Four Locust Farm
Also known as: Pettus Dairy Farm
Why it's listed
Four Locust Farm, once the Pettus Dairy Farm, occupies 332.8 acres of rolling pasture about one mile north of Keysville in Charlotte County, Virginia. A two-story frame farmhouse, dated to about 1859, faces the highway, while a farm road leads west past dairy barns, silos, a milk house, a workshop, equipment sheds, cattle pens and tenant houses. The property includes 22 contributing buildings and seven contributing structures. The farm grew tobacco from 1919, but falling prices in the 1920s led the Pettus family to build a dairy barn in 1925 and keep a 100-head Holstein-Friesian herd. The barns follow the sanitary Richmond milkshed pattern, with concrete-block lower levels, many windows, extensive ventilation and James Manufacturing Company weathervanes. Interior milking stalls, pipes and milk-house fittings remain largely intact. Dairying ended in 1962, and beef cattle have since been raised on the same buildings and land, which remain in careful use.
Significance in brief: The farm is significant as a well-preserved example of a Richmond milkshed dairy farm, with intact sanitary concrete-block dairy barns, silos and a milk house. It shows the Pettus family's shift from tobacco to dairying in 1925, and the farmhouse reflects mid-nineteenth-century rural building traditions.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 09001053, listed December 3, 2009. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | US Rt. 15, Keysville |
|---|---|
| County | Charlotte County |
| Listed | December 3, 2009 |
| Reference number | 09001053 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Other: Vernacular |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Agriculture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Farm buildings are well maintained and in use for the ongoing beef cattle operation, storing hay, equipment and general supplies; the dairy operation ended in 1962. |
| Acreage | 332.9 |
| Coordinates | 37.06945, -78.47814 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 09001053.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14712333
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.