Property Record
5161 S CALHOUN RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Kau Farmstead - Dairy Barn |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 230020 |
| Location (Address): | 5161 S CALHOUN RD |
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| County: | Waukesha |
| City: | New Berlin |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 6 |
| Range: | 20 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 28 |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1900 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20152019 |
| Historic Use: | |
| Architectural Style: | |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Board and Batten |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | The Kau Farmstead consists of five historic resources including a house [230019], dairy barn [230020], one tile silo [230021], one concrete silo [230029] and an animal barn [230022]. The property also contains two recently constructed (c. 1985) resources, neither of which was surveyed due to their recent construction dates: a pole barn and office structure. The dairy barn complex was constructed c. 1900. This basement barn is rectangular in plan with a raised field stone foundation, board and batten walls and an asphalt-shingled gambrel roof. The eastern elevation features a wooden door in the basement story and a large sliding door in the first story, though not accessible via any ramp. Irregularly spaced, two-paned sliding windows are located on the southern half of the east elevation. The property consists of five historic resources constructed c. 1900. During this time period, Waukesha's dairy industry was growing, as was the production of feed crops necessary to supply such an industry. According to the Wisconsin CRMP, by 1890 the harvest of 90 percent of the state's cropland was consumed on the farms where it was grown. The dairy business continued to expand throughout the early twentieth century, with Waukesha being named "Cow County, USA" at the end of the first World War due to the fact that the county had more cows than people. The CRMP identifies the buildings associated with historic dairying and feed crop production as dairy barns, silos, grain bins, corncribs, and milk and cheese houses. Of these, the Kau Farmstead contains a historic dairy barn with silos. The animal barn on the property is an outbuilding that would be typical of any early-twentieth century farmstead. Based on available historic aerial imagery, it appears that two original outbuildings were demolished over the course of time (a large gable-roofed barn and small shed near Calhoun Road). A square outbuilding dating from the 1940s, located southeast of the dairy barn, was demolished for the construction of an office structure around 1985. 2019: Appearance unchanged since last surveyed. |
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| Bibliographic References: |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |