Attraction Spotlight: The Bakken Museum
The Bakken Museum is a museum in Minneapolis that offers a look at electricity. Visitors can explore the mysteries of the electrical world through its history and nature. The Bakken Museum combines a mansion and beautiful gardens in the heart of the Chain of Lakes.
The whole family can enjoy the museum’s exhibits, the education center and the largest collection of books and artifacts on the subject. Here is a look at The Bakken Museum of Minneapolis.
Exhibits
Upon visiting The Bakken Museum, you can enjoy several exhibits on electricity. You can find an exhibit with a 100-year-old electricity machine, test out Ben Franklin’s favorite electricity experiments and play spooky electronic music on the Theremin.
“Ben Franklin’s Electricity Party” lets visitors crank up the electrostatic generator making their hair rise, light up the sparking sign to reveal a secret picture, crank up a hail storm with a generator and charge a Leyden jar battery to zap the Franklin bells.
“Electrifying Minnesota” is an exhibit where visitors will get to try hands-on experiments to generate electric power. They can explore artifacts over 125 years and watch films about life without electricity.
Gardens
The Bakken Museum is a mansion surrounded with four distinctive gardens. The Green Energy Art Garden is seasonal and has art and sculptures. You can view Lake Calhoun from here and during the off-season see the solar panels and green roof.
The Healthy Heart Organic Garden is a vegetable garden by the gates of the museum. The Florence Bakken Medicinal Garden is on the west side of the museum and features a rock fountain and medicinal plantings. The Dakota Native Plants Garden often sees wildlife like deer graining on the plants and trees.
The museum costs $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. The museum is open every day except Sundays and Mondays. Check it out for an electrifying experience at 3537 Zenith Avenue South in Minneapolis.
