Ross, Frank L., Farm

Set on rolling land west and east of State Route 519 in North Bethlehem Township, the Frank L. Ross Farm is a complete early twentieth-century mixed farmstead. Frank L. Ross acquired the tract from his father in 1910-11 and built most of the complex as new, including a two-story red brick farmhouse with a center hall and a bungalow built as a honeymoon cottage. The farm combines barns, a sheep barn, a worker's house, corn cribs and a silo that stood from about 1924 to 1962, and it is regarded as an unusually comprehensive example of the county's move from sheep raising to general farming. By 1924 Ross kept the largest flock in North Bethlehem Township, with 450 sheep, and he also ran dairy cattle, poultry, hogs, an orchard and alfalfa fields. Architect C.M. Hall designed the farmhouse, and F.M. Hixon was the builder. The farm's buildings and fields remain largely intact, and the property is significant for agriculture and architecture.