(16) O’Brien County 8.7.2021

Although most of our adventures in O’Brien County were on August 7, we did visit a few attractions the day before due to availability of some attractions. We don’t consider this a breach of our set criteria for visiting counties since we did devote one whole day to both Osceola and O’Brien, the 6^th and 7^th respectively.

 

We started both the 6^th and the 7^th at the Breu Haus in Sheldon for some coffee because it was so good!

There are a few other coffee shops in Sheldon that would be nice to try: the Downtown Grounds and Truly Scrumptious (we did eat lunch at the Downtown Grounds later in the day on the 7^th). After coffee, we had to stop for a picture at the beautiful St. Patrick’s Church.

Across the road is the Carnegie Library and Prairie Museum, which was closed at the time for renovations. We did stop at the City Park to play on the wooden playground.

 

On the morning of the 7^th we were given a full tour at the Prairie Art Council and Museum in Sheldon which is 4 school houses and 2 historical houses from the area that have been moved to their current location in Sheldon. What a wonderful re-creation of the past. Also, you can do ceramic painting on Wednesdays and Saturdays in one of the school buildings. You should definitely see what is going on if you are ever in town as they have different events throughout the year.

 

 

We did check out several thrift stores and antique shops in Sheldon, so if that is your thing, this is the place for you, they have plenty!

 

As stated previously, we stopped at the Downtown Grounds for lunch and the Dairy Dandy for ice cream.

We then made our way to Primghar, the county seat of O’Brien, and drove through the Heritage Park, which has several historical buildings that are not available for going into but still neat to drive through. You can also stay in a grain bin at Bill’s Cabin in Primghar or at the Dog Creek Bin Cabins in Sutherland.

 

We drove through Sutherland on our way to the Prairie Heritage Center (which is in O’Brien County even though the address is in Petersen). Sutherland has a nice city park and is also the home of the Bogenrief Stain glass Studios. The studio looked like it has been shut down for some time unfortunately. 

 

The Prairie Heritage Center is very well done though with an entire basement of hands-on exhibits and crafts for kids to partake in, as well as a lookout tower of the surrounding glacial hills.

 

 

Our last stop in O’Brien County was a bit of a let-down, as we attempted to find a replica of a Native American settlement called the Wittrock Indian Village. Despite numerous websites claiming there is a replica of the wall the Native Americans had built to keep out other tribes, no such wall existed—in fact, nothing existed on that land.

 

Disclaimer: On the 6^th on our way back from Osceola County and into O’Brien County where we were staying for the night, we happened across the Yesterday’s Memories & Vander Haag’s Truck Museum in Sanborn. It was closing for the day so we only got a glimpse of 1 of the 7 buildings full of restored antique trucks. If you are into restored trucks, this is definitely the place to stop—very well done!

 

Sanborn also had a historic Carnegie Library turned into a convention hall that we got to go into and take a peak! 

 

We also caught a glimpse of a black squirrel at a local park in Sanborn! Sanborn may be small, but it had lots of surprises!

 

Lastly we ate at the Italian Cowboy Café in Sheldon in O’Brien County for dinner on the 6^th. Although you’d think these 2 cultures could not be mixed in terms of food, we were pleasantly surprised as the food was delicious! We would definitely recommend this place to anyone passing through if you want some unique food combos!

 

 

Return Rating: 2

Other things to see/do:

• Carnegie Library and Prairie Museum, Sheldon
• Prairie Arts Counsil Wansink Art Gallery, Sheldon
• Mill Creek State Park and Beach, Primghar
• Dog Creek Park grain bin cabins, Sutherland
• Patch Eeten House, Hartley