Spring Hill Farm
About this property
Spring Hill Farm is a historic farm at 263 Meriden Road in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Founded in the late 18th century, the farm is noted for innovations in dairy farming practices introduced in the 1920s by Maurice Downs. It is also one of a small number of surviving farm properties in the town, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Spring Hill Farm is located in a rural setting in southeastern Lebanon, on 91.5 acres (37.0 ha) bounded at its southern and western sides by Meriden Road and Laplante Road. The farm complex is located near the road junction, containing a main house, barn, and other smaller outbuildings. The main house is a 2+1⁄2-story brick structure built c. 1799, and a barn constructed c. 1929 but incorporating an early 19th-century structure, as well as lumber salvaged from other period barns. Only the lands immediately north and east of the complex are open fields; the balance of the property is wooded. When Maurice Downes, a native of Wilmot, New Hampshire, purchased this property in 1913, it included the house and three 19th-century English barns. Downes was educated in agricultural practices at the University of New Hampshire, and introduced the high-producing Holstein cow to the area for dairy production; it is now the dominant milk-producing breed in the region. In the 1920s he adapted one of the barns to house all of the dairying operations under one roof, enlarging it by using materials recycled by disassembling the other two barns. His structure included a concrete floor, and a trolley-based mechanism for removing manure to an exterior manure shed, all innovative developments in the area. National Register of Historic Places listings in Grafton County, New Hampshire
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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 Spring Hill Farm
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Questions about this property
When was Spring Hill Farm listed on the National Register?
Spring Hill Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 12, 2002.
What type of historic resource is Spring Hill Farm?
Spring Hill Farm is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Spring Hill Farm?
The period of significance for Spring Hill Farm is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Spring Hill Farm?
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 Spring Hill Farm will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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