Bonanza farms were very large farms established in the western United States during the late nineteenth century. They conducted large-scale operations, mostly cultivating and harvesting wheat . Bonanza farms developed as a result of a number of factors, including the efficient new machinery of the 1870s, cheap abundant land available during that period, the growth of eastern markets in the U.S., and completion of most major railroads between the farming areas and markets.
19-535: The Frederick A. and Sophia Bagg Bonanza Farm , also known as Bagg Bonanza Farm or F. A. Bagg Farm , is a former bonanza farm in Richland County, North Dakota , United States. Operated between about 1915 and 1935, the farm of the Baggs encompasses as many as 7,000 acres (2,800 ha), and was operated virtually like a factory according to modern business practices of the period. The surviving farm complex
38-402: A National Historical Park may include more than one National Historic Landmark and contributing properties that are buildings, structures, sites or objects, and it may include non-contributing properties. Contributing properties may or may not also be separately listed or registered. Prior to 1935, efforts to preserve cultural heritage of national importance were made by piecemeal efforts of
57-460: A bunkhouse at a nearby farm where the Baggs worked before establishing this one, and was adapted by them to house their family and a number of transient farm laborers. Frederick and Sophia Bagg were foreman and cook respectively at the Downing Farm, and in the 1890s began acquiring land in this area for their own farm. In 1915 they started this farm, which was described by Bagg as essentially
76-457: A factory operation, using labor division, management, and cost management techniques from industrial business, but applied to the practice of agriculture. The farm mainly produced wheat, corn, and clover, and fluctuated in size, with a maximum documented extent of about 7,000 acres (2,800 ha). These types of large-scale operations were also made possible by the completion of railroads, which could bring their large harvests to market. The farm
95-533: A number have been preserved. Bonanza farms were encouraged by John Wesley Powell who, by the 1870s, had found that the land he studied needed larger-scale irrigation systems that would lead to larger areas of land being taken care of. Powell, a geologist, asserted that family-owned farms that had been in use in accordance to the Homestead Act of 1862 did not quite give the land the type of help required to keep it fit. Though less numerous than family farms,
114-477: Is now owned by a local non-profit organization and operates as a museum. It is one of the best-preserved examples of a bonanza farm complex in the nation, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005. It is located approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Mooreton . The Bagg Bonanza Farm is located on either side of 169th Avenue Southeast in rural Richland County, east and south of Mooreton. Still surrounded by agricultural fields that were once part of
133-895: The Historic American Buildings Survey amassed information about culturally and architecturally significant properties in a program known as the Historic Sites Survey. Most of the designations made under this legislation became National Historic Sites , although the first designation, made December 20, 1935, was for a National Memorial , the Gateway Arch National Park (then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in St. Louis , Missouri. The first National Historic Site designation
152-633: The United States Congress . In 1935, Congress passed the Historic Sites Act , which authorized the interior secretary authority to formally record and organize historic properties, and to designate properties as having "national historical significance", and gave the National Park Service authority to administer historically significant federally owned properties. Over the following decades, surveys such as
171-842: The 50 states. New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states: Virginia , California , Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, the latter of which has the most NHLs of all 50 states. There are 74 NHLs in the District of Columbia . Some NHLs are in U.S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states . There are 15 in Puerto Rico , the Virgin Islands , and other U.S. commonwealths and territories ; five in U.S.-associated states such as Micronesia ; and one in Morocco . Over 100 ships or shipwrecks have been designated as NHLs. Approximately half of
190-504: The Bonanza operations began to be competitive with the smaller operations. Bonanza farmers pioneered the development of farm technology and economics. They used steam engines to power plowing as much as 4 decades before the modern farm tractor made its appearance - plows and combine harvesters drawn by steam tractors were used in the West in the 1880s and 1890s. The division of labor
209-672: The National Historic Landmarks are privately owned . The National Historic Landmarks Program relies on suggestions for new designations from the National Park Service, which also assists in maintaining the landmarks . A friends' group of owners and managers, the National Historic Landmark Stewards Association, works to preserve, protect and promote National Historic Landmarks. If not already listed on
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#1732782370731228-623: The National Register, or as an NHL) often triggered local preservation laws, legislation in 1980 amended the listing procedures to require owner agreement to the designations. On October 9, 1960, 92 places, properties, or districts were announced as eligible to be designated NHLs by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton . Agreements of owners or responsible parties were subsequently obtained, but all 92 have since been considered listed on that 1960 date. The origins of
247-548: The United States secretary of the interior because they are: More than 2,500 NHLs have been designated. Most, but not all, are in the United States. There are NHLs in all 50 states and the national capital of Washington, D.C. Three states ( Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , and New York ) account for nearly 25 percent of the nation's NHLs. Three cities within these states, Philadelphia , Boston , and New York City , respectively, all separately have more NHLs than 40 of
266-402: The farm, the main complex consists of a large number of residential buildings and farm-related outbuildings for housing farm animals, feed, and equipment for working the land. The buildings are laid out in a roughly rectilinear manner, with walls oriented north-south and east-west. Stylistically the buildings are vernacular, and lack significant ornamentation. The main house originally served as
285-593: The first National Historic Landmark was a simple cedar post, placed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their 1804 outbound trek to the Pacific in commemoration of the death from natural causes of Sergeant Charles Floyd . The cedar plank was later replaced by a 100 ft (30 m) marble obelisk. The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa , was officially designated on June 30, 1960. NHLs are designated by
304-409: Was applied in bonanza farms generations before family farms adapted to these modern ways. Farm boys from the midwest , working on bonanza farms in the early 20th century, transplanted these ideas to Corn Belt homesteads and built larger farms as the century progressed. The Frederick A. and Sophia Bagg Bonanza Farm is located in southeastern corner of North Dakota. The preserved Bagg Bonanza Farm
323-596: Was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2005. National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark ( NHL ) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of over 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks. A National Historic Landmark District sometimes called
342-981: Was divided by Frederick Bagg among his five children and two of his key personnel. Bonanza farm Most bonanza farms were owned by companies and run like factories, with professional managers. The first bonanza farms were established in the mid-1870s in the Red River Valley in Minnesota and in Dakota Territory , such as the Grandin Farm . Developers bought land close to the Northern Pacific Railroad , for ease of transport of their wheat to market. Investors also organized bonanza farms farther west. Many bonanza farms were established in this period in North Dakota ;
361-751: Was made for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on March 17, 1938. In 1960, the National Park Service took on the administration of the survey data gathered under this legislation, and the National Historic Landmark program began to take more formal shape. When the National Register of Historic Places was established in 1966, the National Historic Landmark program was encompassed within it, and rules and procedures for inclusion and designation were formalized. Because listings (either on
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