{"nrhp_refnum":"73001179","name":"MacDonald Farm","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Elk Creek and Monroe Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Meredith","county":"Delaware County","state":"NY","lat":42.354074107500054,"lon":-74.86195932131628,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural farm complex on Elk Creek Road at Monroe Road in the Town of Meredith, Delaware County, New York, with a house built in 1851 by James MacDonald and farm buildings mostly built or modified between 1870 and 1900.","why_significant":"The complex reflects the inventiveness of John Thomas MacDonald, who developed it. It is reputed to be the first hydro-electrically powered farm in New York State, and its creamery and cow barn show his experiments with reinforced concrete. The farm also shows progressive dairying, marketing and cooperative practices.","narrative":"On several hundred acres in a narrow valley in Delaware County, New York, the MacDonald Farm is a complex of houses and farm buildings along Elk Creek Road. James MacDonald built the main house in 1851. His son John Thomas MacDonald later enlarged it, adding an ell and a dining room using material from an 1861 Methodist church he bought at auction. John Thomas developed the farm into a progressive enterprise. It is reputed to have been the first hydro-electrically powered farm in New York State, with electricity used for butter-making, milling, sawing, hay lifting and milking. Between 1890 and 1900 he designed a reinforced concrete creamery and cow barn. The complex also includes a hops barn, mill building, straw barn and housing for married hired hands. His daughters continued the farm into the 1950s, and a garden designed by Catherine MacDonald Odell lies south of the house.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"James MacDonald (house, 1851); John Thomas MacDonald (creamery and cow barn, own design)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and altered; the fields are still managed and the houses are occupied. Several early structures, including a carriage barn and icehouses, no longer stand.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.331819-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/73001179.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317239","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacDonald_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6721815"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/delaware-county/macdonald-farm-73001179/"}