Pine County Historical Society & The Little Mermaid Cafe

We stopped in Askov looking for a restraunt. We were on scenic byway 23, and the town looked big enough for a restraunt. We were surprised when we saw a school bldg, with a sign that said crafts, antiques, and restraunt. Upon entering the museum was to the left entrance to the left. Straight ahead was the restraunt. The little mermaid, it had a lot of decorations, mermaid themed. We took had lunch , they are open for breakfast and lunch. I had the soup of the day and a half turkey sandwich. It was hard to call it half, as it was from a large slice of homemade sourdough bread. The soup was cheese burger stew, it was good. My wife had a burger with chips and the soup.
After lunch, I spoke with the museum coordinator. She told me about how the county took over the school. They opened the museum, gift shop and restraunt. They have a few full time employees, but the rest are volunteers. We didn't have time for the museum ( it looked interesting from what I saw, and was told about), but we did go to the gift shop. I was talking to the shop manager. She informed that the art and crafts were by local artists. The antiques were spread throughout the space. They seemed to be reasonably priced and varied. I was impressed by the quality of the locally made jewelry and art.
If you made it through this whole post, you can tell we had a good time visiting the place. I definitely recommend it.

By far the BEST County museum we have ever visited. They organized each area of interest with like things so you could focus on that subject matter before moving onto another grouping. The effort made to collect things of local signifance was outstanding. We saw so many things we had never seen before, we easily have could stayed another hour. The train room was impressive with two running trains. Like the other rooms and hallways the lights were motion activated as were the trains. The replica of the Wright brothers Flyer was a great way to finish the exhibit.
Having The Mermaid Cafe in the same building allowed us to take a break midway for lunch.
It was a GREAT way to spend a rainy day .

The Pine County Historical Museum is a great display of many historical items. It is located in a former elementary school. Also there is an antique store and cafe in the building.

A cute little cafe with hearty serving sizes. Worth every penny! If im in the area again I would definitely try some more

We love the food, service and surroundings at The Little Mermaid Cafe. Even the bathrooms have ambience! Try the Tuesday Special, Aebelskiver w/Medisterpolse, $6.75. My husband says the pancakes are the best! Sometimes for breakfast I like to order the Taco Salad (flakiest shell !!) , so good. We appreciate the historical items and geographical info that surrounds us in the cafe and the opportunity to see even more in the museum which is operated by volunteers! You may even wish to sign up!

Thought we'd stop in and check the museum out. It absolutely blew our expectations out of the water!!! It is a big museum without being overwhelming. You get to see endless relics of history, big and small, all organized and themed within each room. It is quite the time-warp!! It is only $5 a person to get in, or $20 per family yearly pass.
There is also an amazing gift shop where you can buy all kinds of old antiques and vintage items!! Locals will definitely appreciate the homage to the surrounding towns and counties. But it went WAY beyond that! We were absolutely in awe. This place will NOT disappoint. My guy and I are so anxious to bring the whole family here! Thank you to everybody who helped put together this museum! We cannot rave about it enough!!!

We were simply blown away by the volume of history and the detailed presentation at this museum. You could stay an entire day. Truly a hidden gem. Eating at the cafe was a pleasant surprise as well.

*** If you don’t have time to read my lengthy story, here’s the summary: TAKE YOURSELF AND FAMILY TO THE PINE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM IN ASKOV MN. You will not be disappointed!!!! ***

Lexi and I went hiking today at Banning state park. A sign on the way there reminded her that she wanted to visit the Pine County Historical Society Museum in nearby Askov.
Being the loving and supportive hubby-in-training that I strive to be, I squinted my eyes and reluctantly, but lovingly agreed. It was her first time to the quaint little town of Askov and I hadn’t visited there for at least… ahem… 20 years. I drove her around a bit to show her the unpronounceable street signs until we arrived at the museum. We eventually ended up at our destination… the old Askov elementary school. We also intended to have lunch afterwards at the adjoining Little Mermaid Cafe in the same building.
We entered the main doors. The cafe on our right, the museum to our left. Lexi and I asked the gentleman at the desk admission price to the museum. He stated $5 per person. We paid and as we walked into the hallway of the old school building he stated “the lights will turn on as you enter each room and, oh, it’ll take you at least an hour to get through the entire museum. Here’s a self guided map”.
Every room was a mind blowing snapshot into the past. Trinkets, tools, equipment, articles, clothing… Rooms were themed into school life, home life, work life, military, judicial, religious relics, music, appliances, farm, logging, transportation, toys…. The list goes on and on and on. Every room giving homage to those that came before us right here in Pine County with attention to the distinctions in municipalities and the families that built the towns and worked the land. I really can’t put it all in words nor pictures.
Lexi and I agreed not to post too many pictures because we want you to discover so much for yourself. Please take your family there. Your folks and children alike.
Tuesday-Saturday 10-3
Sunday 12-3
Closed Monday

Love it. A real museum. Rich in history and artifacts

Cute cafe! Food was tasty and inexpensive!

I enjoy breakfast here anytime I'm up at the cabin. They do a real nice job. The gal that runs the kitchen now is super friendly, and does a fabulous job.

Lovely town, cute museum with great historical insights. The cafe staff was very hospitable!

The Little Mermaid Cafe is very open and clean! Excellent service and food. Then take a walk through the museum you will find a beautiful train and track set-up that shows this area. FUN!

This is the most beautiful place. So much history and everyone is extremely kind!

This was a great museum! There is a lot to see, some very unusual items, including a special airplane inside the gym.

We were lucky enough to have this place as our wedding venue. They helped us out last minute, and everyone who attended said that they had a marvelous time. Food was great, service was fast, everything went smoothly. And what's even cooler is this place is a non-profit organization and is run by volunteers. Highly recommend.

Excellent county history museum! It's the old Askov high school building, so is huge and they've used the space well. There are various themed rooms, including one for dolls, logging industry, veterans of Pine county, and a massive train track with recreations of towns along the actual railroad.

The staff was friendly and solicitous, the gift shop had some great finds, and the Mermaid cafe was delicious. It was too much to even take in over one visit. I'll be back for sure!

Fantastic! Great service and food. Michelle was so accommodating and made a special menu for our car club of 35. They made the day memorable and we can’t wait to go back.

The Mermaid cafe is a wonderful eatery. I was surprised at how good the food was! The staff is very friendly if a bit understaffed. I really enjoyed my lunch today!

Absoutely delicious!!! Heading home from Duluth and we were hungry. Drive 4 beautiful miles to find this place. So worth it. Staff were amazing. Place was so unique and very clean. LOVED IT and Tamara!!!!