Almanac Hands-On History

In addition to her duties as tpt's political reporter, Mary Lahammer has an antiques business. She has often traveled to Stillwater and Red Wing, both well-known for their antique and vintage stores. But when Mary started researching the history of those river towns, she found many great stories she wanted to share.

Cathy Wurzer and Dan Bergin both grew up in South Minneapolis, but when they teamed together to work on an episode of the new Almanac Hands-on History about their old neighborhood, they discovered things they had never known before.

That's just what producer Brendan Henehan hopes will happen for tpt viewers. "It really is history that you can see and feel and explore on your own" says Henehan. "We picked places that people have been to, but they don't know all the stories about."

The first three episodes of Almanac Hands-on History focus on different kinds of communities, each defined in significant part by waterways: Stillwater, Red Wing and the lakes and creek of South Minneapolis.

Exploring Stillwater means a tour of Main Street that includes the lumber-related businesses of the past, the brewery caves, the walkways, the stairs that go up into the town's neighborhoods and an old sawmill that is now an antique store.

Exploring Red Wing means pottery and the St. James Hotel, of course, but also a hike up Barn Bluff and a tour of the Prairie Island community - recognizing the Native American history of the community. Red Wing, after all, was a Dakota chief. We learn that in 1936, the ski jump national championships were held on a bluff in Red Wing.

Exploring Minneapolis Lakes starts at Cedar Lake, where ice used to be harvested to fill residents' ice-boxes, then examining an old development in the Linden Hills neighborhood, along Minnehaha Creek and down to the Mississippi River.