Warden's House Museum

The Warden's House Museum in Stillwater, MN

Warden's House Museum was built in 1853 as the residence of the Minnesota Territorial Prison warden. Over time there were thirteen wardens that lived in the house until 1914 when the prison moved to its present site in Bayport.

After 1914 a Deputy Warden or Superintendent of the prison used the old Warden's House. In 1941 the State of Minnesota sold the house to the Washington County Historical Society and it was opened as the second house museum in the state in June 1941.

The museum consists of 14 rooms decorated in the late 19th and early 20th century style. Many rooms are like that of a upper middle class household while other rooms depict certain historic themes of Washington County including a room dedicated to the lumbering industry and still another that shows off items that children would use more than one hundred years ago.

The Warden's House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 1974. Since the Washington County Historical Society has opened the house as a museum, thousands of school children, adults and visitors have entered the museum and learned about the wonderful past and promising future of Washington County, Minnesota.