Historical Society conservation exhibit now open

The Steele County Historical Society’s latest exhibit, “Land, Air, Water: Celebrating Conservation and Preservation in Steele County” is now officially open.

It was opened to the public last week in conjunction with the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Business After Hours and will remain on display until the end of the year.

The Owatonna Izaak Walton League is celebrating 100 years of service in 2026, and the Steele County Soil and Water Conservation District is celebrating 80 years of operation. Both groups played a major role in organizing the exhibit. The Historical Society also partnered with local Native American historian Jeff Jarvis to create a display sharing the Steele County Wahpekute Dakota history in the area.

During the Chamber’s Business After Hours event, Ted Mittelstadt, president of the Owatonna Izaak Walton Chapter, gave a short history of the conservation organization. Nationally, he said, the Izaak Walton League had its beginnings in January of 1922 when 54 individuals organized the national group.

In 1924, he said, the Minnesota Division was organized, and the Owatonna Chapter was founded. A number of prominent businessmen were founding members of the local chapter, he said. Matt Kottke, he added found his grandfather’s name, Carl Kottke, on the original members list. Since its founding, Mittelstadt said, the Owatonna Chapter has been involved in a variety of local conservation projects and for many years maintained the Izaak Walton building on the Steele County fairgrounds and during fair week had numerous displays of fish and wildlife. The organization now owns the Chapter House south of Owatonna and several other properties that it maintains.

The display, which is currently in the main exhibit hall includes items from both the Izaak Walton League and the Soil and Water Conservation District.

Jarvis, who lives in Faribault, said that people lived in the Rice Lake area 10,000 years ago. The Wahpekute people, he said, were working with fur traders in the area in the 1830s and Alexander Faribault encouraged a group of them to move to what later became known as Faribault to an area originally known as Wahpekuteville.

While the legend of Owatonna may not be historically accurate, he said, there is no doubt that the Wahpekute were likely in the Mineral Springs area. The tribe gravitated towards fresh water, he said.

The Wahpekute exhibit will be featured in the main exhibit until the end of the year when it will become a standalone exhibit at the History Center.

The History Center is open Tuesday–Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Village of Yesteryear is open to walk through year-round with tours from May 1–Sept. 30 at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday–Sunday.

The Orphanage Museum, located in the main building at West Hills, is open Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.