Veblen Farmstead
About this property
The Thorstein Veblen Farmstead is a National Historic Landmark near Nerstrand in rural Rice County, Minnesota. The property preserves the childhood home of Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), best known for his 1899 treatise The Theory of the Leisure Class. The Veblen farmstead stands east of Nerstrand in eastern Rice County, north of Minnesota State Highway 246. The ten-acre property includes a house, chicken coop, granary, and barn with attached milking shed. The house, granary, and barn were all built by Thomas Veblen, Thorstein's father, in the 1870s and 1880s. The house is a two-story frame structure, with a side gable roof, two chimneys, and clapboard siding. A single-story porch extends across the front, supported by square posts, with a balcony above. The granary is a small two-story clapboarded frame building, measuring about 25 by 30 feet (7.6 m × 9.1 m). The barn is two stories, and has a gabled roof. Thorstein Veblen, born in Cato, Wisconsin, in 1857, lived on this farm in his youth and returned often as an adult, due in part to his inability to find steady employment. The product of an austere agrarian upbringing, Veblen, who has often been called one of America's most creative and original thinkers, coined the term "conspicuous consumption" in the widely influential The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). The property's simple vernacular styling illustrates early influences on Veblen's life as the son of immigrants, growing up in a tightly knit Norwegian-American community. The Veblens sold the property in 1893 and it continued to be an active farm until 1970, when the buildings fell into disrepair. The house has now been restored, and the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota holds a preservation easement on the property. National Register of Historic Places listings in Rice County, Minnesota
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Veblen Farmstead
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Questions about this property
When was Veblen Farmstead listed on the National Register?
Veblen Farmstead was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 29, 1975.
What type of historic resource is Veblen Farmstead?
Veblen Farmstead is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
Is Veblen Farmstead a National Historic Landmark?
Yes. Veblen Farmstead has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.
What is the period of significance for Veblen Farmstead?
The period of significance for Veblen Farmstead is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Veblen Farmstead?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Veblen Farmstead will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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