{"nrhp_refnum":"02001719","name":"Wakefield Dairy Complex","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W side Falls of Neuse Rd., 1.2 mi. N of Neuse R.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wake Forest","county":"Wake County","state":"NC","lat":35.95785573000006,"lon":-78.56831350799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-01-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A dairy complex of three 1934 farm buildings (dairy barn, calf barn and bull barn) on a five-acre nominated tract on Falls of the Neuse Road near Wake Forest, Wake County, North Carolina, built for John Sprunt Hill's Guernsey herd.","why_significant":"The complex is argued to be an intact and architecturally distinctive dairy complex, unusual in Wake County for its size, Gothic-roofed barn and unifying white-and-green paint and X-batten details (Criterion C). It also illustrates progressive dairy farming in the county from 1934 to 1951, when extension agents promoted sanitary, modern dairy practices (Criterion A).","narrative":"Three barns built in 1934 on Falls of the Neuse Road near Wake Forest make up this former dairy complex: a large dairy barn with a bell-shaped Gothic roof and two tile silos, a calf barn, and a bull barn. They were built for banker and philanthropist John Sprunt Hill, who kept a Guernsey herd of about thirty-five cows on his 2,200-acre Wakefield Farm and meant it as a showplace for modern agricultural architecture and dairy methods. S.O. Rich oversaw construction, and timber was cut and milled on the property. The buildings share a white and green paint scheme and X-batten doors and shutters. Wake County once had about twenty large dairy operations, and few survive, none with comparable detailing. The complex represents the move toward diversified, sanitary dairying promoted by extension agents after the boll weevil ended cotton's dominance. Sold out of the Hill family and later used for beef cattle, the buildings were restored after 2000 and the dairy barn now shelters horses.","period_of_significance":"1934-1951","architect_builder":"Rich, S.O., builder","architectural_style":"Other: Gothic-roofed barn","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Restored after a 2000 purchase to save it from demolition; the dairy barn now houses horses and the calf barn is partly used for offices and storage.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:54.041862-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/7185/47718595/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/02001719.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718595","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakefield_Dairy_Complex","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23035878"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wake-county/wakefield-dairy-complex-02001719/"}