The W.L. and Winnie (Woodfield) Belfrage Farmstead Historic District is a nationally recognized

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 ...

located south of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, United States. 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 2017. At the time of its nomination it contained six resources, which included four

contributing buildings 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 ...

and two non-contributing buildings. The four contributing buildings are the dairy barn (1910), farmhouse (1920), brooder house (c. 1945), and the

chicken coop Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chicke ...

(c. 1945). The two no-contributing buildings are the cattle shed (1960) and the garage/utility building (2006). Its significance is found in the

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

-style farmhouse designed by prominent

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

architect

William L. Steele William LaBarthe Steele (May 2, 1875 – March 4, 1949) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois. He is considered a principal member of the Prairie School Architectural Movement during the early 20th century. Career After graduating f ...

. This is the only known farmhouse designed by Steele. The other well-preserved agricultural buildings on an early twentieth-century farmstead are also of significance. Holtze Construction of Sioux City built the house, and it was the first building constructed by the new company. Aaron Gunderson built the dairy barn.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Woodbury County, Iowa Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Historic districts in Woodbury County, Iowa Prairie School architecture in Iowa {{WoodburyCountyIA-NRHP-stub