{"nrhp_refnum":"79002181","name":"Neff Round Barn","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Centre Hall off PA 45, Potter Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Centre Hall","county":"Centre County","state":"PA","lat":40.81757070300006,"lon":-77.70128746799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A round dairy barn located two miles west of Old Fort at the intersection of Pa. Routes 45 and 53 near Centre Hall, Centre County, Pennsylvania. It was built around 1910 and has an 88-foot diameter, with a white pine frame rising to 56 feet at the cupola.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the barn is significant in architecture, agriculture and invention for its unusual circular plan, designed to reduce the labor of moving silage, grain and hay. It is described as the first barn of this type in the Nittany Valley and one of only two surviving round barns in Centre County. It is also regarded as a well-known local landmark.","narrative":"Built around 1910 on Route 45 west of Old Fort, near Centre Hall, this 88-foot-diameter dairy barn rises to 56 feet at its louvered cupola. Its farm-quarried limestone foundation supports a white pine frame with board-and-batten siding on the cattle floor and lap siding on the mow floor. Calvin R. Neff designed it for his own farm, and local carpenter Aaron Thomas built it. Neff was reportedly inspired by round barns he had seen from a train window, though he had never seen their interiors. The plan arranges a central silo, grain bins, a circular mow and a circular cattle floor so that wagons can circle the building, reducing the labor of moving feed. It was probably the first barn of this type in the Nittany Valley. Its red paint and white trim make it a well-known local landmark, and it is regarded as an example of local ingenuity in agricultural building.","period_of_significance":"c. 1910","architect_builder":"Calvin R. Neff (designer); Aaron Thomas (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The structure is in excellent condition and still used to store hay and farm vehicles, but no longer in a full farm operation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:28.921437-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002181.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002181/1693ccc87a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002181/1693ccc87a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pschemp","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neff_Round_Barn.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pschemp</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:Neff_Round_Barn.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994939","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neff_Round_Barn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15261472"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/centre-county/neff-round-barn-79002181/"}