National Register Listing

Maxwell, James O., Farmstead

Rt. 2, Box 82 on N side Muddy Creek Rd., Haines, OR

The James O. Maxwell Farmstead in the Powder River Valley in the vicinity of Haines, Baker County, Oregon, is comprised of an ensemble of seven interdependent buildings dating from 1880 to 1900, together with a barn lot, associated pasturage and orchard central to the historic farming operation. The centerpiece of the 3.67-acre nominated area is a two-story, late Queen Anne-style farmhouse with Eastlake detailing which was constructed in 1900 near the site of the first farm residence, which had burned. The house was designed to accommodate the large numbers of persons needed for the efficient operation of the farm. It also housed relatives and the ten children of James O. Maxwell and his wife, the former Nancy Hand. In addition to the fine exterior detailing, the house is embellished on the interior with hand-painted grained-finish woodwork which is in excellent condition. A 1 1/2-story cold cellar and bunkhouse are attached to the back of the house. Other contributing features include a smokehouse and washhouse contemporaneous with the farmhouse; the original log barn (1880), a pole-frame granary and an equipment shed of the 1890s, and a large hay barn, built in 1896. The farmstead is locally significant under National Register as a well-preserved and unusually complete late 19th/early 20th Century farm ensemble in which individual buildings are fine and, in some cases, rare examples of their architectural types. The farmstead is significant also for its association with James and Nancy Maxwell, who developed one of the prosperous large-scale farming operations in Baker County at the turn of the century. In addition, Maxwell was widely recognized as a public-spirited member of the community. The period of significance is drawn from the earliest building construction date represented in the ensemble to the death of James Maxwell (1853-1917), but the farm continued to prosper under the direction of Nancy Maxwell until 1937, and it has remained in family ownership to the present day.

The attached and dependent structures of the Farmstead are architecturally significant within the historic context of their setting and are important survivals in that they are well-maintained and clearly identifiable in terms of the original function. The log barn is one of very few remaining pioneer structures in the region and is a sound, well-maintained example of log-built frontier architecture. It has been in constant use since 1880 and is not neglected. The Targe hay barn of 1896 is an outstanding example of late 19th Century timber-framed barn construction, unusual in terms of size and overall condition. Barns, once universal in the rural areas of northeastern Oregon, are rapidly disappearing. This is particularly true of large structures. The shift from horses to mechanized traction, and the emphasis on beef rather than dairy cattle, have made the barn an anachronism in an area of very few dairy operations. The majority of surviving examples in eastern Oregon are no longer in use and, as a result, are either in a state of deterioration or are being demolished. The Maxwell barn is being preserved, is well maintained, and is being adapted where necessary in order to insure its continuation as a functional component of the farm. The farm is itself of historic significance in that it has been operated by one family from its beginning, with ownership following a direct line of descent that covers a period representing all but seventeen years of the entire period of settlement and development of northeastern Oregon. The farm complex is a living history of that process in which all its stages are represented, and in which the past survives in harmony with the present and the future.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1986.