{"nrhp_refnum":"83003260","name":"Mish, Henry, Barn","other_names":["Mish Barn","Heritage Hill Barn"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Middlebrook on VA 876","address_restricted":false,"city":"Middlebrook","county":"Augusta County","state":"VA","lat":38.064851324000045,"lon":-79.22332949038567,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Pennsylvania-type bank barn, about 50 by 100 feet, built around 1849 on a farm about a mile north of Middlebrook along Back Creek in central Augusta County, Virginia. The nominated area also takes in the farmhouse and its outbuildings.","why_significant":"The barn, built for Henry Mish, a Pennsylvania native, shows how the forebay bank barn spread from southeastern Pennsylvania into the Valley of Virginia. It is one of the only known brick barns in the Valley, where barns were widely destroyed by Union forces in the Civil War. Its decorative brick vents and heavily trussed interior preserve its architectural integrity.","narrative":"This brick bank barn, built around 1849 for Henry Mish, sits in open country along Back Creek about a mile north of Middlebrook in Augusta County. Measuring roughly 50 by 100 feet, it follows the Pennsylvania type, with a projecting wood-frame forebay and decorative brick lattice vents in lozenge patterns on its ends. Mish was born in York County, Pennsylvania, and settled in the county in 1839. The barn illustrates how this barn form moved from southeastern Pennsylvania into the Valley of Virginia. Although bank barns became standard in Augusta County during the 19th century, brick examples are rare, since local barns were usually frame or log. The farm escaped the destruction that claimed more than two thousand Valley barns during the Civil War. Much of the original framing and many doors survive, and the barn has stayed in continual use on the family farm. The listing covers about ninety-seven acres, including the brick farmhouse and outbuildings that give the barn its agricultural setting.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Pennsylvania-type brick bank barn with projecting wood-frame forebay","criteria":[],"status_note":"The barn remains in regular use and is in a good state of preservation, though some original interior fittings have been removed or rearranged.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.72619-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/42/6796/41679642/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/83003260.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003260/01d8b99116-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003260/01d8b99116-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Mish_Barn_with_cattle.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Mish_Barn_with_cattle.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679642","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Mish_Barn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712522"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/augusta-county/mish-henry-barn-83003260/"}