Open Seasonally May-October
Warden’s House Museum
Location
602 Main Street N
Stillwater, MN 55082
651-439-5956
Hours
Open Thursday-Sunday
Tours at 1PM, 2PM, 3PM, and 4PM
All tours are guided!
Closed Monday-Wednesday
Admission
Adults
(ages 18+)
$8
Children
(ages 6-17)
$3
WCHS Members
Free
About
The Warden’s House Museum was built in 1853 and served as the home for the wardens of the territorial and state prison. Over the next six decades, 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.
Today, this beautiful limestone home is filled with gorgeous 19th-century artifacts. Tours of the house include stories about the prison’s early days when Minnesota was still a territory and what life was like for prisoners on the inside. The most infamous residents of the prison were the Younger Brothers, who served time for their crimes as part of the James-Younger Gang.
The Warden’s House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contact
Heidi Heinze, Site Manager
651-439-5956