The Smith Farmhouse, also known as the Smith Homestead Farmhouse, is a historic dwelling located in

Lake City, Iowa Lake City is a city in Calhoun County, Iowa, United States, founded in 1856. The population was 1,731 at the time of the 2020 census. The sign coming into town proudly proclaims that Lake City has "Everything but a Lake." History Lake City wa ...

, United States. This house's significance is due to its association with the pioneer Smith family. Peter and Sarah Smith and their four young sons settled here from

Cass County, Michigan Cass County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 51,589. Its county seat is Cassopolis. Cass County is included in the South Bend– Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area which has a ...

in 1855. Their first two houses were built on the same property to the north of this one. Their first house and barn were log structures, and their second was frame construction. What is now known as Lake City was chosen as the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

for Calhoun County because it was the area with the highest population. (It would lose that distinction to Rockwell City in 1876.) Smith donated of land for the town. Peter and two of his sons opened a general store in town in 1871, and he and his wife moved into Lake City at that time. His son James took over the farming for his parents until 1874. He moved to another farm east of Lake City at that time, but Peter continued to own this property until his death in 1899. It is not known who built this

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style brick house in 1877, or lived here until 1890. In March of that year, Peter's third son Clark moved into the house. Peter and Sarah had relocated to

Glidden, Iowa Glidden is a town in Carroll County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,151 at the time of the 2020 census. History Glidden was laid out as a town in 1866. It was named either for Capt. W. T. Glidden, a railroad promoter, or in honor o ...

before 1875, where she died. He married a Lake City widow named Mary Orr, and they returned to Lake City in 1881. They eventually built a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

on Main Street. Mary inherited the farm after Peter's death, and she sold it to James. He lived here until 1921, when he sold it to the Hatfield's. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1990.

References

{{NRHP in Calhoun County, Iowa Houses completed in 1877 Lake City, Iowa Houses in Calhoun County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Calhoun County, Iowa Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Italianate architecture in Iowa 1877 establishments in Iowa