{"nrhp_refnum":"03000065","name":"Manske-Niemann Farm","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"13 Franks Ln.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Litchfield","county":"Montgomery County","state":"IL","lat":39.13560142800003,"lon":-89.68422041373793,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-02-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic farmstead district about four miles south of Litchfield, Montgomery County, Illinois, beside former U.S. Route 66. It centers on a main residence begun as an I-house around 1850-1870 and includes about twenty major outbuildings.","why_significant":"The farm preserves a nearly complete set of buildings, structures and activity areas from a German immigrant family's farm operation. The 34 contributing resources include a vernacular Greek Revival I-house with a ca. 1900 addition, barns, a brick smokehouse, and a workshop with a working forge and overhead drive system. The form's excerpted pages do not state the criteria or the period of significance.","narrative":"Four miles south of Litchfield, Illinois, beside former U.S. Route 66, this farmstead centers on a circle drive around a two-story frame house and about twenty major outbuildings. Gardens, an orchard, poultry yards, an apiary, a hog lot and pastures fill the spaces between them. The house began as a five-bay, side-gabled I-house with vernacular Greek Revival detailing, probably built between 1850 and 1870. Whether the original landowner, James Stuver, or the Prussian-born Michael Manske built it is uncertain. About 1900 the family added a large rear wing with Queen Anne interior trim, a bathroom, and a separate bedroom for hired hands. Surviving outbuildings include a brick smokehouse mentioned in an 1863 insurance policy, a privy, a brick-lined well, and a workshop where Clarence Niemann kept a forge and an overhead drive system for lathes and a drill press. The complex is significant as a well-preserved farm of a German immigrant family with 34 contributing resources.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"James Stuver is suggested as the likely builder of the original I-house; Michael Manske is the alternative. Clarence Niemann built the well housing and equipped the workshop.","architectural_style":"Other: I-House (vernacular Greek Revival); Other: Barn","criteria":[],"status_note":"Current functions are listed as domestic single dwelling, domestic secondary structure, and agricultural storage and outbuildings. Interior and exterior modifications to the house are described as minimal.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.436245-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/49/8937/28893749/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/03000065.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000065/0e4cd3e7ae-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000065/0e4cd3e7ae-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Boscophotos","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Image_Manske-Niemann_House.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Boscophotos</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Image_Manske-Niemann_House.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893749","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manske%E2%80%93Niemann_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17299786"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/montgomery-county/manske-niemann-farm-03000065/"}