Aitkin County Historical Society

05/07/2026

Thank you to all who joined for the ACHS annual meeting yesterday! Your attendance and feedback is greatly appreciated!

05/06/2026

ACHS Annual Meeting is TODAY
2pm at the Depot! Hope to see you there!

05/04/2026

Reminder! This week is our Annual Meeting for the Aitkin County Historical Society.

Join us on Wednesday, May 6 at 2:00 p.m. at the Depot. We hope to see you there!

04/23/2026

The Depot will be closed on Friday, April 24th. Please stop by when we re-open on Wednesday, April 29th!

04/20/2026

📣 You’re Invited!

Join us for the Aitkin County Historical Society Annual Meeting on
🗓 Wednesday, May 6th
🕑 2:00 p.m.
📍 The Depot

Come hear updates on exciting projects happening at the Historical Society—including progress on the Depot roof—and take part in an important vote on bylaw updates.

We’d love to see you there and appreciate your continued support in preserving Aitkin County’s history!

04/06/2026

We received this question ~ does anyone know the answer?

Question: AM KKIN in the 60’s. As most folks know who live there, know that KKIN Was a FCC sundowner station when the time of sundown the station had to go off the air.

So my question is what was the instrumental song played before it went off the air? And no it is not the national anthem. Can you help me with this question please?

01/30/2026

🎬 Did you catch The Last Stop: The Depots of Minnesota on Lakeland PBS?

We’re honored to see the Aitkin Depot featured in this wonderful documentary! It will air again Saturday, January 31 at 7:00 p.m. and is available to stream at www.lptv.org.

We’d love to hear what you thought! And a big thank you to ACHS’s Rich Peterson for doing an outstanding job representing one of Aitkin’s most cherished landmarks.

https://lptv.org/local-show/the-last-stop-railroad-depots-of-minnesota/

Multiple railroads have served the state of Minnesota. And with the rail lines came the depots needed to support the railroads and the communities where they were built. But times have change and they are no longer needed. This documentary reveals their history and what has become of them

01/23/2026

We’re honored that the Aitkin Depot was selected to be part of this story. Please tune in, share with friends, and let us know what you think—we’d love to hear your thoughts! 🚂❤️

01/23/2026

The Depot will be closed on Friday, January 23. It’s too cold, we’re staying home. Stay warm everyone!

01/16/2026

Thank you to Minnesota Digital Library for the highlight of one of the most recognizable buildings in Aitkin County! We love seeing this beautiful building highlighted and appreciate you helping share a piece of Aitkin County history.

What is your first memory of the original Aitkin Public Library now the Jaques Art Center?

Announcing a new Friday highlight theme: this year, we will take you on a weekly journey to each of Minnesota’s 87 counties: from Aitkin to Yellow Medicine. Join us to learn about the history of these counties and view highlights from their collections in MDL.

Aitkin County was established in 1857, but it was not officially organized until 1871. It was named after William Alexander Aitkin, an influential fur trader with the American Fur Company who settled in the area in the early 1800s.

The Aitkin Public Library, shown here, was built in 1911 with funds from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. It served its community until 1991 when a new library was built. Explore more counties in MDL’s regional map collection at z.umn.edu/MDLRegionalMaps.

Image Credit: East Central Regional Library collection, https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll54:43

12/06/2025

The last cookie has officially left the building — we are SOLD OUT!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone for your incredible support of the Aitkin County Historical Society — to all the bakers who shared their time, talents, and delicious creations, and to all of the volunteers who helped make today such a wonderful success.

Special recognition to Julie Hansen, who once again did a phenomenal job organizing the sale and coordinating every detail. This event is a success because of your dedication and hard work.

Thank you all, and Happy Holidays!