============================================================================= NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES: OFFICIAL ENTRY PROFILE ============================================================================= Form ID: NPS Form 10-900 / 10-900-a (OMB No. 1024-0018) Prepared By: Frank E. Vyzralek | Great Plains Research (March, 1985) NPS Status: Received July 29, 1985 | Level of Significance: State & Local ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. PROPERTY IDENTIFICATION & LOCATION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Historic Name: Pierson Farm Location: 3.5 miles South of York (Vicinity of York) County / State: Benson County, North Dakota (State Code: 38 | County Code: 005) Legal Boundary: E2 NE4 Section 7, T155N, R69W, Benson County, ND. Beginning at a point 2,025' south of the NE corner of Section 7, thence 335' west, 120' south, 335' east, and 120' north to the point of beginning (Less than 1 acre). Legal Registry: Register of Deeds | Courthouse, Minnewaukan, ND Ownership: Private | Occupied | Present Use: Agriculture & Residence Current Owner: Orville Pierson (As of March 1985) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. STATEMENT OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Primary Areas: Agriculture, Architecture, Science, Politics/Government Specific Dates: 1923 (Construction) | November 24, 1937 (Electrification) Summary: The Pierson Farm holds dual historical distinction. It was the first farmstead in rural North Dakota to receive electricity via the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), bypassing previous limitations of water-pumping wind- mills and transforming regional livestock productivity. Architecturally, the 1923 farm house stands as a rare, well-preserved rural example of a catalog- ordered Arts and Crafts style residence, constructed during a severe regional agricultural depression when residential farm building had nearly ceased. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. PROPERTY LANDSCAPE & SITE INVENTORY (SKETCH KEY) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topography: Situated on a 40-acre plot atop a small hill, granting panoramic views, sheltered on the North and West by a dense tree belt. Site Boundaries: Defined on three sides by a formal white wooden fence line separating the domestic lawn from the active agricultural zones. Total Complex Structures: 19 (Only the Farm House predates 1940 on-site) [01] Farm House (Significant) [11] Storage Building [02] Bunk House (Altered) [12] Chicken Coop [03] Pole Barn [13] Barn [04] Storage Shed [14] Barn with Lean-to [05] 3-Car Garage [15] Storage Shed [06] Barn [16] Granary [07] Storage Building [17] Machine Shop [08] Storage Building [18] Quonset [09] Storage Building [19] Pole Barn [10] Storage Shed Note on Outbuildings: Most modern outbuildings were added post-1950. Several are repurposed historic transit structures moved to the site, including three Great Northern Railroad section handcar houses, a GNR stockyard scale house from Towner, ND, and a portion of the Northern Pacific Railway depot from Leeds, ND. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. ARCHITECTURAL PROFILE: THE PIERSON FARM HOUSE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Style: Subdued Arts and Crafts Type: "Catalog" / "Pattern Book" House (Gordon Vantine Co., Davenport, IA) Purchase Cost: $3,000 for structure, $1,000 for coal-fired hot water heating system Construction: Erected in late 1923 by two local carpenters. Shipped via boxcar. Foundation: Poured concrete basement and cellar floor. Exterior Design: * Two-story frame building. Front entry faces East. * Originally covered with horizontal wood lap-siding on the ground floor (covered with white aluminum siding in 1984) and dark green wood shingles on the second floor/gables. * Features a deep front porch integrated smoothly under the main slope of the roofline, originally supported by four square columns. Interior Layout: * Ground Floor: Front living and dining rooms (originally separated by a partition with sliding doors, later opened up), master bedroom (NW), bathroom (North center), and large kitchen-pantry (SW). * Upper Floor: Central hallway flanked by North and South bedrooms. * Textures: Plaster-on-lathe walls/ceilings, hardwood woodwork and flooring. Structural Modifications: * c. 1943-44: Front porch enclosed with six double-hung windows to create a sunroom. * 1950s: Kitchen expanded by removing the southwest pantry partition; windows relocated. * 1984: Ground floor wrapped in white aluminum siding; basement windows sealed and foundation foam-insulated for energy conservation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY & ELECTRIFICATION TELEMETRY | Date | Event / Milestone Details ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | May 1899 | Land homesteaded by Charles H. Banks. | Apr 1906 | Patent/title officially secured by Banks from federal government. | Jun 1919 | Property purchased by Olaf Pierson, a prominent Swedish immigrant. | 1921 | Ralph Pierson marries Evangeline Sandven; couple occupies the site. | 1923 | Evangeline uses an inheritance to buy and erect the catalog house. | May 1935 | President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the national REA. | Early 1937 | Baker Electric Cooperative, Inc. organizes at Baker, ND (9 miles SW). | Nov 24, 1937| Transmission lines energized at the farm on Thanksgiving Eve. | | Becomes the 1st REA-electrified farmstead in North Dakota. | 1948 | Olaf Pierson passes away; Ralph inherits and expands land assets. | 1950 | Son Orville Pierson begins farm operations, setting up an adjacent plot. | 1961 | Original heavy wood-frame barn demolished; replaced by modern pole barn. | 1977 | Ralph Pierson passes away; Orville takes full command of operations. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. DOCUMENTARY & BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOURCE INDEX ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Benson County Farmers Press: Obituaries of Olaf Pierson (Aug 27, 1948) and Ralph J. Pierson (Oct 20, 1977). 2. Nelson, Bruce. "Land of the Dacotahs" (Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1946). 3. Stadig, Doris. "Acorn to Oak" [Official Baker Electric Cooperative History]. 4. Robinson, Elwyn B. "History of North Dakota" (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1966). 5. "Evangeline Pierson" Manuscript & "Grandma's Memories" Private Print. 6. Faleide, Lisa Swanson. "Palmer Stadum: A Man With a Dream" Manuscript. 7. Field Interviews: Orville L. & Evangeline Pierson (Conducted March 18, 1985). 8. "North Dakota's First Rural Electric Farm," ND Rural Electric Magazine (1962). =============================================================================