The University of Illinois Experimental Dairy Farm Historic District, also known as South Farm, is a designated

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

in the U.S. state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It is located on the campus of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. As of the 2010 United States Census, Urbana is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 38th-most pop ...

. The district consists of eight contributing structures and several non-contributing structures. The district was designated in 1994 when it was added to 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 ...

as part of the

Multiple Property Submission The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of Historic districts in the United States, districts, sites, buildings, struc ...

concerning

Round Barns in Illinois Round Barns in Illinois was the subject of a Multiple Property Submission to the National Register of Historic Places in the U.S. state of Illinois. The submission consists of 18 Illinois round barns located throughout the state. The list had major ...

. Three of the district's buildings are early 20th century

round barns A round barn is a historic barn design that could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in plan. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880 to 1920 represent th ...

constructed between 1908 and 1912. The district covers a total area of .U of I Dairy Farm Historic District
Property Information Report
HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 10 February 2007.

History

The Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Illinois (U of I) was formed in 1888, one year after the

Hatch Act The Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law. Its main provision prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and vice pre ...

provided federal funds. After its initial establishment U of I's College of Agriculture began to grow and it was divided into three distinct components: classroom instruction at U of I, the Agricultural Experiment Station, and a statewide extension service. In 1899

Eugene Davenport Eugene Davenport (June 20, 1856 – March 31, 1941) was an American academic and agriculturist from Michigan. Davenport studied at the undergraduate and graduate level at Michigan State Agricultural College. He taught at the school for two years, ...

replaced

George E. Morrow George Espy Morrow (October 19, 1840 – Mar 19, 1900) was an American academic from Ohio. Born into a notable political family, he fought in the Civil War, then attended the University of Michigan Law School. After a decade as a newspaper editor, ...

as Dean of the College of Agriculture, and Davenport immediately reorganized the college into four departments:

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

, dairy husbandry, and

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. The Experiment Station was originally established to "administer research activities within the College." The Department of Dairy Husbandry, seeking to increase milk productivity by promoting efficiency, prompted the Experiment Station to construct the Experimental Dairy Farm at an area known as South Farms. The layout and design incorporated three round barns. Experimental Dairy Farms, in general, were receiving broad support as a way to combat problems within

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...

. The three round barns in the

were the inspiration of Wilbur J. Fraser. Fraser was the first head of the Department of Dairy Husbandry from 1902 - 1913. He was also a strong advocate of the round barn which he said offered the "economy of consideration, low maintenance, and labor efficiency." Fraser asserted that round barns had a better ability to withstand Midwest windstorms as well.Campus Landmarks
The Round Dairy Barns, University of Illinois. Retrieved 10 February 2007. Fraser became the first Chief of Dairy Husbandry at the Agricultural Experiment Station in 1908. His colleague, H.C. Crouch, left

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

at the same time to accept the position of manager at the U of I Experimental Dairy Farm. Fraser spent the summer of 1908 in Europe, visiting the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. While there, he took opportunity to learn techniques from local farmers which inspired his push for "efficiency" upon his return to the States. Fraser and Crouch led the promotion of round barn design in Illinois because they believed the very design of the round barn promoted the scientific principles of agriculture as well as a common sense approach to dairy farming. One barn was erected in 1907-08, a second in 1910 or 1912, and the third c. 1912 or 1913, sources vary as to exact dates.Round Barns
U of I: A History of Campus, University of Illinois. Retrieved 10 February 2007. The University of Illinois was then, and still is today, home to an

Agricultural Experiment Station An agricultural experiment station (AES) or agricultural research station (ARS) is a scientific research center that investigates difficulties and potential improvements to food production and agribusiness. Experiment station scientists work with f ...

, these stations, located at universities throughout the United States were at the forefront of round barn promotion.Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station
Office of Research, University of Illinois. Retrieved 15 April 2007.Raymond Schulz Round Barn
(

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

), National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 9 February 2007.Auer, Michael J
The Preservation of Historic Barns
Preservation Briefs, National Park Service, first published October 1989. Retrieved 10 February 2007. The barns at the University of Illinois were instrumental in round barn era. In Illinois, at least one round barn was built with direct inspiration from the U of I round barns. The facilities at the University of Illinois Experimental Dairy Farm were replaced by larger confines in 1960, though the area was maintained. When the district was nominated for inclusion on the National Register in 1994 the round barns at the site were still being used for small herd dairy experiments and housed cattle.

Boundaries

The area that encompasses the district is set upon a

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

top and has been popularly known as South Farms. On the north the area is bordered by St. Mary's Road, a fence to the south and west and a treeline on the east side. The area to the north of the district buildings is

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

dotted with a few a university buildings. Open land is found to the east of the district. A variety of plant life surrounds the site as well. The district area is known as South Farms because of its historic location to the south of the main University of Illinois campus along a ridgeline in southern Urbana, Illinois.

Architecture

Many of the smaller outbuildings included in the historic district have no particular architectural style. The main structures in the district, the three round barns and the Manager's House, however, all have distinct architectural design elements from classifications within their unique structure types. The Manager's House combines elements from

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

and

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...

architecture. While the barns are not of a style, per se, they do represent a design movement within American agriculture. The movement that popularized round barns was in part, due to the promotion of the design by the university and its

Structures

While the property information report from the state of Illinois asserts that there are eight

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, the actual original nomination form lists eight total structures with only five contributing: a storage building, the three round barns, and the Manager's House. Three other structures detailed on the nomination are listed as non-contributing: the "Cow Shed," the Dairy Laboratory, and the 1950s era garage for the Manager's House. Over time, the historic district has lost three structures. One, a

silo A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used t ...

southwest of Barn #3, was extant as late as 1950. A second was a small,

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

-roofed structure which resembled a

shed A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones de ...

or similar outbuilding. That structure was east of

Barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G. ...

#3. The final lost building was between Barns #2 and #3, along an east-west orientation. Historic photographs show the building was a small, residential structure with human-scaled doorways, which may have been a laboratory of some sort.

Manager's House

This 1908 residential building combines elements from

and

architectural styles. The square plan, two-story structure has a full basement and a

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

and

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

foundation.

Round Barns

The round barns at the University of Illinois played a special role in the promotion and popularity of the American round barn. The University of Illinois was home to one of the Agricultural Experiment Stations at U.S. universities which were at the heart of the promotion of the round barn. At least one round barn in Illinois was built specifically after its owner viewed the barns at the university. Though originally an experiment the three barns helped to lead the way for

round barn A round barn is a historic barn design that could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in plan. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880 to 1920 represent th ...

construction throughout the Midwest, particularly in Illinois.

Storage building

The pre-1934 Storage building is a rectangular, one story structure on a concrete foundation. It has a gabled roof and wood siding, when the district was nominated in 1994 the storage building's gabled roof had asbestos shingles. The interior of the building is open, its walls and ceilings are

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

and it has a concrete floor.

Non-contributing

Of the eight structures on site as of 2007, three are non-contributing to the historical integrity of the small

. Two are one-story rectangular buildings: the 1951 Garage and the post-1950 Cow Shed. The third is the 1956 Dairy Laboratory, a one-story " L" plan building.

Significance

The University of Illinois Experimental Dairy Farm was established as a

historic district on February 4, 1994. The nomination form to the

was dated December 22, 1993 and completed by the

Illinois Historic Preservation Agency The Illinois Historic Preservation Division, formerly Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is tasked with the duty of m ...

(IHPA). The IHPA noted the district's significance under the National Register inclusion criteria for

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and "significant people." The round barns were built to promote the

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

pursuit of dairy farming; they had an impact, in some cases prompting farmers to construct their own round barns.

References

Notes

External links

* {{authority control Experimental farms in the United States Dairy buildings in the United States Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Champaign County, Illinois

Experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

Agricultural buildings and structures in Illinois Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Research institutes in Illinois