Andrew Peterson Farmstead

The Andrew Peterson Farmstead is a farm just east of Waconia, Minnesota, United States. The farm is located in rural Carver County, Minnesota, on Minnesota State Highway 5. The farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its association with its first owner, Andrew Peterson. It is owned and operated by the Carver County Historical Society.

History
Andrew Peterson (Anders Pettersson)  was born October 20, 1818, at Västra Ryd parish in Ydre härad, Östergötland, Sweden. He died March 31, 1898, in Waconia, Carver County, Minnesota. He emigrated from Rydsnäs, Sweden to American in 1850. With his sister and fourteen other emigrants, they arrived in Boston on July 2, 1850. He arrived in Burlington, Iowa, about four weeks later and lived there for four years. He later moved to Minnesota in 1855, claiming 160 acre near the southeastern shore of Lake Waconia.

He kept a series of daily diaries and ledgers dating from 1850 until a few days until his death in 1898. Peterson's diary was donated by his family to the Minnesota Historical Society in 1939. These writings provided inspiration for Vilhelm Moberg's novels The Emigrants, Unto a Good Land, The Settlers, and The Last Letter Home, although they were set in Chisago County, Minnesota. While Andrew Peterson is not familiar to many Americans, his story is well known in Sweden. The Andrew Peterson Society was established in Sweden in 2003. A musical called Andrew Peterson: The Genuine Pioneer Story had great success in Sweden in 2012. In 2007 a tour group came from Sweden to visit the farm.

The property’s last owner was Ward Holasek. Despite being unaware of its historical value when he purchased the property he later collaborated with Jo Mihelich, author of the 1984 book, Andrew Peterson and the Scandia Story, to preserve numerous artifacts and structures, ultimately leading to the property being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Following Holasek's passing in 2013, he bequeathed a 51-acre portion of the land to the Carver County Historical Society. The will was contested, by Holasek's sons but a complicated settlement was reached, where a property swap was agreed upon.

The contested 51-acre portion only included one historic building, the north barn. The remaining twenty acres, which housed the other historic structures, including the house, were owned by Holasek's sons. Both parties eventually collaborated to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. The Carver County Historical Society retained 12.17 acres along with all the historic structures and included Andrew Petersons' original acreage, while the sons retained the larger remaining portion of land with the newer non-historic buildings.

Restoration
In 2006, the Carver County Historical Society initiated restoration efforts on the farmstead by focusing on the granary, with additional assistance from Swedish carpenters. Subsequently, storm damage in July and August of 2010 caused the collapse of the east wall and gables of the North Barn, leading to stabilization measures to safeguard the remaining structure for future restoration endeavors. Subsequent funding was secured to restore and reinforce the foundation of the North Barn, paving the way for its potential transformation into a public park facility. The restoration project remains ongoing.

Note
This article contains information obtained from the Swedish Wikipedia article Andrew Peterson.

Related reading

 * Mihelich, Josephine (1984) Andrew Peterson and the Scandia story (Ford Johnson Graphics) ISBN 978-0917907005