Lyon County Historical Society and Museum

My last stop during the Minnesota Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener was the Lyon County Museum. Nestled in downtown Marshall, the museum is home to the Lyon County Historical Society (LCHS) and the Prairieland Genealogical Society. LCHS was formally founded in 1954 and showcases the history of the entire county. It includes resources like obituary files, church and family history books, and other records. In 1957, LCHS created a museum within a Great Northern Railroad baggage coach located alongside the Lyon County Courthouse. Having moved several times since then, the museum finally came to live in the former Marshall Lyon County Library, which provided three floors of space for research, programming, and exhibit galleries. The exhibits include a real 1950’s Schwan’s ice cream and soda fountain lunch counter, and a full size cabin that had to be dismantled and then reassembled inside the building, and many others you can see pictured. The whole place was packed full of hidden gems and historical hints about what life was like in Lyon county through the years. I had so much fun paging through old Sears catalogues and seeing all the old orange and black high school lettermans jackets. Fun fact about Marshall Senior High School; Walt Jocketty, the former General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sean Tillman, Minneapolis’ infamous Har Mar Superstar are alumni.