{"nrhp_refnum":"84002887","name":"Baker Octagon Barn","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 28","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richfield Springs","county":"Otsego County","state":"NY","lat":42.823748661000025,"lon":-75.01526010599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-09-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An octagonal, three-story dairy barn, 60 feet across, on the west side of NY Route 28 south of Richfield Springs, Otsego County, New York. It was built in 1882 with fieldstone lower walls and a wood-framed upper story.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the earliest known octagonal dairy barn to survive intact in New York State. It closely follows a design by Elliot Stewart, first published in 1876, but adds an intermediate threshing story and a center post structure. It also has an early square ground-floor silo and is praised for its use of local materials.","narrative":"Built in 1882 on a gentle slope near the west shore of Canadarago Lake, this octagonal dairy barn measures 60 feet across and rises three stories under a hipped roof topped by a windowed cupola. The first two stories are fieldstone with rough quoins, while the top story has vertical siding over a braced timber frame. The design closely follows a prototype by Elliot Stewart published in 1876, but the builders added an intermediate story, probably for threshing, and a central square of posts rising to the cupola. A square silo beneath the north entrance bay, mentioned in an 1886 article, is a very early example of its type. The barn was probably designed by its original owners, the Bakers, and is regarded as the earliest known intact octagonal dairy barn in New York State. It remains in good condition and still works as a dairy barn, with only a compatible rectangular wing added in the late 1800s.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Probably designed by original owners, the Bakers; builders HN, HE (Herbert Eason) & NR (Norman Ross) Baker, R. O'Brien, probably mason","architectural_style":"Octagonal central-plan dairy barn (Central Plan Dairy Barns of New York State theme)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition with excellent integrity and still in use as a functional dairy barn.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.04873-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/84002887.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002887/ccd22f37a8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002887/ccd22f37a8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"DPMOTTA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baker_Octagon_Barn,_Richfield_Springs,_Otsego_County,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">DPMOTTA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baker_Octagon_Barn,_Richfield_Springs,_Otsego_County,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75314259","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Octagon_Barn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4849192"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/otsego-county/baker-octagon-barn-84002887/"}