Visitors’ Center OPEN daily
Root River Trail users will find parking, restrooms, hydration station, maps, restaurant menus, area brochures, and historical information in the Rushford Depot Visitors’ Center. Open until late October, weather permitting.
Museum Tours & Genealogy Research by Appointment
To request an appointment to Tour the Museum, Research Family History (Genealogy), or Donate Items, call 507-864-7560 or email RAHSdepot@gmail.com and leave a message. Include your name, phone number, and the purpose of your visit.
The RAHS email and voicemail are checked daily. Local volunteers can often meet you at the depot the same day you contact us.
LOCATED AT 401 S ELM STREET, RUSHFORD, MN
The Historic Depot in Rushford is thought to be the only two-story depot remaining in its original location on the former Southern Minnesota Railway line from La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Austin, Minnesota. The last passenger train stopped in Rushford in 1975 and the last freight train left town in 1980. The railway bed adjacent to the depot became the Root River State Bike Trail in 1988, and the depot’s former freight room houses a visitors’ center.
Several additional historic buildings have been moved to the depot building grounds.
Four historic buildings have been moved to the historic depot grounds and can be viewed from outside at any time.
Please make an appointment to go inside the school, chapel and log cabin.
Explore the Rushford Peterson Valley and find a beautiful and welcoming community that prides itself on providing the goods and services to meet the essentials of daily life. Set among impressive limestone bluffs and along the Root River, about 3,000 residents in our three cities and surrounding townships make up this community and support a market of diverse businesses. We welcome visitors and new residents to experience and enjoy this extraordinary quality of life–with outdoor recreation, housing, employment, education, public safety services, healthcare, and more. Take Root in the Rushford Peterson Valley!
