Gibbs Farm Museum is open from May 1st to October 1st and is located at 2097 W. Larpenteur Ave, St. Paul, MN 55113. The hours at the museum are Tuesday through Sunday from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm. They are open on Memorial Day and Labor Day and they will open weekday mornings with an appointment. Admission is $8.00 for adults, Seniors $7.00, and Children ages 2-16 are $5.00. Visitors can reach the museum from either I-35W or I-94. The museum is on the corner of Larpenteur and Cleveland Ave in Falcon Heights. This is just minutes from the University of Minnesota campus in St. Paul.
Jane DeBow belonged to a missionary family and in 1833 she and her family left Batavia, New York to go west to work among the Dakota people near Fort Snelling. When Jane met her husband Herman Gibbs the newlyweds traveled to the Minnesota Territory in 1849 where they bought 160 acres of land. This is the land that the Gibbs Farm Museum stands on today. They first lived in a sod house and the remains of this home still remain for visitors to see as well as a replica of their first sod home.
The larger cabin was finished in 1854 and additions were added in 1867 and 1873. There was a trail that led from Lake Calhoun to the northern rice lakes that ran across the Gibbs farm. Visitors can visit the farm house and a Dakota style tipi and replica of a bark lodge.
The farm house began with a place for a stove and a dry sink, and a loft that was initially used for storage and then as a sleeping area for their children. A single room held a full sized bed and there was a little extra room for their daughter to play in. Once the family began to increase they expanded the farm house in 1867 to quadruple the size. This addition added a parlor, a small room off the parlor and four upstairs bedrooms. The parlor had wall paper, carpeting and fancy furniture which was rather unheard of since the farm was so far from the city of St. Paul. The Gibbs valued education so they donated some land for the schoolhouse and boarded the school teacher in their home.
The family had a large garden and needed extra help so they added a hired men's room in 1873. The room housed 6 - 10 men during the growing season. A summer kitchen was added so that the women could be cooler when they prepared meals for the hired men and family.
Gibbs farm had many animals which included a team of horses, sheep, cows, chickens and pigs. The sheep most likely were used to make sweaters, socks, blankets, mittens and other types of clothing from their wool. The pigs provided meat to eat and the lard was needed to make soap, candles and food. They had a white barn on the farm by 1910 and a red barn which was designed by a famous architect, Edwin Lundie. Visitors can also see the Stoen School which was moved to the Gibbs Farm Museum in 1966.
