about her experiences in early Eden Prairie and with American Indians and the most recent book Nell Schmidel Nesbitt wrote when she was growing up in Eden Prairie will also be available.

All of the photos of the early settlers and their homes and/or farms are in books that are available for viewing as are the oral histories of the old-timers that were done. Just last week someone was doing research in the old volumes of the Hennepin County Review (forerunner of our Eden Prairie newspapers) which included news from Eden Prairie.

Don Brauer did a comprehensive guide plan for the entire city of Eden Prairie and we were fortunate enough to get it for our archives and are able to share it with you.

There is a display of the Miller brothers with their WWI connection. The local American Legion Post was started by two World War I veterans, Arthur and Harold Miller, who were both stationed in Washington, D.C., when the first Legion post in the United States was organized in 1918, the George Washington Post No. 1. The Eden Prairie post was named after Everett McClay, who was the first World War I casualty in Eden Prairie. It was organized in 1919 and chartered in 1920. Art Miller was commander of the post. First meetings were in homes or in Miller’s Hall above the store. The Legion bought the Jarrett School for $100 when schools were consolidated in 1924. This was used for 25 years until it burned in the late 1940s. In the 1950s, a site was bought from Sheldon Douglas and the building was used until it burned in 1988. This is the site of the Resurrection Life Church today.

The wedding dress, photo and newspaper clipping from the wedding of Mabel (Tobias) and George Moran in the 1930s are also on display. The current project is getting together the pictures of the graduating classes from the beginning of the consolidated school to the building boom in 1960. Lynda Murray and I are working on this and will have it done this year.

 Marie Wittenberg is honorary director and archivist for the Eden Prairie Historical Society.