This proposal was met with approval, and a year later the Danish American Heritage Society (DAHS) was asked to form an exploratory committee.

In 1983, the exploratory committee chose to locate the museum in the Danish Villages of Elk Horn and Kimballton, Iowa.

The board was officially incorporated in May and in July the Elk Horn Lutheran Church donated 20 acres for the museum site.

The museum began accepting donations to its collection and operated out of a building on Elk Horn's main street for several years.

Included in the Elk Horn-Kimballton Great Places proposal was the development of the Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park on the museum's grounds.

[8] A free mobile app is available through the manufacturer, Norwell USA, to help users find the park, demonstrate how to use the equipment, time and track activity, and share via Facebook.

The park also includes a 0.6 mile paved pedestrian path, the Friends Walk, that runs from the museum's main building to Bedstemor's House.

The museum's permanent exhibition Across Oceans, Across Time continues on the ground level and covers the years from 1940 to the present day.

The following year, the Genealogy and Education Center opened at its current location on Elk Horn's Main Street.

The home was intended to be an engagement gift, but Christiansen's marriage proposal was rejected, and the house was rented out to local families instead.