In 1930 the Ayers bought another 63 acres (250,000 m2) of lakeshore and begin to rent cabins to hunters and visitors.

In 1959 Harry Ayer donated the buildings, land, and his collection of American Indian artifacts to the Minnesota Historical Society.

The Ayer Collection has 2,200 historical artifacts including bandolier bags, moccasins and birch-bark baskets.

The room features life-size dioramas, made in 1964, that depict traditional Ojibwe activities.

They show the different activities based on seasons, including summer berry picking, fall wild ricing, winter hunting and trapping, and spring maple syrup camp.