County

1.   Young-Yentes-Mattern Farm

Young-Yentes-Mattern FarmThe Young-Yentes-Mattern Farm is significant for the architectural merit of its simple but largely intact Queen Anne style farmhouse; however, the farm is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places primarily as a leading example of both continuity and change in local agricultural practices. Continuity is evident in the unusual combination of intact acreage, field patterns, and well-preserved buildings, including a rare settlement-era log house, built in 1838 by Christian Young, an early settler and the original owner of the 80-acre farm. The accompanying farm buildings, dating between 1838 and ca.1900, represent change as many were added to facilitate new farming strategies and residential needs. Charles Yentes, part of the area's extensive and largely unacculturated community known as the "German Settlement," had acquired the farm by 1860, and by the 1870s was living in the schoolhouse, which had been relocated and adapted for residential use. Later, the chicken coop and hog shelter were added as these industries became important sources of income. In 1893, Adam E. Mattern bought the farm and built the much larger Queen Anne farmhouse, distinguished by a decorative slate roof and projecting pediments. Mattern sold the farm in 1942 to Carl Goebel who maintained the property's integrity. Collectively, the farm and its complement of outbuildings document over 160 years of progress and development in the local farming industry.

2.   Rangeline Road Bridge

Rangeline Road BridgeThe third recorded bridge at this location, the Rangeline Road Bridge is a two-span Camelback through truss constructed in 1913 by an important engineering firm, the Lafayette Engineering Company of Lafayette, Indiana. Spanning the Wabash River, the official state river, this bridge is the company's only known surviving Camelback, and it is one of only three extant metal truss bridges in the county. In addition to the bridge design, featuring an unusual truss pattern atypical of Camelbacks, the Lafayette Engineering Company also constructed the piers and abutments. The Central States Bridge Company, another important Indiana firm, is believed to have manufactured the trusses. The location of the bridge is also significant as an important transportation corridor, providing access to the Miami Nation Treaty Grounds and the residence of their last two principal chiefs, Jean Baptiste Richardville and Francis LaFontaine, and later including a stretch of the Wabash & Erie Canal.

3.   Chief Richardville House/Miami Treaty Grounds

Miami Treaty GroundsThis house and grounds, located on the north side of the Forks of the Wabash, are some of the last remnants of the Miami Nation's heritage in the state. The Treaty Grounds are located at the western end of the portage link between the Maumee River/Great Lakes system and the Wabash River/Mississippi Valley system, a route first developed around 11,000 years ago that after 1701, became a major French trade route between Quebec and New Orleans controlled by the Miami. Subsequently, the grounds became the primary location for the distribution of annual payments by the federal government to the Miami Nation and the location for their negotiations, including the treaties of 1834, 1838, and 1840 that provided for the Miami's removal and transportation, in part by canal boat, to a reservation west of the Mississippi in 1846. The best preserved of the known meeting sites employed from 1826 to 1845, documentation indicates the Forks of the Wabash encampment typically was centered directly opposite the Chief Richardville House, then located north of U.S. 24. Built in 1833, the side hallway house was the first frame building in the area. It has a Greek Revival entryway and was the home to the last two principal chiefs of the Miami Nation, Jean Baptiste Richardville and Francis LaFontaine. The Richardville family retained ownership of the property until 1943.

4.   John and Minerva Kline Farm

Kline FarmIn 1865, in the countryside east of Huntington, John and Minerva Kline built their farmstead. Its primary significance lies in its association with the early settlement of Huntington County and with the Klines, leaders in the Huntington community. The Kline's son, Oliver, and his wife, Mary, known statewide as supporters of Purdue University's Extension Department, were also community leaders. In addition to his commitment to education, Oliver was politically active as well, and his three daughters continued these dual interests. The farm remained in the same family for 138 years until it was sold in 1987. The farmstead includes a cottage and a summer kitchen; however, the focal point of the property is the farmhouse, constructed of bricks reportedly made from local sources of clay and fired on the site. Significant for its architectural style, the farmhouse is one of only six Greek Revival style buildings in the county and one of two in the township. Its key features include a decorative, slate-shingle roof and six-over-six light double-hung windows with simple limestone lintels and sills. A modest Italianate porch, supported by square posts and scroll-cut brackets, is a slightly later addition. Extending past the southwest corner of the historic core is a 1994 wing addition to the rear kitchen ell. Though modern, this addition is sympathetic to, yet easily distinguishable from, the materials and form of the original construction.