Our History Tours Program is designed for sightseeing adventurists and history buffs, all designed and led by Keystone staff. Tours are presented by David Bredemus, Keystone’s Historian and Tour Guide. Dave specializes in local, regional and international tours based on history, culture and geography. Through this program, we are pleased and excited to present you with fun, informative, adventurous and educational excursions.
The 2024 History tour season will consist of only day-long trips! Registration will open at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 10. You can use the links here to register yourself or call Keystone at 651-298-5493 to register over the phone. Each tour is a separate registration and payment.
If you are registering for more than one person, please also have their contact information available. You will be asked to provide basic contact details for each attendee.
To avoid overbooking a tour, we have the forms redirected to a waitlist when the tour is not quite full. Please fill out the waitlist form, and we will contact you directly if there is still room on the tour.
Below you will find information for each tour.
Date: Wednesday, August 7
Pick-up times and sites:
9:30 a.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel, 1000 Gramsie Rd., Shoreview, MN 55126
10:00 a.m. – West 7th Community Center, 265 Oneida St., St. Paul, MN 55104
Return time:
4:00 p.m. – West 7th Community Center
4:30 p.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel
Bakery stop included. Lunch will be on your own.
Cost: $99
Hundreds of skilled artists and architects have created the Saint Paul cityscape. In the 1880s, new buildings and art flourished in the growing city. Join us to learn about Saint Paul’s most acclaimed artists and architects and a sample of those lesser known.
View historical buildings and parks, see famous architectural styles, and detailed interiors made of marble, granite, onyx, and steel. Paintings, murals, stained glass, and interior designs will be the emphasis of our day. Learn about architects who left their mark on St. Paul: Clarence Wigington, Charles Hausler, Leroy Buffington, Edward Basswood, Cass Gilbert, Emmanuel Masqueray, Clarence Johnston, and many others. See the work of artists who brighten our urban landscape. Learn about the WPA, the State Capitol Mall sculptures, public art, and those who created bold new sculpture park locations, from Haupers, Eastman, Brewer, and Capecchi to the much more recent Charles Schultz, Gordon Parks, and Anthony Caponi.
Date: Wednesday, August 14
There is no pick-up scheduled for this tour!
Everyone will meet at the Watergate Marina at 2500 Crosby Farm Road, St. Paul, MN 55116
Parking available on-site.
Boarding, departure, and return times:
5:30 p.m. – Boarding
6:00 p.m. – Departure from the Watergate Marina
9:00 p.m. – Return to dock
Cost: $72
Cruise the Mighty Mississippi River aboard the private 80-foot Magnolia Blossom paddleboat. Spend the evening relaxing and listening to stories about the Mississippi River’s local history, geology, and natural wonders. We will travel up the Mississippi past Fort Snelling, Mendota, Hidden Falls, and Minnehaha Park. Then, we will head downriver to see and hear tales of Pike Island, Crosby Nature Center, and the historic bridges. The trip will be narrated by Captain Dan and historian Dave Bredemus, featuring river history, shoreline points of interest, natural history, and wildlife identification. A cash bar will be available. You may also bring your own food for an on-board picnic. Inside and outside seating will be available.
Date: Thursday, September 5
Pick-up times and sites:
8:30 a.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel, 1000 Gramsie Rd., Shoreview, MN 55126
9:00 a.m. – West 7th Community Center, 265 Oneida St., St. Paul, MN 55104
Return times:
7:30 p.m. – West 7th Community Center
8:00 p.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel
Bakery stop, museums, and church donations are included. Lunch on your own.
Cost: $118
We will follow the route of Dvorak, who, in 1893, spent the summer in the beautiful Spillville, Iowa area composing music and visiting Saint Paul. World-famous composer Antonin Dvorak started life as a son of a peasant in the provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and ended it as one of the most renowned musicians in the world. Spend the day retracing his steps and see what might have inspired him to write so prolifically about America.
The local Czech community greeted Dvorak in St. Paul at the Czech and Slovak Sokol Hall on West Seventh Street. We will learn about the early Czechs of Saint Paul and see the very same CSPS Hall. We will also tour Saint Stanislaus Catholic Church, originally a Czech church.
Then, we will travel through many beautiful small towns to Spillville, in Northeast Iowa. We will visit historical and cultural sites in this heavily Czech-influenced town, including Saint Wenceslas Church and Cemetery, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bandstand, and the Bily Clock Museum. The Bily Clock Museum has some of the most beautiful carved clocks in the world and is a virtual treasure chest full of Spillville and Dvorak history items.
Date: Wednesday, October 9
Pick-up times and sites:
8:45 a.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel, 1000 Gramsie Rd., Shoreview, MN 55126
9:15 a.m. – West 7th Community Center, 265 Oneida St., St. Paul, MN 55104
Return times:
6:30 p.m. – West 7th Community Center
7:00 p.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel
Lunch, pie, museums, and the Riecks Wildlife viewing area are included in cost.
Cost: $153
Discover the magical landscape of bluffs, water, and quaint villages while experiencing history, food, and spectacular scenery painted with fall colors along the Mississippi River. Learn the history presented by Dave Bredemus as we explore the villages of Prescott, Stockholm, Pepin, Nelson, Diamond Bluff, Maiden Rock, Alma, and Fountain City, Wisconsin.
We will tour one of Dave’s favorite museums, the Great River Road Museum, and have a special tour. Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and Park are part of our agenda, along with a walking tour of Stockholm, Wisconsin. The fall season is a perfect time to visit Riecks Lake along the Mississippi River with its migrating birds, especially tundra swans. Bring your binoculars for a closer look! One of the day’s highlights will be driving to the scenic overlook in Alma, Wisconsin, to view the Mississippi River Valley in all its fall splendor. For some of us, the highlight may be lunch, where we will eat at Twin Bluff Café in the shadow of a beautiful Mississippi River Valley Bluff.
Date: Thursday, November 7
Pick-up times and sites:
10:00 a.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel, 1000 Gramsie Rd., Shoreview, MN 55126
10:30 a.m. – West 7th Community Center, 265 Oneida St., St. Paul, MN 55104
Return times:
4:30 p.m. – West 7th Community Center
5:00 p.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel
Lunch, a bakery stop, museum entrance fees, and donations at historic churches and ethnic grocery stores are all included in the cost of the tour.
Cost: $153
University Avenue has always been eclectic, unruly, noisy, and gritty. Its fortunes have changed many times over the years, but its primary purpose has stayed the same: a vital link between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The 133-year-old street has gone from a dirt trail to a paved four-lane busy street, from horse-drawn carriages to steam-powered rail, street cars, and light-rail trains.
This tour will explore University Avenue from its beginning near Railroad Island in Saint Paul to its terminus in Northeast Minneapolis.
We will visit famous churches, industrial sites, businesses, theaters, and shops along the way, along with many businesses established by ethnic groups that have settled near University Avenue.
Dave Bredemus will share the history of Kittsondale, Town House, the Milky Way candy bar, Iris Park, and the Minnesota Transfer Railway. We will visit historical sites at the University of Minnesota, the locations of the first computer, CanCan Wonderland, Territorial Road, famous bakeries, Prospect Park water tower, a Frank Lloyd Wright home, and many locations and oddities as University Avenue travels through the heart of the Twin Cities.
Date: Tuesday, December 10
Pick-up times and sites:
12:30 p.m. – West 7th Community Center, 265 Oneida St., St. Paul, MN 55104
1:00 p.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel, 1000 Gramsie Rd., Shoreview, MN 55126
Return times:
10:00 p.m. – Shoreview Best Western Hotel
10:30 p.m. – West 7th Community Center
A stop at Rush City’s famous bakery and all admissions included. Dinner will be on your own at the Blackwoods Grill and Bar.
Cost: $128
The highlight of this tour is the Bentleyville “Tour of Lights,” a premier holiday show with five million lights on the shores of Lake Superior.
In addition to visiting Bentleyville, we will see other unique holiday displays and historic sites in the Duluth area. We will tour the city, learn about its residents, and experience its attractive neighborhoods. We will be guided on the way home by the many holiday lights in the countryside and will make a stop at Tobie’s.
If you need to cancel your reservation or have questions, please contact Teisha at tours@keystoneservices.org or by calling 651-504-4461. We will do our best to fill your spot and refund your fees. However, we cannot guarantee a refund. We reserve the right to cancel a tour if there are insufficient registrations.
You will receive two confirmation emails (if you enter your email). We will physically mail these to those participants who do not use email. One will be for the tour, and one will be for the payment. If you do not receive these receipts, please contact us to ensure the registration was successful.
You will receive (either through mail or email) a reminder and any last-minute details about your trip 7-10 days before your tour date.
Want more information about Keystone’s upcoming History Tours? Click the button below to sign up for the History Tours mailing list.
