Destination Sites
How to get there: Historic Chippewa City is located at the intersection of Highways 7 & 59, just a short distance from Highway 212.
What you will find: A Village of 24 buildings, filled with artifacts to help you step back in time to see how the pioneers lived. A self-guided tour brochure is given to visitors admission is paid.
Services at this site: Gift shop, tourism information, events.
Historic Chippewa City is close to the Chippewa River, which fur traders or the Dakota named, because Ojibwe people were said to have regularly descended this river from the north to attack Dakota villages. A more common name for this river among the Dakota was Maya Wakaŋ, a river “of remarkable or beautiful bluffs.”
The city is home to the Chippewa County Historical Society, begun in 1865 with the preservation of a rural school house. Since that time, 24 buildings have been moved in from throughout the county, or built on site, to form this historic village. Along the boardwalks are a millinery shop, a law office, a school house, and the authentic log cabins. A permanent exhibit on the Chippewa River Dugout Canoe, which was radiocarbon dated from 1436-1522, and a 1914 Dodge hearse can be seen in the village.
The original Chippewa City was laid out in 1868 by Daniel G. Wilkins on the west bank of the Chippewa River, a mile upstream from its confluence with the Minnesota River. It was the first community in Chippewa County, serving as its first county seat. When a legislative order gave Montevideo the county seat in 1870, Chippewa City soon ceased to exist. Its original location has since been incorporated into Montevideo’s city limits and is now known as Smith Addition.
Things to Do: Destination Site, Museum, U.S. - Dakota War of 1862
