{"nrhp_refnum":"98001312","name":"Echols Farm","other_names":["81-5012","44rb216","44rb217"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of VA 130 and 501","address_restricted":false,"city":"Glasgow","county":"Rockbridge County","state":"VA","lat":37.63080617000003,"lon":-79.44051328033368,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-10-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Commerce","Architecture","Industry","Agriculture","Engineering"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Echols Farm is a roughly 253-acre farm on the east bank of the Maury River across from Glasgow, Rockbridge County, Virginia. It centers on a farmhouse begun about 1855 by Edward Echols and includes two canal locks, a canal trace and outbuildings.","why_significant":"The farm is argued to be significant under Criteria A and C for its link to the James River and Kanawha Canal, where Edward Echols ran locks, canal boats and a warehouse, and to his iron mining. It also represents a typical mid-19th century canal-side farmstead that was later enlarged in 1914 and continued as the Echols family seat.","narrative":"Echols Farm occupies about 253 acres on the Maury River across from Glasgow, Virginia, near where the Maury meets the James at Balcony Falls. Edward Echols bought the land in the early 1850s and built a one-and-one-half story frame house and a warehouse beside the new canal. He worked as a canal boat operator, lock-keeper and merchant, and began mining iron ore on the mountain behind the house in 1859. Two granite canal locks, the canal trace and the warehouse foundation survive from that era. The house was enlarged about 1914 to two stories with a hipped roof and wraparound porch. Early twentieth-century outbuildings include a brick tenant house, springhouse, corncrib and equipment shed. The property is recognized for its ties to canal transportation, commerce, industry, agriculture and architecture between about 1855 and 1948, and it has remained a family seat for the Echols descendants.","period_of_significance":"1855 ca. to 1948","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Other (vernacular frame farmhouse)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still an operating farm and family gathering place and vacation home; the house is in use as a dwelling. Road traffic and river bank erosion are described as threats.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.925818-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/50/6834/41683450/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/98001312.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001312/aa3f0e2fa7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001312/aa3f0e2fa7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Leslieaun","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Echols_Farm.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Leslieaun</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:Echols_Farm.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683450","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echols_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15216036"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/rockbridge-county/echols-farm-98001312/"}