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Tour Kelley Farm as Preparations are Made for Winter

The barn is full of grain; the cellar is packed with potatoes, rutabagas and carrots; the shed is stacked high with chopped wood and dried beans; and the house is filled with the aromas of a harvest celebration.

Discover how farmers prepared for winter 150 years ago. A costumed interpreter will lead a guided tour of the farm and trails, highlighting the results of the fall harvest and the preperations being made for the upcoming winter. Guests should dress for outdoor weather. Warm refreshments will be given to visitors after the tour.

Oliver H. Kelley and his wife Lucy began farming the land on the banks of the Mississippi River in 1850. Kelley was the founder of the first successful national farming organization, the Patrons of Husbandry, better known as the Grange. The Kelley Farm is recognized as “The birthplace of organized agriculture in America.”

The working 1860s farm is located at 15788 Kelley Farm Rd., 2.5 miles southeast of downtown Elk River on U.S. Hwy. 10. It is a National Historic Landmark operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. For more information call 763-441-6896.

The Society’s calendar of events is posted on the Internet at events.mnhs.org/calendar. The web site also has information about all of the Society’s programs, museums and historic sites. To request a free guide to museums and historic sites, call 1-800-657-3773.

The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849 to preserve and share Minnesota history. The Society collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs and book publishing.

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