Museum in Little Falls is decked out with nutcrackers
LITTLE FALLS, Minn. — It's a place where history meets holiday spirit.
"It's growing every year, and we are happy now to be a part of it," said Mike Worcester, who works at the Charles Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum.
During the first week of December, Little Falls holds Christmas tours around town. It's a chance for historic buildings to deck their halls and spread their cheer.
"It brings people to the community which is really nice. And it helps our stores, hotels, everything that goes on here in town," said Worcester.
The Charles Weyerhaeuser Museum is part of the Christmas tour. Weyerhaeuser was a lumber baron in Little Falls and most of the year the museum is known for celebrating logging, farming, railroads and riverways.
"From Indigenous inhabitants to modern inhabitants," said Worcester. "You name it, and if it relates to the county's history, we have it."
But during the holiday season, dozens upon dozens of little wooden soldiers take over, adding a bit of whimsy to wild history.
"They asked us, hey, do you guys want a bunch of nutcrackers? We figured, this might be good for us. Get in on the Christmas tours," said Grace Doxbury of the Morrison County Historical Society.
The first donation came from the tourism board. The second donation came from a resident who wanted to see his life-long collection go to a good home. The little men arrived in all shapes and sizes.
"We've got Jack Skellington from the Nightmare before Christmas. We've got the rat king from the nutcracker," said Doxbury. "We've got snowmen, we've got a bottle of Jim Beam that's shaped like a nutcracker."
Donations came in so fast that things got a little nutty. So, the museum decided to create a scavenger hunt which has become wildly popular.
"Because we have a lot of different, unique nutcrackers. It's like, can you find the disco ball? Can you find the Grinch," said Doxbury.
The nutcrackers are scattered among historical artifacts for a reason. So, while visitors search for them, they're also getting a history lesson.
"We are getting more people in than we would on a good, summer day. This has been really good for us," said Doxbury.
And good for the town. Because as long as the nutcrackers stick around, they'll keep crushing it.
"Little Falls is lucky in the sense that it has an amazing historic district. People care about preserving the past of this place," said Doxbury. "All while being on a gorgeous location like the Mississippi River. It's just perfect all around."
The Little Falls Christmas tours begin right after Thanksgiving and end by the second week of December. However, many of the buildings remain open, including the Weyerhaueser. Their nutcracker display runs through December.