{"nrhp_refnum":"87000682","name":"Rainey, Henry T., Farm","other_names":["Walnut Hall"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"RR 1, N side of IL 108","address_restricted":false,"city":"Carrollton","county":"Greene County","state":"IL","lat":39.30987474850005,"lon":-90.38835365884549,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-05-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 425-acre working farm district on the north side of State Route 108, one mile east of Carrollton, Greene County, Illinois, centered on the brick farmhouse Walnut Hall, built 1868-70 for Luman Curtius.","why_significant":"The farm is tied to Henry T. Rainey, a 15-term Illinois congressman and Speaker of the House, whose farming here shaped his work as an agricultural leader in Congress. It also holds Walnut Hall, a well-preserved two-story farmhouse blending Greek Revival and Italianate details.","narrative":"Walnut Hall and its surrounding 425-acre farm lie just east of Carrollton, Illinois. The two-story red brick house, built in 1868-70 for early settler Luman Curtius, combines Greek Revival doorways and windows with Italianate bracketed cornices and long verandas. Henry T. Rainey bought the farm in 1909 and ran it as a stockfeeder and later dairy operation while serving in Congress from 1903 to 1934, ending as Speaker of the House. The farm became a demonstration site for scientific agriculture, working with the University of Illinois on wheat varieties and soil fertility, and it encouraged farmer self-help through the Greene County Farm Bureau. Rainey also added recreational grounds that are now mostly gone. Surviving buildings include a tile dairy barn and silo, a corn crib, an older shed, and a rental house. The property was listed for its link to Rainey's agricultural leadership and for the farmhouse's architecture.","period_of_significance":"1868-70; 1909-1934","architect_builder":"Unknown (house built by Luman Curtius, 1868-70)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival and Italianate","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Farm occupied and in excellent condition; main house unoccupied and in fair condition; dairy barn and corn crib deteriorating.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.652529-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/8929/28892904/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/87000682.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000682/650acbf33c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000682/650acbf33c-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"TheCatalyst31","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_T._Rainey_Farm.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">TheCatalyst31</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_T._Rainey_Farm.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892904","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_T._Rainey_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5728947"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/greene-county/rainey-henry-t-farm-87000682/"}