Red River Valley Sugar Beet Museum | Esta Es Mi Casa

Visit the Sugar Beet Museum and learn about the importance of this crop to the history of the Red River Valley and its residents. Starting in the 1930’s and 40’s, Hispanic migrant farm laborers began the journey from Texas and Mexico to the Red River Valley of Western Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota to work in the sugar beet fields. They came for the work and a better life. Learn about the history of this migration and listen to interviews with people who, as children, worked with their parents in the beet fields, some starting as early as eight or nine years old. These people eventually stayed and made Minnesota their home and their lives have been bettered through education and the hard work of their parents. 

Crookston, Minnesota is the logical location for a Sugar Beet Museum. Over 100 years ago, the first beets were planted in the Red River Valley near Crookston. Retired sugar beet farmer Allan Dragseth, the the founder and keeper of the Red River Valley Sugar Beet Museum, gives us a guided tour and we learn how beet farming has evolved over the past century, including technology and farm vehicles.