Stillwater Shopping and Strolling
Minnesota City Among Most Popular Midwest U. S. Destinations
Jun 26, 2008
Often referred to as Minnesota’s birthplace, Stillwater was the site in 1848 of a territorial convention held to begin acquiring statehood. In 1881, the city’s population was 9,000 and it boasted such cultural centers as an opera house. Its lumber barons had built mansions.
By 1900, the area forests of white oak that had made Stillwater the largest lumber center in the world had been depleted and the lumbering industry faded. However, the town became a popular tourist destination and continued to thrive. Its appeal is obvious. The picture-pretty community (population slightly more than 15,000) basks on the banks of the St. Croix River, a wriggling ribbon of water that serves as the Minnesota-Wisconsin boundary before it flows into the Mississippi downstream.
The Shopping News
The shopping opportunities become obvious, too, to anyone who sets foot on the ten-block long Main Street. Time was when Stillwater was best known for its antique shops and antiquarian book stores. In the past decade or so, they’ve been joined by shops dealing in designer fashions and home décor, kitchen gadgets and gourmet food, wrought-iron garden furniture and products made of paper. While the buildings that house the shops date back to Victorian days, their interiors are decorated in an eclectic array of styles, from trendy funk to vintage elegant.
The specialty shops afford great opportunities to buy souvenirs of your visit that you will value for years. For example, the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery (402 N. Main St.) has in its inventory some 500 oil paintings, photographs, watercolors and engravings, as well as signed and numbered prints of Stillwater scenes. Kathe Wohlfahrt of America (129 S Main Street) is the only one of the world famous German Christmas company stores in the United States. Among the items for sale are nutcrackers, linens, cuckoo clocks and ornaments. At 45 Degrees you’ll find gear for outdoor enthusiasts, while you’ll be able to find kits for making hammered dulcimers, hurdy-gurdys, guitars and harps by contacting another Stillwater company, Musicmakers Kits, Inc. (651-439-9120).
Strolling Pleasures
After looking through the city’s shops – most of which are clustered along South Main Street, continue strolling along the streets parallel to Main (First, Second, Third and Fourth) and those connecting them to each other. That’s where you’ll find many of the town’s mansions and churches. The National Register of Historic Places designated Sauntry Mansion (626 N. Fourth St.), like many other Stillwater mansions, now houses a B & B.
Several of the town’s public buildings have been converted into museums. The Stillwater Depot, Logging and Railroad Museum (601 N. Main St), which holds a collection of photos and memorabilia related to early day Stillwater and the St. Croix River is one of them. The Warden’s House Museum (602 N. Main), which consists of 14 rooms decorated in late 19th and early 20th Century style, is another. The latter, a National Register of Historic Places site, is operated by the Washington County Historical Society. Open Thursday-Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Another historic building, the 1870 Washington County Historic Courthouse (101 W. Pine Street) oldest standing courthouse in Minnesota, has become a venue for festivals, weddings and other special events. For great views of the St. Croix, walk around to the riverside Lowell Park or stroll along the bluff at Pioneer Park.
And There’s More
Of course, with the St. Croix River just steps away, a host of recommendable restaurants and a cultural scene that runs the gamut from the Valley Chamber Chorale to a polka band at the Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter, shopping and strolling aren’t Stillwater’s only attractions. Which means that most of the city’s visitors return again…and again.
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