{"nrhp_refnum":"89001114","name":"Walnut Grove Farm","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Knox Station Rd., 1 mi. S of Knoxville","address_restricted":false,"city":"Knoxville","county":"Knox County","state":"IL","lat":40.91903128350006,"lon":-90.26367308454641,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-08-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Walnut Grove Farm is a farm district of about 360 acres on Knox Station Road, one mile north of Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois. It has 11 contributing and 3 noncontributing buildings, with structures dating from about 1857 to 1925.","why_significant":"The farm was part of the Charles family holdings, which grew from an 1835 land grant into a cattle operation of nearly 2000 acres by 1887. It shows how corn and cattle farming developed in Knox County on prairie and savanna land. Its bank barn, other barns, Second Empire house and farmstead layout remain largely intact. Members of the Charles family were also involved in county government and agricultural organizations.","narrative":"Walnut Grove Farm is a working farm of about 360 acres one mile north of Knoxville, Illinois, named for two stands of walnut trees at the edges of its building clusters. The land was deeded to George A. Charles by the U.S. government in 1835, and his family grew the holdings into a cattle operation of nearly 2000 acres by 1887. The surviving farmstead includes a three-level bank barn of about 1865 with a sandstone foundation and hand-hewn pegged framing, a 1916 middle barn, an east barn, a hog farrowing house, a tenant house, a brick water storage building and a Second Empire farmhouse with a mansard roof. The prairie soils supported corn and cattle feeding, and nearby sandstone quarries supplied building stone. Members of the Charles family also served on county boards and in farm organizations. The layout of buildings, groves, pastures and fields has changed little, though the balance has shifted toward corn.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Second Empire","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still a working farm with corn, hay and cattle. The bank barn was being rehabilitated in 1988 as part of a tax credit project.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.302474-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/8932/28893274/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/89001114.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001114/09842f2e34-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001114/09842f2e34-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walnut_Grove_Farm_tenant_house.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walnut_Grove_Farm_tenant_house.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893274","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut_Grove_Farm_(Knoxville,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25204506"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/knox-county/walnut-grove-farm-89001114/"}