Photo by Bryan Clapper Arches adorn the ceiling of the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Mankato. The sisters organize group tours of the chapel.

On top of a high hill on the north side of Mankato sits the Our Lady of Good Counsel Academy. The School Sisters of Notre Dame call their hill Good Counsel Hill.

Find your way into the 150-acre campus and you’ll see Loyola Catholic School, Coughlan Publishing, the Massage and Wellness Clinic, the former Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel building and, finally, the Provincial House,

Walk into the main entrance of the Provincial House and inside to the right you’ll find the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel, a stunningly spacious sanctuary to behold.
The chapel is open to the public. Mass is held at 11 a.m. daily. People who wish to visit should call ahead — (507) 389-4200. The sisters hold group tours, in addition to special activities.

The Our Lady of Good Counsel Academy celebrates its 175th anniversary this year, so look for commemorative events.

There are 4,000 School Sisters of Notre Dame in the world, with 400 of them in the Mankato program. Only 150 sisters live at the Mankato campus. There are about 150 employees, too.

In the chapel, you will notice the majestic organ. It is a Johnson & Son Organ, Opus 499, built in 1877 for St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Church in Boston. The School Sisters of Notre Dame saved the organ when the church was demolished in the mid-1970s and brought it to Mankato.
In 1994, the sisters decided to have the organ restored. The Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, Iowa, did the work.

Built in Romanesque style, the chapel itself was built in 1926 and, like the organ, renovated in 1994. It possesses a large dome and high arches, with the columns made from stone near Mankato. It seats 350 and is wheelchair accessible.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel was actually near the end of the day’s journey around Mankato that Bryan Clapper and I took. We set out to see several of the tourist attractions.

It’s not easy to just parachute into these places out of the blue — different places have different hours — but all who were open were happy to see a writer and photographer simply show up.
Mankato is known mostly for 303-acre, 13,000-student Minnesota State University Mankato, which before 1998 was Mankato State University. There, you are bound to run into college students.

If you set for anywhere in the rest of Mankato with tourism on your mind, you are bound to run into history. The best place to start is the Blue Earth County Historical Society’s Heritage Center, a county museum bigger than some in cities twice as large.

The Heritage Center, 415 Cherry St., has an exhibit gallery that includes the blue clay from which the Blue Earth River and later Blue Earth County received their name. You’ll learn that it was French fur trader Pierre Charles LeSueur who in 1700 came up the Minnesota River and the Blue Earth River to Fort L’Huillier and mined the clay, thinking it contained veins of copper.

Photo by Bryan Clapper The Carnegie Art Center in Mankato features local artists. here all exhibits had to be 1 foot by 1 foot.

There is a representation in Mankato in miniature, showing then and now. Then is largely 19th century and early 20th century. You can see the Saulpaugh Hotel, circa 1890, and there are steamboats on the Minnesota River.

“This county is known for its rivers more than lakes,” said museum assistant Anna Larson.

You might find unique items at the gift shop, but there and all around the city you’ll find paintings by artist Marian Anderson.

The Heritage Center has exhibits for millings, farming, settlers, steamboats, Native American artifacts, hands-on displays for kids and Betsy-Tacy author Maud Hart Lovelace.

In fact, Mankato has The Betsy-Tacy Society. Lovelace fictionalized her childhood in print. Fans of the Betsy-Tacy books will find that Center Street is Mankato’s Hill Street and Deep Valley is Mankato. The society, founded in 1990, has more than 1,500 members, and it preserves landmarks associated with the books.

You can find Betsy’s house at 333 Center Street and Tacy’s House across the street at 332 Center Street, and, like we did, you also might find some of the renovation work ongoing.
The best bet for a person wanting to see the homes is to visit the website first: www.betsy-tacysociety.org. You’ll find the hours, tour times and contact information.

Online, you can find a self-guided Deep Valley Walking Tour, if you have the imagination to look into the past.

In a letter, Lovelace once wrote: “As you set out to explore Mankato, the Deep Valley of the Betsy-Tacy Books … you must remember that years have passed since Betsy, Tacy and Tib were children here. To find Deep Valley in this bustling modern city, you have to close your eyes to the airport, to the streams of automobiles, and to many beautiful new homes and schools and shops. You have to imagine horses and carriages, ladies with trailing skirts and ruffled parasols, children in long black stockings.”

The sites are many, so driving a car is an option some might prefer.

The Blue Earth County Historical Society runs the R.D. Hubbard House, a home built in 1871 of the Second French Empire style. In 1894, Hubbard came to Mankato and started a milling company that today is owned by Cargill. The house is now a museum and is open Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Bryan and I encountered another Marian Anderson painting downtown at the Alltel Center. It used to be the Midwest Wireless Center, and some folks still call it the Mankato Civic Center, as the dedication plaque outside states.

The arena is where the Minnesota State Mavericks play hockey, but the arena attracts people there for concerts, ice shows and trade shows, said marketing manager Eric Jones.

Off the Alltel Center lobby you might wander in the Greater Mankato office, and they will hand you a bag full of goodies on stuff to do in Mankato: hiking, biking, skiing, skating,sledding, picnicking, fishing, conventions, dining, tours, Minneopa Falls, the Vikings Training Camp and such.

One tour is visiting the sites of the 1862 conflict between the U.S. government and the Dakota people. Like I said, history abounds.

Another tour is Sips of History. It is a tour of beer, wine, water and tea and how they shaped the region. It includes August Schell Brewing and the Morgan Creek Vineyards in neighboring New Ulm.

The Carnegie Art Center on Broad Street in Mankato is run by volunteers and by people with art studios in the building. As the name suggests, it used to be Mankato’s public library. In 1981, artists petitioned the city to save the building, and it became the art center. It has two galleries and 12 studios and puts on 14 or 15 shows a year, said gallery coordinator Becky Carmody. Plus, there’s a gift shop.

Attractions
Blue Earth County Heritage
Center
R.D. Hubbard House
Minnesota State University
Mankato
Blakeslee Stadium
Myers Field House
Otto Recreation Center
Bethany Lutheran College
Alltel Center
Mount Kato Ski Area
Minneopa State Park
Minneopa Golf Club
Terrace View Golf Course
Grand Champion Sports
Complex
Mankato Athletic Tennis
Center
Chesley Skate Park
Betsy-Tacy Society
Chapel of Our Lady of Good
Counsel
Carnegie Art Center
Greater Mankato Visitor Center
Sakatah State Trail
Minnesota River Trail
South Route Trail
Red Jacket Trail
Reconciliation Park
Kato Entertainment Center
Places to Eat
Pagliai’s
Contessa
Pub 500
Charley’s Restaurant & Lounge
Neighbor’s Italian Bistro
Maggie’s Cafe & Saloon
Coffee Hag
Fillin’ Station
Wagon Wheel
Wine Café
Del’s Café
101 Main
Dos Amigos
T.J. Finnegan’s Pub
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar
Mexican Village

Places to Shop
The Little Red Shed
Old Town Antiques &
Mercantile
Cherry Creek
Cabinetworks Inc.
River Hills Mall
Mankato Heights Plaza
Kickin Vintage
Louie’s Toy Box
Sticks & Stones
The Lighthouse
Sweat Peas Belly,
Baby & Beyond
University Cycle
The Spoke
Enchanted Forest
Wine Styles
Bella Boutique
Mary Lue’s Yarn & Ewe
Encore! in Old Town
Creekside Boutique