Travels with Children

Oliver Kelley Farm

2.5 miles south of downtown on U.S. 10, Elk River, MN. 763-441-6896. http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/ohkf/
$7 adults, $6 senior citizens, $4 children ages 6-17. Free parking. Some parts stroller accessible. Restrooms in visitors center.

On a hot summer day, we made the drive to Elk River to see the Oliver Kelley Farm historic site. It was well worth the drive.

The visitor’s center includes exhibits about Mr. Kelley and his place in Minnesota history, but the real part of the museum is the working 1800’s farm just down the trail. Costumed interpreters interact with the visitors, and were great with the kids. Our kids got to go down to the root cellar and help weed the 1-acre garden, make cornbread, feed the animals in the barns, pet the kittens, and learn about how farming was done in past times.

Because of the heat, we didn’t explore the trails around the farm and adjacent Mississippi River. We’ll have to save that for our next visit.

It has lots of old farm stuff. My most favorite was in the house and my very most favorite was when we got to go in with the sheep and cows and I also liked feeding the sheep. We got to see how the cows eat. It was so great!