The Carstens Farmstead is a collection of historic buildings located south of Shelby, Iowa, United States.

Johan Carstens was a German immigrant who spent eight years living and working in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Davenport, Iowa before settling in Pottawattamie County in 1871, where he established this farm.

He bought 160 acres (65 ha) of land from the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, and continued to farm it until he and his wife retired in 1905.

[2] The farm remained in the Carstens family until 1977, when the last of the 80 acres (32 ha) was donated to the Pottawattamie County Historical Society.

This article about a property in Pottawattamie County, Iowa on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.