The U.S. government established seven agricultural experiment stations in Alaska between 1899 and 1917; this one was the last. The government played an important role in testing crops and livestock for profitable agricultural endeavors and promoted their findings to encourage settlement. Milton D. Snodgrass, a representative of the Alaska Railroad from 1930 to 1934 who ran this experiment station from 1923 to 1929, was instrumental in enticing farmers to this area.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture closed all of the Alaskan agricultural experiment stations in 1932. The Matanuska station is now operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The cluster of buildings is surrounded by fields and pastures.