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The third-largest city in Minnesota, Rochester is a beautiful river community that’s the home of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. The city has many wonderful places to visit, including historic sites that are part of the legacy of the Mayo family.
Plummer Building
One of the important Mayo Clinic structures is the historic Plummer Building. The architectural masterpiece, which opened in 1928, housed the world’s first integrated medical group practice. It’s named for Dr. Henry S. Plummer, who designed the building and created many of the Mayo procedures and systems that are still in use today. While patient care is no longer conducted here, the Plummer Building is still an important part of Mayo Clinic in administrative, academic, and support areas. The bell tower, which houses a 56-bell carillon and lights up at night, is a focal point of the Rochester skyline.
Mayowood Mansion
Mayowood Mansion, built in 1911 by Dr. Charles H. Mayo, is a lovely historic home that’s open for public tours on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays in spring, summer, and fall, as well as special Christmas tours. The 38-room historic home holds many pieces of decorative art and antique furnishings, with lovely gardens outdoors. Mayowood is at 3720 Mayowood Road SW.
Rochester Arts Center
The Rochester Arts Center does not house collections. Instead, the Arts Center offers temporary exhibitions and programs in contemporary art, such as the Emerging Artist Series, that exemplify innovation and creativity. The organization began in 1946 within the Rochester Public Library and has since 2004 been in its current home, a 36,000-square-foot building that itself is a work of contemporary art.
The Rochester Art Center is located at 40 Civic Center Drive SE and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free on the first Saturday of every month, when visitors can create their own art.
Quarry Hills Park
Quarry Hill Park has 8 miles of trails, a pond, a limestone fossil quarry, and a historic sandstone cave. The park also boasts the Quarry Hill Nature Center, where visitors can see 35 species of live Minnesota animals. The center has an indoor honeybee hive, a bird study room, naturalist programs, and more. It’s an ideal place to take your family.
Quarry Hills Park is at 701 Silver Creek Road NE. The park and trails are open from dawn to dusk. Summer hours for the Nature Center are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The rest of the year, the center is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Minnesota Children’s Museum of Rochester
The three-story Minnesota Children’s Museum of Rochester features exhibits and activities that use the power of play to spark learning. Creative activity areas and special events are featured.
The museum is at 1643 N. Broadway St., Suite A, in the River Center Plaza. It’s open Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
We hope these must-see places give you a good start on your next visit to Rochester. It’s a beautiful community with so much to offer.
Image by Michael Hicks is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0
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