7.1. SR 07-29-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River's Hungarian colony was founded in the 1890s by John, Martin and Andrew Fazekas. Arriving in the United States in 1881, they came to Elk River in the late 1880s where John purchased a farm in Section 10 in the hilly northeastern part of the township. The Farzekas were the first of a substantial group of relatives and friends who settled here, many of whom became dairy farmers.~ Oliver H. Kelley Elk River's best-known farmer was Oliver H. Kelley (1826- 1913). A native of Boston, in 1850, Kelley made a claim at the southeastern edge of the township in Section 14.~2 A leader in fotmding local agricultural societies, he turned to journals to learn new farming methods. In 1867, he founded the National Grange of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, an organization that would have one million members by 1875. The Grange was among a number of farmers' protest organizations and movements in the mid-nineteenth century. It was a response to farmer's struggles with new technology and falling market prices for crops and livestock. In addition to its political and fraternal work, the Grange promoted experimental farming and other progressive agricultural practices. Kelle was the author of Ori,in and Pro,ress o the Order of the PatrYons of Husbandry (1875)i{3 The Kelley fam°fily owned the farm until 1901, although Oliver left Minnesota in the late 1860s to pursue Grange activities. The Grange purchased the farm in 1935 and donated it to the Minnesota Historical Society in 1961. The Oliver Kelley House as it looked in 1947. This was the second farmhouse built by Kelley on the site. Photo: MHS. Sherburne County recorded 110 farms in 1860; by 1880 the number rose to 599; to 775 in 1890; 1,054 in 1900; and 1,190 in 1910.~4 (In 1992, the number of farms was 530.) Elk Riw'r Historic Contexts and Phase II Downtown Commercial Area Study 13