The Oliver H. Kelley Homestead is a historic farmstead once owned by Oliver Hudson Kelley, one of the founders of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. Oliver Kelley moved to Minnesota in 1849, the year that Minnesota Territory was formed. Although he knew little about farming, he taught himself using agricultural journals and correspondence with other "scientific-oriented" farmers. He became an expert on farming in Minnesota, and he learned how adverse events such as bad weather, debt, insect pests, and crop failures could devastate a farmer's fortunes.