MARSHALL — A state grant will help the Lyon County Museum plan updates for its “Life on the Prairie” exhibit.

Last week, the Minnesota Historical Society announced that the Lyon County Historical Society had been awarded a $10,000 Historical and Cultural Heritage Small Grant. The grant funding will allow the Lyon County Historical Society to hire a consultant to research the early history of the Lyon County area.

Lyon County Museum Director Jennifer Andries said the research will be part of the process to update the museum’s lower-level exhibit. The exhibit hasn’t been updated since 2014, Andries said.

While artifacts like a log cabin and covered wagon will still be part of the exhibit, the research will allow the museum to add more information.

The Lyon County Historical Society was one of a total of 28 small grant recipients in 17 Minnesota counties, MNHS said. The small grants, of $10,000 and less, are awarded quarterly to projects that preserve and share Minnesota history. The most recent cycle of grants was approved on March 20.

The latest round of grant awards totaled $241,168, MNHS said.

The grant program is funded by the 2008 Legacy Amendment.

The Lyon County Historical society has received Historical and Cultural Heritage small grants in the past. Those grants have helped fund projects at the Lyon County Museum, including an online collections management system, and research and planning work for the museum’s second-floor exhibit gallery.

Other area historical societies also received funds in the latest round of small grants, a news release from the MNHS said. The list of 28 total grant recipients included the Lac qui Parle County Historical Society in Madison, the Murray County Historical Society in Slayton, and the Nobles County Historical Society in Worthington.

The Murray County Historical Society received a $3,044 grant to add 35 rolls of microfilmed local newspapers to their collection, and make those records more accessible to the public.

The Nobles County Historical Society received $9,675 to update their collections management system. The Lac qui Parle County Historical Society received $8,357 for an oral history project interviewing Dakota speakers about Dakota ways of life.