The Pipestone County Museum is the best first stop in town after the national monument. It covers county history, the quarrying and building-stone story, local rail and agricultural life, and the people who settled this corner of the prairie.
Its practical value is just as important: the museum is the place to ask about walking-tour material for the historic district. Pipestone's downtown is much more interesting when you know what you are looking at, especially the way local quartzite gives ordinary civic and commercial buildings a distinctive colour and weight.