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Verndale Historical Society

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Verndale, MN
Verndale Historical Society

The Verndale Historical Society brings together people interested in Verndale's history.

08/15/2026

I used AI to sharpen and colorize the earliest known photo of Verndale's main street. The photo was taken in 1886 and the original photo was scanned from the collection of Muriel (Dickinson) Towler. The colors of the buildings are only a guess, but this gives you an idea of what our main street looked like back when Verndale was a booming wheat trading center on the Northern Pacific Railroad. Our main street was lined with shops to service the settlers coming to the area and farmers bringing their crops to market at Verndale. On the streets of our fair town you would see a furniture store, meat market, general merchandise stores, several drug stores, dentist office, doctor office, Law offices, barber shop, two banks, book store, restaurants, hotels, Masonic Hall, lumber store, livery stables, hardware store, millinery shops (hats mostly for women), gun shop, billiard halls (saloons), and other places of business.

08/13/2026

Do any of you recognize these wedding dresses? Do you know who they belonged to? We greatly appreciate the families who donated these beautiful gowns!

07/25/2026

Happy Sraw Hat and Sunbonnet Days! Please stop don’t forget to stop at the museum and the history pavilion in the park today. Enter for a chance to win a set of the Verndale history books (a five volume set!). We will also have lemonade available at the museum. If you are feeling generous feel free to leave a donation towards repainting the exterior of the museum, which is badly needed. Below are some examples of what you can see while there!

07/23/2026

Verndale’s big weekend is coming fast! What are your favorite memories of past celebrations? I personally love telling people about “Messy Bessy”! We have a lot to be proud of so we hope you all make it this weekend. Don’t forget we will have both the museum and the History Pavilion in the park open. We will have the history books along with post cards for sale.

Below is a picture of the likeness of the first sore head winner carved using a chainsaw. It can be seen in the pavilion. Do any if you recognize this gentleman?

Many of you had it right! This is Bill Bevan, anyone know the year? Who was your favorite Sore Head? Who will win this year?

07/19/2026

We are getting ready for Straw Hat and Sunbonnet Days next weekend. We will be at both the museum and in the park at the History Pavillion. Please stop in to see us from 11 am- 4 pm. We will be holding a drawing for one set of the incredible 5 set Verndale History Books. If you love Verndale these are a must have. They tell the stories of most of the families who settled our town along with the businesses. We also will have them on sale ($40 for the full set) along with postcards, and other items. We will also be collecting donations toward repainting of museum exterior as it is in need of scraping and painting. We hope you make time to stop by and see us! Attached are some pictures from the Pavillion.

07/12/2026

Boy this is some hot weather we are having! Makes you wonder how they would beat the heat back in the day. At one time Verndale had a small man made lake just north of town on the Wing River, it was created for a grain mill and was located on the Johnson family farm. The pictures below show people still enjoing what was left in the 1920's.

07/01/2026

Can you believe it is almost the 4th of July and the 250th one at that? Do any of you have memories of the 200th? I know I spent it here in Verndale but can't remember what all we did. There are so many great memories of this holiday. I remember going out to the Rand drive-in to watch fireworks many times. Please share your favorite memory! Here is a picture from an Independance Day early in the 1900's. Many of the buildings you see in the background are still there. The bank, the Mason's lodge building and what once was the post office and now a beauty salon.

Feel free to share your memories!

05/26/2026

I am sorry this is late but we want to thank all who served in our military and especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. In the park we have 2 monuments in recognition of those who served. One is in recognition of those who served in WW1 and also one for General Leslie McNair. WW1 was supposed to be the war to end all wars, however we have had far too many since. Here are a few pictures of that memorial. For such a small town we had many who fought in the war. We hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day and spent some time recognizing those who have kept us safe!

05/03/2026

One of our members has found this photo for sale on ebay. Do any of you recognize this house? We have tried to figure it out but are not sure.

04/09/2026

Reminder, we have a meeting tonight at 5:30, location will be at Jim Davis's home. We would love seeing new faces. If you are interested in attending DM us.

Address

204 N Farwell Street
Verndale, MN
56481

Website

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