{"nrhp_refnum":"02001047","name":"Cornfield, The","other_names":["Farmers' Independent Benevolent Society Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"655 Cty Rd. 26","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fly Creek","county":"Otsego County","state":"NY","lat":42.455953039000065,"lon":-75.06127915099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-09-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","European","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story wood-frame meeting and dance hall at 655 CR 26 in the hamlet of Fly Creek, Otsego County, New York, built in 1928 by members of the local Slovenian immigrant community, with kitchen and restroom additions from 1956-57.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building represents the ethnic heritage and social history of Fly Creek's Slovenian community. It served as the headquarters and gathering place of the Farmers' Independent Benevolent Society, founded in 1926, and helped preserve Slovenian culture in an isolated farming community. It retains almost complete integrity to its construction period.","narrative":"Set well back from CR 26 in Fly Creek, Otsego County, the Cornfield is a modest one-story wood-frame hall built in 1928 by Slovenian immigrant farmers. Members of the Farmers' Independent Benevolent Society, a cooperative insurance group founded in 1926, raised the building themselves over about two years, reusing the frame of a former hop house and lumber from a dance hall on Otsego Lake. It took its name from the tall corn that surrounded it when finished. The long, narrow dance hall has novelty siding, a gable roof and a diagonally laid maple floor. A kitchen was added in 1956 and restrooms in 1957, both matching the original. The hall mattered because the Slovenian families were socially isolated from neighboring farmers, and gatherings here let them celebrate shared customs and language. Its form and function resemble a grange hall. The society still operates, and the building remains nearly unchanged from its early years.","period_of_significance":"1928","architect_builder":"Unknown; built by members of the Farmers' Independent Benevolent Society","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still used as a meeting hall; the society continues to function under its original charter. Virtually intact apart from a replacement standing-seam metal roof.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.96577-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02001047.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03001245","name":"Oneonta Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/oneonta-downtown-historic-district-03001245/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320923","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cornfield_(Fly_Creek,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7727640"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/otsego-county/cornfield-the-02001047/"}