Between 1934 and 1945, many local advocacy and state legislative efforts were introduced to preserve the Nerstrand Woods as the last sizable remnant of Minnesota’s “Big Woods.” On March 28, 1945, the bill establishing the Nerstrand Woods State Park was approved by the legislature. It was signed by Governor Edward J. Thye on April 2.

Originally built in 1872, the Evangelical Lutheran Church (also known as Our Savior’s Lutheran Church) in Ham Lake has gained several additions, most notably in 1947. In 2020, although the congregation generally meets in another space, the building is still preserved in its original state, and is used for special services throughout the year.

Located near Nowthen Boulevard in the city of Nowthen, just off of Bass Lake, the barn used by Erick Sparre in the early twentieth century has a unique circular shape that allowed its owner to maximize storage space, lower construction costs, and increase efficiency. As of 2020, it is the best-preserved dairy barn in Anoka County.

From its early beginnings on Lake Superior’s North Shore to its legacy of innovative manufacturing in St. Paul, 3M—formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company—has introduced both consumer and industrial products that have been successfully marketed worldwide.

From 1885 to 1982, the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad significantly impacted the village of Nerstrand. For this rural, agricultural community in Rice County, the establishment of a station in September 1885 not only transformed the un-platted settlement into a quintessential “railroad town,” but also strongly aided in its population growth and development for decades to come.

The Nerstrand City Hall, built in 1908, is one of Rice County’s most architecturally significant municipal buildings. Since its construction, the structure has been integral to the community's affairs. In 1982, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

When the fourth state hospital for the insane at Anoka opened in 1900, it became the first state transfer hospital for patients considered incurably insane. The hospital was the first in Minnesota to be built according to the cottage plan to reduce the institutional feel for its chronic patients. It remains one of the finest examples of the cottage plan in Minnesota.

The former Riverside Hotel at 3631 Bridge Street in St. Francis is the only surviving commercial building dating to the milling boomtown’s original settlement. It was built in about 1860, during the heyday of the local lumber industry that urbanized present-day Anoka County.

Originally built in 1892, the Ramsey School House served Anoka County’s School District #28 until the mid-twentieth century, when the schools in the county were consolidated. The building was then repurposed as the Ramsey Town Hall.

The Porter Kelsey house was built in Andover in 1887 from materials produced by the owner’s own brickyard. In 2020, it is one of the few structures built with Kelsey Brickyard brick that still stands in Anoka County.