About

Volunteers, a county historical society, and a lot of borrowed trucks.

The Nelson County Historical Society runs Stump Lake Village. Nobody here is paid. The buildings were saved because somebody in the county decided they were worth moving.

What we are for

Teach the next generation, and keep the buildings standing.

Two jobs, and they hold each other up. Students come out from Lakota, Pekin, Michigan, Aneta, McVille and the towns around them, and they learn county history in the rooms where it happened. The visits and the offerings and the Bee pay for shingles, paint, foundations and display cases, which is what keeps the rooms standing for the next class.

We are not trying to be a big museum. We are trying to be an honest one, about this county, with the real objects in it.

How it grew

One building, then another, then a street.

The start A log cabin and a school were moved into Stump Lake Park and set on new foundations, and the Village had a street.

Since then More than ten more structures came in from around the county, including the church, the depot, the flour mill, the Quanbeck Shop and the township hall.

Old Main Street USA An ongoing project. Exhibit rooms, a stage, the veterans room, the library, the gift shop and a kitchen, with a new outside entrance added.

2018 A new building went up for the engine collection, so those engines can be seen in any weather.

Now A paved trail runs the length of the Village, put in with a grant. Most buildings are accessible. Displays change as new items come in.

The park next door

Sixty acres of woods, and waterfowl Roosevelt protected.

Stump Lake Park surrounds the Village. Theodore Roosevelt established the second national wildlife refuge here because of the range of waterfowl on the lake. The woods hold deer and a long list of birds, and the park has camping, a fishing pier, playgrounds and the old pavilion with the oak floor. Families make a day of both.

Join or help

Membership, donations, and a hand on work days.

Historical Society membership is the steadiest money the Village has. Members get the newsletter and a vote at the annual meeting. We also need people who can paint, mow, run a saw, sit at the gate during the Bee, or sort and label what comes into the collection. Artifacts with a Nelson County connection are always welcome, and we will tell you honestly if we cannot house something.

Get in touch

Half the kids who come out here find a family name in one of these buildings before they leave.

Nelson County Historical Society volunteer