July 31, 2021

HINCKLEY FIRE MUSEUM & HINCKLEY FIRE MONUMENT

106 Old Hwy 61 S, Hinckley, MN 55037 / 2460 Fire Monument Rd, Hinckley, MN 55037

In 1894, Hinckley was the largest city between Minneapolis and Duluth. The city prospered because of the logging industry and because it was serviced by two railroad companies. The Hinckley Fire Museum tells the story of the devastating fire that destroyed the town of Hinckley on September 1, 1894. “A quarter million acres burned in just four hours. A half-dozen communities burned to the ground. The official death toll was 418, not counting hundreds of Native Americans who lived in and around the town and others who were never found.”

I’ll admit the only reason I went to the museum was because, other than a casino and the RV park I was staying at, there isn’t much to do in Hinckley. Once inside the museum it didn’t take long to understand the story and the impact the firestorm had on this community. The museum is in a former railroad depot, which is appropriate as it was a train that saved the lives of many of the surviving residents of Hinckley. The museum delves into the logging industry that supported the town before the fire, the railroad industry, and the firestorm itself.

A couple miles from the museum, and just off I-35, is a monument that was erected to honor the people who lost their lives in the fire. The bodies, many unidentified, are buried in four trenches near the monument.

While I wouldn’t make this a must-see site while planning a trip, it was certainly a good way to spend about an hour on an afternoon without anything else to do.