Mantorville Along the Zumbro River

Greetings from a picturesque hamlet where architectural heritage is preserved. Mantorville, Minnesota where the Zumbro River runs through it.

It's never about our voice it's about our song.  

The same holds true for places, as well as people.  

Today, I present for you Mantorville, from our visit last Sunday and a few photos from three years ago.  You'll recognize the summer photos immediately.

Greetings, and welcome from a town named after the Mantor brothers, Peter and Riley, who arrived here in 1853.  It's listed on and known as "National Register of Historical Places Mantorville Limestone" a unique experience for all.

"Pull up a chair.  Take a taste.  Come join us.  Life is so endlessly delicious." - Ruth Reichl

Restoration House, Built in 1856 once the first court house, and offers from the basement the jail cell that was used at that time.  The house is restored as a late 1880's residence, complete with tours.

Opera House, Built in 1918 also served as City Hall, a bingo parlor, movie theater (for silent films) a dance hall, and a roller rink.  Today it's once again a thriving theatrical experience offering live performances and concerts throughout the year.  Melodramas are featured during the summer and folks arrive to boo and hiss villains or cheer for their hero.

The Post Office, built in 1896 and once Blummer's Saloon, the post office is the only brick building in Mantorville.  Since Mantorville never offered residential mail delivery for many years, the post office was quite busy.

Hello Zumbro river running through town.  This Dam of Mantorville, was originally built in 1855.  The  dam provided water for a flour mill that was situated on the west side of the dam.  The effect of the dam on the flow of the river created "Goat Island" (the point of land to the west.)

How it was in the summer three years ago.

This was taken last Sunday at the Old Log Cabin, aka Cooper's Log House, built in the 1850's, was the home of the barrel maker (Cooper) who made barrels and kegs for the original Mantorville Brewery.  A collection of those items are stored in the basement and can be seen during tours.

I hope they put our flag back up!

The next two photos were taken three years ago.   I'm not sure if it was new paint, but seeing it Sunday we knew it had been restored since these photos.  

I just adore Minnesota in the summer.

History connects us in tangible ways.

Below are some not so talkative town folk we happened to see Sunday.

Some of you may have seen this photo on Facebook (twice in fact) it was a favorite spot for Hollyhocks to grow.  But now they have restored the area in front of what once was, St. John's Episcopal Church, which now houses the Dodge County Historical Society Museum.   Good-bye Hollyhocks.

You can bet next summer, I'll check for hearty old Hollyhocks that made it out of the ground and shot through the new limestone display.

This Civil War Recruiting Station is located a few miles from downtown Mantorville.

I don't visit Mantorville often, but I never fail to take photos of it.  I've toured the historical points like the old Brewery ruins and such, but it seems I have a list of other important locations to view as well.

Note, if you ever get to Mantorville there are many historical buildings and locations not shown in this post.

Not to miss on your visit is the famous Hubbell House.  As a matter of fact we dined there Sunday with our friends from out of town.

Most importantly (worthy of seeing) is the Covered Bridge/Goat Island where each spring during the 1850's the local dog catcher would ferry 6 - 8 goats to this island by rowboat!  The goats were pastured there for the summer months to keep the weeds and tall grass under control.  

The covered bridge connecting the island and the park is 1 of 2 in the state to be logged by the National Covered Bridge Society.  

This concludes our tour for today.

Always remember-

You'll regret the things you didn't take time to see.