Bringing History to Life at the Minnesota Discovery Center
History was on display Thursday evening when the Minnesota Discovery Center hosted its second annual Night of Discovery Gala.
The gala served as a fundraiser for the MDC’s Discovery Fund, which provides financial assistance for children’s field trips, summer camps, educational programming, and transportation costs.
The event featured exclusive horse-drawn carriage rides to the museum’s recreated Finnish homestead, complete with a private guided tour led by Discovery Center staff. Live music by Shannon Gunderson and a cozy fireside gathering.
Behind-the-scenes tours of the center’s museum and research areas, traditional foods and drinks, and after-hours access to the museum exhibits and grounds.
The dinner was an elegant affair with in-house-made hors d’oeuvres and a formal dinner featuring main entrees created by the MDC’s chef and culinary staff.
The Minnesota Discovery Center first opened its doors in 1977 as the Iron Range Interpretive Center. Heavily championed by Minnesota Governor RudyPerpuch and funded by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. The original goal was to celebrate the diverse European immigrant groups, Native Peoples, and rich cultures that converged to build the region’s iron mining industry.
The center grew in the 1980’s and 90s, changing its name to Iron World and adding the Iron Range Research Center, which has become a premier archive for genealogy, local history, and government records. An outdoor amphitheater and a vintage railroad trolley system.
MDC reformed as a nonprofit after facing changing economic realities and a need for broader operational flexibility.
The Discovery Center is the largest museum complex in Minnesota outside of the Twin Cities.
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