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NPS form 10.900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number R Page 4 OMB Approva/No. 1024-0018 Wertz—Bestle Farm St. Joseoh County IN raising such crops as wheat. corn. and oats. and maintaining a herd of dairy cows and a numbers of pias and chickens. the latter mainly for home use. After Godfrey Bestle's death. his son Charles purchased the other heirs' shares of the property and lived in the house. The farm remained in the Bestle family until about 1970. when it was purchased by a neighboring landowner. Agatha Wilhelm. the mother of the present owner. Elizabeth Lauber. The house was rented out until 1982, when Ms. Lauber purchased the -property. While the house has been altered somewhat. with the enclosure of the southeast porch and the new window on. the west. it remains reasonably intact. The architectural significance of the property. however, lies in the beautifully restored Schweitzer - barn that retains its original interior of roucrh—hewn joists and wooden stalls and stanchions in the lower level. Here the animals were sheltered and various work stations for different tasks are divided off. The upper level. reached by way of an earthen bank and cantilevered on the south. was used.for storing hay. While the other outbuildings that no doubt once completed the farmstead have not survived—the Wertz—Bestle Farm nonetheless retains much of the character of its oriains in the 1870s. It remains a fine example of a late nineteenth century family farmstead. The house has not been substantially altered and retains most of its original fabric, but the Schweitzer barn is an especially fine example of the Midwestern variation of this type and is remarkably intact. The property appears to meet both Criteria'A and C (significance in aariculture and architecture. respectively) and thus is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.