Even though Minnesota is largely an agricultural state, fewer and fewer children are growing up on farms each year.  Farmamerica, just west of Waseca, Minnesota, helps to preserve our state’s agricultural heritage and to show visitors what farm life was like in the past.

The complex is set up in various areas.  A modern visitor center is the first stop, and then a trail leads to farms from different time periods.  From the 1850’s log cabin to the 1930’s farmstead, you can see what agriculture was like at different times.  Other places of importance to farms and small towns, like a church and school, are also part of the site.  My kids loved sitting in the horse-drawn school bus.

A museum housing machinery and other agricultural artifacts sits on the last corner of the property.

Farmamerica is open during the summer and the tours are self-guided.  During busy times there are tractor-pulled shuttles to move you from one area to another, or you can walk on the paths through the native prairie plantings from one era to another.

We visited for last year’s Fall Festival, where special events included a tractor pull, threshing demonstrations, a corn maze, and a scavenger hunt for the kids, and costumed interpreters in the buildings.

Like the Oliver H. Kelley Farm and Gale Woods Farm, Farmamerica helps keep our agricultural heritage alive.  Whether you grew up on a farm and want to reminisce, or want to show your city children what a farm is like, Farmamerica is a worthwhile stop.

Other things to do in the Waseca/Owatonna area include Kiesler’s Campground, the Jewel Box Bank, the Village of Yesteryear, and Mineral Springs Park.

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