Anoka County History Center

The Jackson Hotel is an historic building in Anoka, Minnesota, United States. The hotel was built in 1884 during the rebuilding of downtown Anoka after a fire. The hotel operated from 1884 through 1975 and played a central role in Anoka's commerce. It was located at the hub of water, rail, and overland trade routes, and served a variety of travelers. The Jackson Hotel first served farmers and loggers who brought their goods to Anoka for sale. It later served traveling businessmen, politicians, photographers, lecturers, entertainers, and tourists. Traveling salesmen also used the hotel's sample room as a showroom and office. The hotel had a reputation as the leading hotel in Anoka and one of the best hotels in Minnesota.The Jackson Hotel building was built in five sections at different times. The two-story center section, built in 1884, bears the name of its builder, C.G. Jackson. In 1885 a two-story brick addition was built to the rear of the center section. In 1888 a large three-story brick addition was built on the west side, and another three-story addition was built on the east side several years later. All three sections facing Jackson Street are built of red brick.

Anoka ( ə-NOH-kə) is a city in and the county seat of Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 17,142 at the 2010 census. Anoka is the "Halloween Capital of the World" because it hosted one of the first Halloween parades in 1920. It continues to celebrate the holiday each year with several parades. Anoka is a northern suburb of the Twin Cities. U.S. Highways 10 / 169 and State Highway 47 are three of Anoka's main routes, and it has a station on the Northstar Commuter Rail line to Minneapolis.

The Anoka Post Office is a former post office building in Anoka, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1916 in a Colonial Revival design credited to architect James Knox Taylor. It remained in service as a U.S. Post Office until 1977, after which it has housed a variety of commercial tenants. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its local significance in the theme of architecture. It was nominated for its status as Anoka's oldest surviving public building and most architecturally significant non-residential property.

Colonial Hall and Masonic Lodge No. 30 consists of two historic buildings located at 1900 3rd Avenue, South in Anoka, Minnesota. Both were owned by Anoka Lodge No 30 AF & AM, which was chartered on October 25, 1859. Colonial Hall, also known as the Aldrich House for its association with the house's first owners and occupants, local medical and civil leaders Dr. Alanson and Dr. Flora Aldrich, is a two-story wooden building built in 1904 in a combination of Colonial Revival and Greek Revival styles by local renowned architect Fredrick Marsh. The Aldrich House was purchased by the Anoka Lodge in 1921, and in 1922, construction began on the present two-story redbrick Masonic temple, which is located behind but to the north of the Colonial Hall. Designed and built in the Georgian Revival style, it was completed and occupied in 1923. On December 31, 1979, Colonial Hall and Masonic Lodge No. 30 was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1980s, the Anoka County Historical Society's offices and library were housed in Colonial Hall. As of July 2019, Anoka Lodge No. 30 was still meeting in the Lodge hall twice per month, along with Anoka-Shekinah Royal Arch Chapter #104, Zabud Cryptic Council #10, Order of the Eastern Star Marthas Chapter, Job's Daughters Bethel 48, and Anoka DeMolay Chapter.In December 2012 the decision was made to sell Colonial Hall to a private party for restoration.In 2016, Colonial Hall is occupied by a tenant, The Big White House, an antiques store.

Windego Park Auditorium/Open Air Theater is an amphitheater in Anoka, Minnesota, located on the Rum River. The theater was built in 1914 and was spurred by the City Beautiful movement, as well as Anoka citizens' interest in outdoor entertainment and recreation. Its main organizer, Thaddeus P. Giddings, was a promoter of music education and had been organizing community singalongs in the summer of 1913. The theater is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The amphitheater was designed by William Gray Purcell, from the notable Prairie School firm of Purcell & Elmslie. The seating is on a steep slope, while the stage is on the level portion of the river bank. There is space for 1600 spectators. Purcell was particularly interested in designing the awning system after having taken an interest in the awnings used in the Roman Colosseum.In 1936, Giddings left for Michigan to organize Interlochen Music College (now known as Interlochen Center for the Arts) in Interlochen, Michigan. Community interest in the amphitheater waned, and the facility started decaying, with shrubs and trees starting to grow between the amphitheater's concrete risers. In 1979, an architecture student from the University of Minnesota drafted a plan to restore the amphitheater, and this restored interest in preserving it. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places that year, and community organizers did some cleanup work and patched the concrete steps. In 1997, the Windego Park Society was organized.

The Heman L. Ticknor House is a historic house in Anoka, Minnesota, United States. It was originally built in 1867 in Gothic Revival style, then remodeled multiple times in the early 20th century to accrue substantial Queen Anne and Neoclassical elements. The Ticknor House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its local significance in the themes of architecture, commerce, and exploration/settlement. It was nominated for its association with three generations of an influential local family and its representation of their evolving architectural tastes.In 1996 the home began to operate as Ticknor Hill Bed and Breakfast.

The Shaw–Hammons House, also known as the DeGraff–Follrath House, is the oldest standing residential building in Anoka, Minnesota, United States. It was originally built around 1852 and then expanded in 1870. The Shaw–Hammons House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its local significance in the themes of architecture and exploration/settlement. It was nominated for its association with local Euro-American settlement through its succession of notable early owners, and for being Anoka's best-preserved example of Greek Revival architecture.

Anoka station is a commuter rail station in Anoka, Minnesota, located at 2718 4th Avenue. It is served by the Northstar Commuter Rail line. The station features bicycle lockers and two park and ride lots. The north lot has 181 spaces and the south lot has 196 spaces, with a total capacity of 377 vehicles. The commute time to downtown Minneapolis from this station is about 32 minutes. In 2012, the weekday fare to downtown Minneapolis from this station was $3.00. The fare to and from any other station also was $3.00 on weekdays. In 2022, the weekday fares still were $3.00 to downtown Minneapolis and $3.00 to any other station.

The Rum River is a slow, meandering stream that connects Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake with the Mississippi River. It runs for 151 miles (243 km) through the communities of Onamia, Milaca, Princeton, Cambridge, Isanti, and St. Francis before ending at the city of Anoka, roughly 20 miles northwest of Minneapolis. It is one of the six protected Wild and Scenic rivers in Minnesota.

The Anoka–Champlin Mississippi River Bridge, also known as the Ferry Street Bridge, is a 10-span open spandrel concrete deck arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Anoka and Champlin, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1929 by the Minneapolis Bridge Company, replacing an 1884 bridge at the same site.The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its state-level significance in the themes of commerce and engineering. It was nominated for exemplifying the open-spandrel concrete arch bridges developed in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area in the late 1920s, and for providing a key physical connection between two river communities with longstanding economic ties.

Champlin ( CHAMP-lən) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,919 at the 2020 census. Champlin is a northern suburb of Minneapolis. U.S. Highway 169 and Hennepin County Road 12 (CR 12) are two of the main routes in Champlin.

Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center (AMRTC), located in Anoka, Minnesota, the county seat of Anoka County, provides inpatient and transitional services to patients with severe mental illness from the Twin Cities metropolitan area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne and Washington County). Due to overcrowding, some patients will be transferred to St. Peter's Regional Treatment Center; This is done by random selection upon intake. The facility was previously the Anoka Asylum and in 1937 the name was changed to the Anoka State Hospital. The hospital provided care for mentally ill men starting in 1900 and for women in 1906. As a hospital for the mentally ill, until 1999, it housed thousands of patients, both male and female. It was once again renamed in 1985 to the current name.