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James J. Hill House Celebrates the Holidays

Image courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society

The Minnesota Historical Society knows how to throw fantastic themed holiday events for architectural history geeks.  This past Halloween, they put together an event that let visitors tour Fort Snelling After Dark.  Anyone who has used the Fort Snelling Light Rail stop at night can attest to how eerie the area feels after dark.  Mix that atmosphere with costumed actors telling stories of medical procedures, duels and illnesses, by candlelight, and the spookiness level only increases!

This holiday season, the Minnesota Historical Society gets the James J Hill house  spruced up for Christmas, and puts on several fun programs to celebrate the season.  Click after the jump to learn about the schedule of events lined up!

Image from City Pages

The first event, titled, “The Camel’s Back,” is inspired by a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who wrote the story for the Saturday Evening Post.  After returning to St. Paul in 1919, Fitzgerald heard of a wild costume party occuring at Louis Hill’s house on 260 Summit Ave.  This party became the inspiration for the short story, “The Camel’s Back.”  Actors will act out the short story at the James J Hill house, in their own radio play adaptation of the story.  The adaptation features live music and sound effects!

The date for this event is Friday, December 17th at 7 & 9 pm.

Fee: $15 adults; $12 seniors and college students, children ages 6-17 and MHS members.

Reservations: recommended, call 651-297-2555

The next event, “Hill House Holidays,” features a guided tour of the James J. Hill house by actors, who are dressed up as individuals who worked in the house.  They give tours from the servants point of view, basing their script from actual letters and oral histories from the people who worked or the Hill family during the first decade of the 20th Century.

Dates: Dec. 18, 2010, Dec. 19, 2010, Dec. 26, 2010

Time: 1 to 3:30, tours begin every 30 minutes

Fee: $10 adults, $8 seniors and students, $6 children ages 6-17; $2 discount for MHS members.

Reservations: recommended, call 651-297-2555

There are also other events which include Victorian Christmas stories, as well as a tour aimed at kids.  The MHS always does a great job at putting together these events, which allow the public to view Minnesota’s beautiful architecture through interesting historical stories.  For a full schedule of events please check out the Minnesota History Society’s Events Page.

http://events.mnhs.org/calendar/Results.cfm?venueID=13&TopicID=12&bhcp=1


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