{"nrhp_refnum":"07000795","name":"Houseknecht Farm","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"812 J. Houseknecht Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Moreland","county":"Lycoming County","state":"PA","lat":41.17837562050005,"lon":-76.64681052077229,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-08-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A working farmstead in Moreland Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, comprising a c. 1890 farmhouse, a Pennsylvania-type barn, a late nineteenth-century machine shed/corncrib, and surrounding fields, orchards and woodlots. It was built by Josephine and O. M. Houseknecht and is classed as a farm under the agriculture property type.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the farm is significant under Criterion A for Agriculture because its buildings and landscape show a strong, layered record of change in the North and West Branch Susquehanna diversified agriculture region from about 1860 to 1960. Its crop and livestock levels are close to township averages for 1927, and its barn retains unusually intact lower-level features. The farm is also described as a century farm held by one family since 1849.","narrative":"Begun about 1890 by Josephine and O. M. Houseknecht in Moreland Township, Lycoming County, this working farmstead includes a two-story center-gable farmhouse, a Pennsylvania-type bank barn with an extended forebay, a late nineteenth-century machine shed and corncrib, and a stone-walled barnyard that suggests swine raising. The farm was assembled from land first held by Thomas Bitler, a Pennsylvania German immigrant who acquired 402 acres in 1849, and it has remained in the same family ever since. The property is listed for its agricultural importance. Its crops and livestock in 1927 closely matched township averages, and its buildings reflect local patterns of diversified production, family labor, and the shift from horse to gasoline power after 1940. The barn's lower level keeps original dirt floors and a long stable partition, which is unusual for Pennsylvania barns of this type. Family records also describe home canning, butchering and cider making as part of the household's farm economy.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1890-1956","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"No Style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The farmhouse has replacement aluminum siding, shutters and porch, and the barn has been expanded and altered, though the document describes the farm as having integrity.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.378822-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/07000795.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000795/ac85e40663-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000795/ac85e40663-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houseknecht_Farm_Moreland_Twp_PA_Jul_11.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houseknecht_Farm_Moreland_Twp_PA_Jul_11.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996614","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houseknecht_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5915899"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lycoming-county/houseknecht-farm-07000795/"}