Development Fund-removal and replace Ash trees

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A nonprofit fundraiser supporting

Carver County Historical Society Inc
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This year funds will be used to remove and replace diseased Ash trees.

$350

raised by 2 people

$5,000 goal

 

Historic Andrew Peterson Farmstead Development Fund

How will my donation be used?

That is a good question. This year funds will be used to remove and replace diseased Ash trees.  

We have accomplished so much, but there is still so much to do.  The CCHS Board of Directors has reached the five-year goal listed in our long-range strategic plan and currently updating it for use in the next five and ten years.

Your donation will help us continue our vision of developing a place where everyone is welcome and educational programs are taught AND experienced.


FARM HISTORY

  “We passed through Skagerrak finally and saw a little of Farsund’s point in Norway—it was the last time we saw our old Scandinavia.”  Andrew Peterson    May 21, 1850

    While the farm was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 for Peterson’s horticulture work with apples, it is his 48-year diary that catapulted Peterson into the public eye.  Almost 40 years after Peterson's death, his diary would be found by the Swedish author, Wilhelm Moberg. Moberg used the diaries as a primary source for his highly acclaimed Emigrant book series.  Commenting on his primary resources, Moberg, in his book "The Unknown Swedes" noted that, “most pioneers lack the education to recount their life history.”  “There was one exception”, a Swede by the name of Andrew Peterson.  Minnesota Historical Society historian Carlton C. Qualey stated the diaries are, “unique in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society and probably one of the few of its kind anywhere.”  

In 2013, the Carver County Historical Society inherited the Andrew Peterson Farmstead. Five original buildings from Peterson’s era still stand, the north barn, farmhouse, granary, smokehouse, and south barn. The north barn and smokehouse rehabilitation have been completed. Rehabilitation of the farmhouse will be completed in early 2024. The granary is scheduled to be rehabilitated in 2024. Per our long-range plan, the next focus is the rehabilitation of the south barn.  That will complete the rehabilitation of the original Peterson farm buildings. The middle barn has been stabilized and can be used for events and programming, but more work is needed to develop the lower level into an interpretive center.  


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