The Bernhard Warkentin Homestead, also known as Little River Stock Farm or Warkentin Farm, is a historic farm complex on East North Street in

Halstead, Kansas Halstead is a city in Harvey County, Kansas, United States. Halstead was named in honor of Murat Halstead, a respected Civil War correspondent and newspaper editor. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,179. History For m ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974. It was further declared to be a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1990, nationally significant for its association with Bernhard Warkentin, a pivotal figure in the development and wide cultivation of

durum wheat Durum wheat (), also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat (''Triticum durum'' or ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''durum''), is a Polyploid, tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although ...

in the country.

Description and history

The Warkentin Farm is located on the northern fringe of Halsted, on the east side of Main Street at East North Street. The property consists of , bound on the south by railroad tracks, the north and east by the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

, and the west by a

grain elevator A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...

. The farm complex is clustered near the western end of the property, with fields to the east. Buildings in the farmstead include the house, carriage house, barn, a silo, and a small pump house. The house is a -story wood-frame structure, built in 1884 to a design by Kansas architect John G. Haskell. Bernhard Warkentin was a well-to-do

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

immigrant of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

extraction, who immigrated to the United States from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in 1872. In Russia he had been involved in the family business, the raising and milling of wheat. A ''de facto'' leader of a Mennonite emigration and colonization effort, Warkentin purchased over , and established is home and mill here in 1874, while working to assist other German Mennonites in their drive to leave Russia. One of the major improvements in agriculture that Warkentin and the Mennonites brought with them were knowledge of Russian hard wheat varieties, which they brought over in the early years of the colonization. In 1896, Warkentin began working with Mark Carleton of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

to improve American knowledge of Russian wheat varieties, which eventually resulted in the hybridization experiments that produced

, one of the nation's leading wheat crops.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warkentin, Bernhard, Homestead National Historic Landmarks in Kansas Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas Houses in Harvey County, Kansas Houses completed in 1874 National Register of Historic Places in Harvey County, Kansas

Description and history

See also

References