The Kansas Historical Society announced that farmsteads in Butler and Lane counties and the Kansas Masons headquarters are among the newest Kansas properties added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places entered six Kansas listings into the Register on October 8. These actions bring the total number of Kansas listings in the National Register to 1,376.

Schwartz, Alexander and Anna, Farm – 57 E CR-70, Dighton, Lane County

Alexander and Anna Schwartz moved their young family from Russia to central Kansas in 1906.

They arrived during the Golden Age of Agriculture, a period when American farms grew in value and size across the country. They initially lived in Russell, where other family had settled, but soon established a farm in Rush County, where they remained until 1917 when they moved to a larger farm in Ness County.

In 1928, Schwartz was approached about a land trade, which ultimately netted him more land in Lane County suitable for grazing cattle. The Schwartz family erected a small farmhouse and various farm buildings – all made of structural hollow clay tile bricks – and they raised cattle and a variety of crops in the surrounding fields.

The farmstead remains in the Schwartz family and includes the small Craftsman-style house, a smokehouse with a cellar, and a small gambrel-roof barn. It was nominated as part of the Historic Agriculture-Related Resources of Kansas multiple property nomination for its local agricultural significance.

Click HERE to see the National Register of Historic Places nomination of the Schwartz farmstead.