In 1856, eight German-Jewish families in St. Paul founded the first Jewish congregation in Minnesota: Mount Zion Hebrew Association. By 2012, the organization had changed its name to Mount Zion Temple and had 1,000 members. The synagogue building on Summit Avenue in St. Paul was designed by in 1954 by internationally recognized architect Erich Mendelsohn.

Split Rock Lighthouse opened in the summer of 1910 to guide bulk ore ships sailing near Lake Superior's rocky coast. By 1940, its picturesque North Shore setting had made it one of the most visited lighthouses in the United States.

Minneapolis's oldest synagogue, Temple Israel (originally named Shaarai Tov), was founded in 1878. By 2012, over two thousand member families belonged to the temple, making it one of the largest Jewish congregations in the United States.

By 1880, Goodhue County held within its borders four significant Euro-American immigrant enclaves: Minnesota's largest group of Swedes; the second largest assembly of Norwegians; one of the most densely populated German tracts; and an Irish colony at the county's center. The colonizing of Goodhue County serves as a case study of the state's early immigration patterns.

Beth Jacob Congregation is a Conservative synagogue located in Mendota Heights. It was formed in 1985 when Sons of Jacob, St. Paul's second-oldest synagogue, merged with a group of young worshipers who came together in 1984.

Count William Rudolph Martinovich von Rovigno was born a European nobleman but became a big-game hunter, worldwide traveler, bronco-buster, wilderness guide, and friend of "Buffalo Bill" Cody. After falling in love with Minnesota's North Woods, he lived and worked in the state as a game warden, forest guard, and wilderness advocate.

The 1960s and 1970s were a time of rapid suburban growth. City planners were frustrated by the growing pollution, traffic, urban sprawl. One solution to these problems was the "new town" movement. Designed as planned communities, these "towns" were intended to control population growth in a systematic way. The community of Jonathan, located within the existing city of Chaska, was built according to this concept.