Established on August 8, 1907 by men and women who had settled in the area as early as 1855, the Western Hennepin County Pioneer Association (WHCPA) was founded to preserve knowledge of family members, settlement lifestyles, and community events. To that end these pioneers seeded the organization's collections with personal artifacts and family histories. They wanted future generations to remember their accomplishments in the face of adversity – Indian conflict, civil war, locusts, disease, weather, economic depressions, and decades of backbreaking labor and hard living.

For the past 100 years the descendants of the founders have worked, generation after generation, to honor the wishes of their forefathers. For the first half century they collected artifacts and information in their homes until the sheer volume of accumulated materials finally justified a centralized facility and public display. That's when local banker Kenny Bollum, an active and devoted WHCPA member, provided space for exhibits in the basement of Long Lake State Bank. Shortly thereafter the organization acquired, with the help of Bollum and other local businessmen, the deed to the recently decommissioned District 50 school in downtown Long Lake, Minnesota. This became the WHCPA museum.

The old two-story red brick building seemed roomy at first, and for forty years it was. During those four decades, however, WHCPA continued to grow its collections. By the year 2000 the organization could offer the public a spectacular geneological treasure trove of files containing information and photographs for over 1,400 families.

In 2005, WHCPA initiated a project to digitize its entire family archives, to fully cross-reference these materials, and to provide the public with advanced research capabilities. In that one year alone, over 30,000 images were scanned. This project was recently highlighted in an issue of the Discovering Lake Minnetonka magazine.

In 2006, WHCPA initiated a public fundraiser to help finance the construction of a new building adjoining the existing museum. The new facility will provide a better environment for the preservation and use of family archives, as well as establishing a much-needed artifact receiving, restoration and storage area. The old brick building will continue to house the museum's main exhibits, but they are be re-organized into more efficient and more effective displays.

Thus, as WHCPA enters its second century of operation, it is positioned well to accommodate future growth and to offer expanded service to the public.