Field Trips: James J. Hill House

Explore upstairs-downstairs life at this grand 42-room mansion, built for the Hill family in 1891.

Core experience

Life in the Hill House

Grades K-3
Tuesday and Wednesday starting January 10, 2023
Students and teachers can discover what life was like at the turn of the 20th century in the grand mansion of Great Northern Railway president James J. Hill. Guided explorations of the mansion and inquiry-based activities will highlight stories from both the Hill family and their domestic employees, with an emphasis on comparing and contrasting past and present.

The Railroad Revolution

Grades 4-12
Tuesday and Wednesday starting January 10, 2023
A visit to this grand Gilded Age mansion will challenge students to use critical thinking skills to discover how railroads transformed America at the turn of the 20th century. This inquiry-based program will use stories of Great Northern Railway president James J. Hill, his family, their domestic employees, and other contemporaries to highlight the revolutionary impact that railroads had on the development of Minnesota as it exists today.

Summit Avenue Walking Tour

Grades 9-12
Tuesday and Wednesday, May-September 2023
Summit Avenue Walking Tour discusses the business and civic leaders who built St. Paul, and transformed the Northwest, Gilded Age architectural styles and ongoing preservation work in the neighborhood.