SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Officials in Sangamon County are looking to identify farmhouses built before the Civil War that are on operating farms.
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports the project to find the farmhouses was launched by the Sangamon County Historic Preservation Commission and the Sangamon County Farm Bureau.
The project asks that the farmhouse owners or people familiar with the buildings submit evidence of construction taking place before 1860. The commission would verify evidence and give certificates to farmhouse owners, with the owner of the oldest one getting a plaque.
Commission chairman Chuck Pell guesses there are more than 20 such farmhouses in Sangamon County.
He says the project was started to expand the inventory of the county’s historic resources and “instill a sense of pride in the county’s agricultural history.”
